Wilbur Wright
Awards & Honours
2
Awards Won
5
Honours
3
Records
Wilbur Wright's record rests on a single day in December 1903 and the years of methodical work that made it possible. The Congressional Gold Medal came in 1909, the first awarded for aviation. France named both brothers to the Legion of Honor the same year. Posthumous enshrinement in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1962 and induction into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame followed, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kill Devil Hills was dedicated in 1932. TIME placed the brothers among the most important people of the 20th century in 1999, as a joint distinction. The Smithsonian describes their achievement as the foundational event of powered flight.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Congressional Gold Medal
Awarded jointly to Wilbur and Orville Wright, the first such honour for aviation achievement.
Legion of Honor
Both brothers decorated by the French government.
National Aviation Hall of Fame
Posthumous enshrinement.
International Air & Space Hall of Fame
Posthumous induction.
Wright Brothers National Memorial
National memorial at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, bearing Wilbur's name.
Records & Feats
First controlled, sustained powered flight
Wilbur and Orville Wright made four powered flights on December 17, 1903; Wilbur's record flight covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.
First controlled, banked turn in flight
Wilbur made the first controlled, banked turn in the Flyer II on September 20, 1904.
First aviation patent for three-axis control
US patent No. 821,393, granted in 1906, covered the control system that became fundamental to aircraft design.