[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 1 - 09:20:57 ]
Welcome to our third "historic" QuestChat with the Wright Brothers, inventors of the first powered airplane! The chat will begin in about 40 minutes. Be sure you have read the background info on Orville & Wilbur BEFORE coming to the chat-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/wright/background/ Orville & Wilbur will be in the chat room at 10 am Pacific. "See you" then :-)

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 6 - 09:59:28 ]
RE: [MrsMock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Hello Sandy. My third and fourth grade computer students will be participating in this chat and I also have two 1st graders who cant wait. The kindergarten class also gave me some questions.
Welcome Mrs. Mock! So glad you and your kids could make it again :-) Thrilled to hear that you have 1st graders and kindergarteners! We look forward to your 3-4 graders questions!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 8 - 10:01:23 ]
EVERYONE: Orville & Wilbur will be here in five minutes! Hold your questions until then, thanks :-)

[ Wilbur - 11 - 10:05:56 ]
Good morning everyone. My name is Wilbur Wright. My brother Orville had a little bicycle accident this morning and may be a bit late arriving.

[ Wilbur - 13 - 10:06:48 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Time magazine is asking for nomination for Person of the Century. My I submit your names?
Yes, you certainly may submit our names.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 15 - 10:08:00 ]
RE: [MrsMock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] The Kindergarten class at Montessori School of Corona have traveled back tin time 100 years and would like to ask Orville and Wilbur some very improtant questions: Why did you want to fly? How did you make your plane? What color did you paint it? Why were the wings so big? Did it have a steering wheel and wheels? How did you get it to fly?
Great questions :-) Wilbur will get to them shortly... Orville will be a bit late in getting here (due to a minor bike accident,) so Wilbur will be handling all the questions himself.

[ Wilbur - 17 - 10:09:03 ]
RE: [Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA] I'm in the fifth grade and my friend and I dressed up as you guys for our Great American Characters Day.
Good morning Nicolas. I'm certainly proud that you wanted to be one of us for your Great American Characters Day, Did everyone know who you were? I'm glad that you're here this morning.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 18 - 10:09:13 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Hello Sandy, Are they there yet. Or is the time machine broke... again.
The time machine is working :-) Wilbur is indeed here. Orville is hung up at the moment!

[ Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA - 19 - 10:10:32 ]
Yes, They had to gues who we were. My friend's hat gave us away. H looked just like you.

[ Wilbur - 20 - 10:11:02 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Orivalle; Do you feel that your a Great American Character?
Well actually we're both pretty modest about it. We don't do much talking about it. The only bird that I know that talks is a parrot and it isn't much of a flyer. Thanks for the honor though.

[ Wilbur - 23 - 10:16:03 ]
RE: [MrsMock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] The Kindergarten class at Montessori School of Corona have traveled back tin time 100 years and would like to ask Orville and Wilbur some very improtant questions: Why did you want to fly? How did you make your plane? What color did you paint it? Why were the wings so big? Did it have a steering wheel and wheels? How did you get it to fly?
Good morning Mrs. Mock. How is everyone. We wanted to learn to fly because we were curious and somehow, even though no one had done it yet, we knew that we could succeed in our experiments. We didn't paint the plane as such until about 1909 when we painted it silver to fool the people in the grandstands who wanted to photograph the details of our design. The Flyer's wings were 40 feet 4 inches long, and that was long enough to develop enough lift to get us into the air. It didn't have a steering wheel nor wheels. It was steered by causing the wings to flex or warp when we moved our hips in a control cradle of dorts to cause cables to flex the aircraft's wings. We didn't put wheels on any of our planes until about 1910 I seem to remember.

[ Wilbur - 24 - 10:19:21 ]
RE: [Chris/1stgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Was it easy to build the airplane?
It wasn't easy building the airplane. Actually we started with a simple kite in 1898 and each year built a bigger plane until we finally were able to fly on December 17, 1903. That airplane was about 21 feet from front to back and slightly over 40 feet in wing span (from right to left). Actually we hated the mosquitos and the sand fleas the most, besides the cold and the constant wind and the blowing sand.

[ Wilbur - 27 - 10:23:32 ]
RE: [Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA] What types of bikes did you make in your bike shop?
Well, Nick, we sold several different brands, and then we decided to make our own. So we ended up making a Wright Special and two other bicycles named after our ancestors, like the Van Cleve model for example. They all had two wheels of equal size and with rubber tires and brakes. They were a lot like the bikes you use today.

