Reproduction wind tunnel

Adjusting reproduction lift balance

The impact of the tunnel

"No truth is without some mixture of error, and no error so false that it possesses some elements of truth... After I get hold of a truth I hate to lose it again, and I like to sift all the truth out before I give up an error."
—Wilbur Wright to George Spratt, April 27, 1903 (McFarland, p.307)

Wilbur's statement above was written more than a year after the Wright brothers' wind tunnel experiments had ended, but it perfectly captures their need for certainty in their work.

The wind tunnel experiments of 1901-1902 were a critical part of the Wrights' scientific work. By running systematic, repeatable tests on over 200 lifting surfaces, and analyzing the results in great detail, the Wrights not only discovered inaccuracies in Lilienthal's data, but they established for themselves the empirical foundation for all their future work.

With the wind tunnel tests, they found themselves in front of all the others, alone. Their achievement established the fundamental method by which all aircraft are designed today.

For a complete description and demonstration, visit In Depth: The Wind Tunnel.