Wilbur and Orville Wright

Wilbur and Orville Wright are honored for their courage, perseverance, and achievement. Through original research, the Wright Brothers acquired scientific knowledge and developed theories of aerodynamics which, with their invention of aileron control, enabled them in 1903 to build and fly at Kitty Hawk the first power-driven man-carrying aeroplane capable of flight. Their further development of the aeroplane gave it a capacity for service that established aviation as one of the great forward steps in human progress. As scientists, Wilbur and Orville Wright discovered the secret of flight. As inventors, builders, and flyers, they brought aviation to the world.

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio · United States