First Flight

The true story of how the Wright brothers invented the aeroplane and launched the age of flight

Experience the greatest breakthroughs in science, with the DK Science Stories series.

Meet Orville and Wilbur Wright: two ordinary brothers with an extraordinary dream. In a world of horse-drawn carriages, the Wrights want to take to the skies. This is the true story of how their creativity, scientific thinking, and sheer determination turned their dream into reality and changed the world.

Growing up, the Wrights are captivated by the idea of flight – studying birds and toy helicopters to try to unlock their secrets. When a terrible accident sees Wilbur drop out of school, the brothers set up shop building bicycles. Using their mechanical know-how and inspired by aviation pioneers of the past, the self-taught brothers set out on a seemingly impossible task: to design, build, and fly the world's first aeroplane.