The Wright brothers changed the way people thought about powered flight and how it could take place. They realized that the airplane moved in three dimensions, unlike an automobile, and they realized that they needed to be in control of pitch, roll, and yaw. For pitch, or the angle of the airplane's longitudinal axis relative to the horizon, a device called an elevator was used. For roll, or the change of the angle of the plane's wings relative to the horizon, warping of the trailing edge of wings was used. The coordination of the rudder with the wing warping was used to control yaw, which is the angle of the plane's longitudinal axis relative to its direction of motion. (Boyne, p. 8)

Before a powered airplane was constructed, the brothers did their testing on gliders. These gliders were of the biplane design. The main difference between the gliders that the Wright brothers constructed and other glid

ers of the time period was the control system. Instead of shifting the pilot’s center of gravity to control the glider, the brothers planned to balance their gliders aerodynamically. They thought that if the lift created by each wing was different, the entire glider would bank. By connecting this system of control to a mechanism operated by the pilot, the brothers allowed for effective lateral control of the glider. The control of climb and descent was handled by forward-mounted horizontal stabilizers. (Richards, p. 7)

During 1908, the Wrights began to demonstrate their flyer to the masses, first for a group of around thirty and then to groups of over 4000. (Boyne, p. 10) With this, it was proven in peoples’ minds that the Wrights had invented the first airplane. In actuality, they had invented a whole new technology. Although the Wrights had invented the first airplane, they were soon to be overtaken with a wave of new aircraft that were more refined and had more power.

On December 17, 1903, the Wrights began their testing. In order to have flown the aircraft, the pilot had to have laid forward and facedown. (Richards, p. 9) The left hand operated the elevator controls, and hip movement controlled the rudder and lateral stability because of the use of a hip cradle

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