[ Wilbur - 29 - 10:25:48 ]
RE: [Katie/1stgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] I hope your brother Orville is okay. I have read most of a book about you. I like it a lot.
Katie, I'm sure he will be okay. You know, once he had a sort of crash landing when we were still building big gliders and he got a little cut on his head. He was more surprised than anything and wasn't hurt. His ego was a little hurt though.

[ Orville - 32 - 10:27:10 ]
Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay

[ Wilbur - 33 - 10:27:39 ]
RE: [Wilbur] Katie, I'm sure he will be okay. You know, once he had a sort of crash landing when we were still building big gliders and he got a little cut on his head. He was more surprised than anything and wasn't hurt. His ego was a little hurt though.
I think Orville just arrived. He's okay, I think

[ Wilbur - 38 - 10:32:24 ]
RE: [Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA] How did you guys come up with a wind tunnel?
Well, actually Orville and I were having great problems with some of the answers to flying that were provided by an aviation pioneer that cmae before us, Otto Lillienthal. The numbers that he got for performance from his glider just didn't match what Orville and I had experienced, so we built our own little wind tunnel box (a box about 6 feet long and 3 feet square) and we tested at least two hundred different types of tiny little wings to see how they performed. It was actually the invention of the first practical wind tunnel. We did all of our testing in the back of the bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.

[ Orville - 40 - 10:34:24 ]
RE: [Alexis4thgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Were you ever intrested in anything else besides science like space. Do you think a bird is like a plane. Did the paint make it heavier.
I am interested in photography, and I also build a lot of other gadgets and invention. Wilbur and I published a newspaper for a while to. As for the birds, they are the truly expert fliers. A lot of what we tried to imitate on with our airplane controls, birds due naturally. Paint does make an airplane heavier. I understand that an F-15 fighter has about 40 lbs of paint on it, and the space shuttle is 600 lbs lighter at lift-off because the external tank is not painted.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 42 - 10:35:43 ]
RE: [Lisa/3rdGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] If you were alive in 1999 what job would you want to have? What is your favorite animal? My favorite animals are dogs, cats and horses.
Excellent first question Lisa :-)

[ Orville - 43 - 10:36:08 ]
RE: [Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA] Hi, Orville, Wilbur says you got your ego hurt when you crashed the glider. Is that true?
It was a little embarrassing. Sometimes it was difficult to work with Wilbur because he was such a good pilot, and I wanted to be a good pilot too.

[ Wilbur - 44 - 10:36:17 ]
RE: [Chris/1stGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] I just finished reading a book about you. It was called Countdown to Flight! It was exciting. I liked the picture of the house. I like to read and I can read really fast! I love books. How much do you like science?
Chris, that is really great. I love to read a lot too. My favorite subject was science too. I used to go upstairs and read all the science book in my fathers library. then I wanted to read all the science books in the local Dayton Ohio library. I almost got them all read too. My favorite subject was in figuring out how all sorts of mechanical things worked. I even built a little printing press when I was just a little older than you are and started my own little newspaper. Orville and I called it "The Midget" It was really fun and led to lots of greater things for us.

[ Orville - 45 - 10:37:46 ]
RE: [Nick-DaddyFixit/FAA] Orville, which one of you got to fly first?
My first flight on Dec 17, 1903 is recognized as the first true flight, although we would be tempted to say that Wilbur's second flight (the 4th one) was the first true flight.

[ Orville - 46 - 10:40:08 ]
RE: [Lisa/3rdGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] If you were alive in 1999 what job would you want to have? What is your favorite animal? My favorite animals are dogs, cats and horses.
I would probably be consulting with Boeing or Lockheed or Northrop. I would also be following very closely the test of our 1903 Flyer at NASA. As for animals, I love dogs. In fact, I had a pet dog.

[ Wilbur - 47 - 10:40:22 ]
RE: [Lisa/3rdGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] If you were alive in 1999 what job would you want to have? What is your favorite animal? My favorite animals are dogs, cats and horses.
My favorite job would be as a pilot and an experimenter. I loved to build new things and to fly. My favorite animal was the buzzard. Orville and I used to watch them as young men and watched closely as they changed the shape of their wings as they soared overhead and as they came in for a landing. There are still buzzards just like the ones we saw near Dayton, Ohio. I think Orville's favorite animal is a dog. He had a great big St. Bernard that he named Scipio.

