By BRIAN FLOCA
Posted: 2:39 am
July 29, 2008
STORY SO FAR: To design their wings, Wilbur and Orville have used an equation and tables of numbers from the writings of Otto Lilienthal. Now they fear that the numbers representing air pressure, numbers on which they've staked their lives, are wrong. They are determined to find a way to test them.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Wrong Numbers
September 1901
The brothers made an odd sight. Orville carried a pole that had a bicycle wheel mounted on one end. Two small planes of metal were in turn mounted on the wheel; they stuck into the air like antennae. Orville and Wilbur walked back and forth, up and down West Third, the wheel spinning lazily.
"This is silly," Wilbur said. "There's no steady wind here, and we won't find one just strolling along."
"Without a steady wind," said Orville, "we've got no test. And we need a test."
The test Orville had planned was this: The planes of metal attached to the wheel were precisely measured, shaped, and mounted. The first plane was flat-about two-thirds of a square foot in size. The second was curved, and larger-about one square foot. They were positioned so that, if Lilienthal's air pressure tables were correct, when the wind struck the planes, the lift and pressure on each plate would balance out. If they did, the wheel would not spin. If the wheel did spin, it would mean that the Lilienthal tables were wrong.
"We've got to think of another way to create a steady wind," said Wilbur.
Orville gave the wheel an idle whirl. "Let's go into the shop," he said after a moment. There he mounted the wheel sideways onto the front of an old bicycle. "There," he said. "Take that for a ride."
Wilbur rolled the bike onto West Third. Orville doffed his cap. "Don't be long," he said, and Wilbur pushed off from the curb. Orv watched him go. Will kept his course as steady as possible, growing smaller as he moved down the street. Orv scuffed his shoe against the pavement. Lilienthal's work had been an inspiration to the brothers, but either Lilienthal's numbers or their thinking was wrong. Neither option was appealing. This gliding business had been exciting, Orv thought, but if it was time to refocus on the shop, well, that would be all right. Orv looked up and watched Will turn toward him. It was a good product, the Wright cycle, he told himself. True, sales were dropping, but the services of good repairmen would always be needed, and besides-
Will pulled up, face flushed, his eyes intense. "The tables are wrong," he said.
Orville said nothing for a moment. "You're sure?"
Will spoke with a forced evenness. "The wheel spins. We've been using the wrong numbers."
