Stability of Aeorplanes

Orville Wright

IBUKI - Annals of Science #001 $4.25

This article reprints the lecture, given by Orville Wright, at the Franklin Institute on May 20, 1914, when he received the Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal in recognition of his epoch-making work in establishing on a practical basis the science and art of aviation. He starts this lecture with the words:

"The subject of `stability of aeroplanes' is too broad to permit of a discussion of all of its phases in one evening. I shall, therefore, confine myself more particularly to a few phases of the fore-and-aft or longitudinal equilibrium. Although in learning to fly the beginner find most difficulty in mastering the lateral control, it is his lack of knowledge of certain features of the fore-and-aft equilibrium that leads to the most serious accidents. These accidents are the more difficult to avoid because they are due to the subtle causes which the flyer does not at the time perceive."

Reprinted from the Journal of the Franklin Institute, September, 1914