[ Wilbur - 52 - 10:45:37 ]
RE: [Orville] I am interested in photography, and I also build a lot of other gadgets and invention. Wilbur and I published a newspaper for a while to. As for the birds, they are the truly expert fliers. A lot of what we tried to imitate on with our airplane controls, birds due naturally. Paint does make an airplane heavier. I understand that an F-15 fighter has about 40 lbs of paint on it, and the space shuttle is 600 lbs lighter at lift-off because the external tank is not painted.
Good morning Alexis, Yes, my brother Orville and I were interested in all sorts of stuff. Once he and I were standing in the doorway of the bicycle shop and a local banker came driving by in one of those new fangled automobiles. It just sort of went putt-putt-putt down the street. I asked Orville if we shouldn't maybe get into the automobile business, but Orville said, " Nah, those things will never amount to anything. They're way to impractical and will never amount to anything." So we went into flying instead.

[ Orville - 53 - 10:47:01 ]
RE: [Kimber/4thgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Where did you find the mateiral to build your first airplane? How many different kinds of airplanes did you make?
We built our gliders and airplanes from wood and cloth. Much of this material was available from local hardware stores and cloth outlets. We built kites in 1900, gliders in 1901 and 1902, and the Flyer in 1903. later we built an airplane in 1904, and 1905. After that we built more than 1 airplane per year.

[ Orville - 55 - 10:48:30 ]
RE: [Katie/1stgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did you use gas in your first airplane?
We used gasoline for the Flyer, although it is not as good of gas as you or your parents can get today at a gas station. I also used gasoline for the stove I cooked on at Kittyhawk.

[ Orville - 56 - 10:49:53 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Did you ever think that your first flight would be the beginings to man's walking on the moon?
Actually, we are quite suprised that the aviation industry took off the way it did.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 57 - 10:50:07 ]
EVERYONE: There are just 10 minutes left in today's chat!

[ Orville - 59 - 10:51:09 ]
RE: [Ronica/4thgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] What did you name your airplane? What other invention did you make?
We really didn't name our airplanes, just refering instead to the model and year.

[ Wilbur - 60 - 10:51:25 ]
RE: [Kimber/4thgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Where did you find the mateiral to build your first airplane? How many different kinds of airplanes did you make?
Good question Kimber, Actually we mostly prebuilt our first glider in Dayton before we went to Kitty Hawk, but we still had to buy the long spars that hold the wing together locally there in Atlantic City, North Carolina, at then of the train ride. From there on it was a very scary boat ride for me the first time. My sister Katharine did a lot of the sewing on the fabric as well. We called her "sterchens" which was all we could pronounce of her name. When she was born we heard some of the relatives call her schwistcherchens, which means "little sister" in German. All we could pronounce though was "sterchens" and that is what Orville and I called her through our early life together. did you know that the chocolate brownie was invented the same year as our first successful airplane, Yep, that's true, both happened in 1903.

[ Orville - 63 - 10:53:01 ]
RE: [Alexis/3rdgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did you want to be any thing besides an inventor? Did you consider it as work or fun?
Building the airplane was great fun. But, it was also a lot of hard work. I guess the best results are obtained when you can have fun at doing hard work.

[ Wilbur - 64 - 10:53:55 ]
RE: [Ronica/4thgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] What did you name your airplane? What other invention did you make?
Good question Ronica. We just called our airplane "the Flyer" We didn't call it the "KittyHawk" or anything other than the "Flyer". We also invented the first practical wind tunnel and some improvements to the modern bicycle. Orville went on to invent some childrens toys later in his life. We also developed a gyro stabilizer for our airplane that worked really well.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 65 - 10:54:14 ]
EVERYONE: Please let us on the Quest team know if you're enjoying these chats. Fill out the short survey at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys

[ Orville - 66 - 10:55:57 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] If you had to vote for person of the century, Who would it be?
I think it somewhat pointless to try to define the great achievements of the last century with only one person. So many people did so many wonderful things to get us where we are today. And, besides, there are still 9 months left in the year. Something else could still happen to overshadow all the rest.

[ Wilbur - 67 - 10:56:42 ]
RE: [Alexis/3rdgrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did you want to be any thing besides an inventor? Did you consider it as work or fun?
Yes, we wanted to be successful and have fun just like you. We even ran a kid's circus when we were young and even sold tickets (a penny per person to enter) to make money. We were interested in everything and started our little newspaper to see if we could do it and to make money. but most of all, we loved to experiment, to invent, and to FLY.

