Lost Chapters
The Wright Brothers: Gold Event
On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flights of a heavier-than-air airplane at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville's first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet, and the best of the day's four flights, with Wilbur at the controls, went 852 feet in 59 seconds.
- Cost
- 2 crystals
- Type
- Event · Bond
- Color
- Gold (Inventors & Industry)
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Set
- Liberty & Lightning (Set 1)
Draw 1. If you control a Pilot or Inventor, draw 2 instead.
Bicycle mechanics turned aerial pioneers who proved two heads are better than none when defying gravity.
The real history
Wilbur and Orville Wright ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. Beginning in 1899 they spent four years researching and testing flying machines, and they used a wind tunnel to help design their wings. Their mechanic, Charles Taylor, helped build the engine. The 1903 Wright Flyer was a biplane with two propellers behind the wings, a wingspan of 12.3 meters (40 feet 4 inches) and a 12-horsepower engine.
The brothers tossed a coin on December 14 to decide who would try first. Wilbur won, but his attempt failed when he oversteered the elevator after leaving the launching rail, so the real first flight came three days later.
On the morning of December 17 a strong wind of about 27 miles per hour blew across Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. At about 10:35 a.m., Orville flew the Flyer for 12 seconds and 120 feet. The brothers took turns, making four flights in all. The fourth and longest, flown by Wilbur, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds. John Daniels, one of the men from the nearby lifesaving station who helped, took the famous photograph of the Flyer in the air with Wilbur running alongside.
After the last flight a gust of wind caught the Flyer, rolled it over and damaged it beyond easy repair. The original airplane was donated to the Smithsonian on December 17, 1948, the 45th anniversary of the flights, and it is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Sources
- 1903, The First Flight, Wright Brothers National Memorial, National Park Service
- 1903 Wright Flyer, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
How the card plays
The Wright Brothers costs 2 crystals and is a Gold Event. Draw 1 card. If you control a Pilot or an Inventor, draw 2 cards instead.
It is a cheap card-draw spell, and the whole trick is to have an Inventor or Pilot on the field first, so it draws two for two crystals. Many Gold characters qualify, so it is easy to turn on. Isaac Singer is a 2-cost Inventor that fills your field and turns the bonus draw on. Amelia Earhart, Vehicle Junkie is a Pilot with Explore that fetches a Vehicle, and Alexander Graham Bell is an Inventor that builds a Tinker Token. Play the character first, then The Wright Brothers.
- Playable in decks led by Nikola Tesla, and by any Traveler Leader whose colors include Gold.
- In the Tesla starter deck (1 copy). Deck code:
LC2-BV8BYAFhAWICYwFkAWUCZgFnAWgBaQFqAWsCbAFtAm4BbwFwAXEBcgFzAnQBdQF2AXcBeAJ5AnoBewF8AX0BfgF_AXiK - A deck holds up to 3 copies of this card.
Questions about The Wright Brothers
Who flew first, Orville or Wilbur Wright?
Orville made the first successful flight on December 17, 1903. Wilbur had won a coin toss three days earlier, but his attempt on December 14 failed after he oversteered the elevator.
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