How many attempts did the wright brothers make at building a plane??

Question

I need an exact number please.

Answer 1

Too many and they did not work. Alberto Santos Dumont had to step in and show how it is really done.

Answer 2

I don't think anyone could come up with an exact number - not even the Wrights themselves. They didn't just keep building planes until one flew. It was a continuous evolution of building, revising, testing, building again, trial, modification, new ideas, and new materials. Any number of all these functions is what took place until the first media invited flight.

Answer 3

The first powered flight was done in the fourth full scale aircraft they built.  The first three were gliders and had no engine or propellers, they built one every year from 1900 to 1902.  They then added the engine to the fourth model based on the 1902 glider.  Their research was based on the work of Otto Lilienthal, he performed over 2000 glider flights in the late 1800s, he actually died in one; and on their own calculations and trials in their home built wind tunnel.

Answer 4

In a way,many. They used a process starting with gliders and models to develop their designs. However, their first full scale, manned aircraft flew because of such exhaustive testing. Each individual model was changed and edited as a work in progress.

Side Fact: The Wrights were fairly isolated in regards to research. Lillienthal didn't have much enfluence on the Wrights, exept through correspondence with Octave Chanute, and despite their reputations, the Wrights went their own way and contradicted their contemporaries much more than following them.