[ Wilbur - 71 - 10:58:58 ]
RE: [Melissa/4thGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Can you imagine a jet airplane? Would you like to ride in one or pilot one?
Yes, we can imagine a jet plane. Before Orville died in 1948 even the speed of sound was broken. the fastest Orville ever flew was about 580 miles per hour in a four engine Convair transport. He got to take the controls for a few minutes and actually fly it too.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 72 - 10:58:59 ]
EVERYONE: PLEASE HOLD OFF on sending anymore questions as there are only two minutes left. Orville & Wilbur will try to answer the remaining questions, but no more as they need to get back to work :-)

[ Orville - 73 - 10:59:38 ]
RE: [Alexis/4thGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did anybody else help you build your planes?
Charlie Taylor help us with the engine, and also did work in our bike shop while we were gone. And our sister, Katherine ran the business and the household. I don't know where we would be today without her. For the flights we also had help from the men at the life guard station for launching and retrieving the aircraft. We must not forget them

[ Wilbur - 74 - 11:00:41 ]
RE: [Alexis/4thGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did anybody else help you build your planes?
We had help in building our plane from our sister Katharine, our shop mechanic Charlie Taylor, who built the engine and from our older brother, Lorin, who helped run the bicycle shop with Katharine while we were gone to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

[ MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona - 75 - 11:00:57 ]
Thank you very much Orville and Wilbur for taking the time to visit the future and chat with us at Montessori School of Corona.

[ Orville - 76 - 11:01:54 ]
RE: [Chris/1stGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] What is a gyro stabilizer?
A gyro-stabilizer is like a spinning top. And because it is spinning it stays positioned in the same direction. This property makes it an excellent device for keeping an airplane stable and pointed in the right direction.

[ Wilbur - 77 - 11:02:32 ]
RE: [Chris/1stGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] What is a gyro stabilizer?
A gyro stabilizer is a device that helps steady the plane and keep it level, much like a top that is spinning seems to keep upright even though it weaves from side to side and leans to the left and right. It was a way to steady the airplane.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 78 - 11:02:34 ]
Ok folks, it's time to say goodbye to our favorite brothers! Please join us again for another chat very soon! To see a schedule of upcoming chats go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/events. Good bye :-)

[ Orville - 79 - 11:02:49 ]
RE: [Alexis/4thGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did either of you have any kids? If yes did you have a girl or boy or both?
Neither of us got married

[ Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA - 80 - 11:02:57 ]
Thnks guys, Even time can't conqure the wonders of technolegy.

[ Orville - 81 - 11:03:34 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Who was most influential in your quest for flight?
Octave Chanute was probably the most influential person we had the pleasure of meeting.

[ Wilbur - 82 - 11:03:45 ]
RE: [Alexis/4thGrade-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Did either of you have any kids? If yes did you have a girl or boy or both?
Good question Alexis. Neither Orville or I ever married and so neither of us ever had any children of our own. Our brothers had children, though, so we had nieces and nephews.

[ MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona - 83 - 11:03:48 ]
Goodbye from MSOC. Will your identities be revealed?

[ Orville - 84 - 11:04:21 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Thank you very much Orville and Wilbur for taking the time to visit the future and chat with us at Montessori School of Corona.
It has been a pleasure.

[ Wilbur - 85 - 11:05:29 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] Who was most influential in your quest for flight?
I believe it was our parents, for separate reasons. Our mother taught us how to use tools, not our father, but our father trained us to think critically and to read everything. We read everything in his upstairs library, for example.

[ Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA - 86 - 11:05:56 ]
Okay, Tell us who's who...

[ Orville - 87 - 11:06:29 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Goodbye from MSOC. Will your identities be revealed?
The part of Orville was played by Craig Hange at NASA Ames. We just finished the Wright Flyer Wind Tunnel Test last week.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 90 - 11:07:43 ]
Orville is Craig Hange and Wilbur is Steve Shackelford. Check out their bios at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/team

[ Wilbur - 91 - 11:08:07 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Goodbye from MSOC. Will your identities be revealed?
Goodbye, from Wilbur to Mrs. Mock's class. Talk to you again in the future. Bye for now Wilbur Wright

[ MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona - 92 - 11:09:19 ]
Thank you Craig and Steve! It was another super chat! Thank you Sandy! :-)

[ Orville - 93 - 11:10:02 ]
RE: [Michael-DaddyFixit/FAA] how did the go Craig?
I think we got some good data. Henry Jex of the project says there are a lot of good matches to the Northrop small scale test.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 94 - 11:10:47 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Thank you Craig and Steve! It was another super chat! Thank you Sandy! :-)
You're welcome! Thanks for preparing your students so well! They asked excellent and well-researched questions :-)

[ Orville - 96 - 11:12:05 ]
I guess Orville will go back to fix his bicycle. I'll be seeing you! Take care.

[ Wilbur - 97 - 11:13:27 ]
I think I will go take a nap. See you again soon. Wilbur