LYCOS RETRIEVER 
1901: Wrights
built 234 days ago
In keeping with their approach of maintaining continuity of design, the Wrights’ 1901 glider was similar in structural design and layout to their 1900 craft. The wire-braced biplane structure again featured a canard (forward) elevator and wing-warping for lateral control. Rather than the French sateen fabric of the 1900 craft, they used an unbleached muslin called “Pride of the West,” the fabric they would use on the rest of their experimental aircraft.
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The 1901 glider from the right side. The wide wings give the glider a low "aspect ratio." The wingspan divided by the chord is just 3. When they built their wind tunnel, the Wrights would learn that a low aspect ratio is inefficient. Next year's glider would have an aspect ratio of 6-1/2!
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Orville Wright stands aside the 1901 glider which has been upended by the wind. Note the craft is not nose-down, but nose UP. The Wrights employed a 'canard' design with the elevator up front.
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The Wrights returned to Dayton after the 1901 gliding season disappointed in their work. Their questions led to a systematic evaluation of the flights and a series of wind tunnel tests to develop their ideas. The result was the birth of modern aeronautical engineering.
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NOTE:The longest distance for this glider is sometimes reported as 335 feet in length, a distance mentioned in the Chanute/Huffaker diary for August 9, 1901. However, Table "No. 2" on page 158 of the Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright indicates that glide number 7 on August 8 covered a distance of 389 feet.
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After the encouraging results of their 1900 glider tests, the Wrights returned to Kitty Hawk in 1901 with the largest glider ever built. Hopeful of its performance, they were unaware that the glider tests would lead them to secrets of flight then still unknown.
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