The Wright Brothers' Early Years
From Newspapers to Bicycles to Aviation History
This is the second article in our series on the Wright Brothers. Before they changed the world at Kitty Hawk, Orville and Wilbur Wright were entrepreneurs in Dayton, Ohio – and the skills they developed there would prove essential to their aviation success.
Growing Up Wright
Wilbur Wright was born in 1867, Orville in 1871. Their father, Milton Wright, was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Their mother, Susan, was mechanically inclined – she could build almost anything from scratch.
The boys inherited their mother's mechanical aptitude. From an early age, they loved to build things and figure out how they worked.
The Printing Business
In 1889, the Wright Brothers started a printing business. Orville, just 18 years old, designed and built their own printing press using a damaged tombstone, a buggy spring, and scrap metal.
They published a neighborhood newspaper called the West Side News, later renamed The Evening Item. Though the newspaper eventually failed, the printing business taught them valuable lessons about engineering, precision, and entrepreneurship.
The Wright Cycle Company
In 1892, the bicycle craze swept America. The Wrights saw opportunity.
They opened the Wright Cycle Exchange (later the Wright Cycle Company), first selling and repairing bicycles, then designing and manufacturing their own. Their top-of-the-line model, the Van Cleve, sold for $65 – a significant sum in the 1890s.
The bicycle business was crucial to their aviation work:
- It provided steady income to fund their experiments
- It taught them about lightweight, strong structures
- It gave them experience with chains, sprockets, and gears
- It reinforced their understanding of balance and control
The Aviation Bug
In 1896, the Wright Brothers read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, a German aviation pioneer who crashed while flying one of his gliders. Rather than discouraging them, Lilienthal's work inspired the brothers.
Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution requesting all available information on flight. He devoured works by Lilienthal, Octave Chanute, Samuel Langley, and others.
But as they studied, the Wrights realized something important: the existing research on lift and control was flawed. If they were going to fly, they would have to figure it out themselves.
The Foundation for Flight
By 1899, the Wright Brothers were ready to begin their own experiments. They had:
- Mechanical skills honed over years of printing and bicycle work
- Business acumen from running successful companies
- Systematic approach to problem-solving
- Each other – a partnership that balanced vision with attention to detail
Next, they would head to the windy dunes of North Carolina.
Discover where their journey led. Book a flight over Kitty Hawk and see where the Wright Brothers made history.
OBX Airplanes – First Flight Airport, Manteo, NC – 252.473.2442