Though there are few reliable accounts of their work in those
remote American haunts, during the first six years of the present
century, the main facts of their life-history are now well known,
and we are able to trace their experiments, step by step, from
the time when they constructed their first simple aeroplane down
to the appearance of the marvellous biplane which has made them
world-famed.

For some time the Wrights experimented with a glider, with which
they accomplished even more wonderful results than those obtained
by Lilienthal. These two young American engineers--bicyclemakers
by trade--were never in a hurry. Step by step they made
progress, first with kites, then with small gliders, and
ultimately with a large one. The latter was launched into the
air by men running forward with it until sufficient momentum had
been gained for the craft to go forward on its own account.

The first aeroplane made by the two brothers was a very simple
one, as was the method adopted to balance the craft. There were
two main planes made of long spreads of canvas arranged one above
another, and on the lower plane the pilot lay. A little plane in
front of the man was known as the ELEVATOR, and it could be moved
up and down by the pilot; when the elevator was tilted up, the
aeroplane ascended, when lowered, the machine descended.

At the back was a rudder, also under control of the pilot. The
pilot's feet, in a modern aeroplane, rest upon a bar working on a
central swivel, and this moves the rudder. To turn to the left,
the left foot is moved forward; to turn to the right the right
foot.