The Wright Flyer was the aircraft used by the Wright brothers for their first powered flights.
The machine flew at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. It was a biplane with two wings, a wooden framework, fabric covering, and a 12-horsepower gasoline engine. Orville and Wilbur built it in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.
The Flyer was not a conventional airplane with a seated pilot. The pilot lay on the lower wing and shifted the machine’s controls using a hip cradle. The brothers also used wing warping to control roll, a major part of their flight-control system.
The name is often extended to “Wright Flyer I” in museums and later writing, but “Wright Flyer” is the standard name for the 1903 machine. It should not be confused with the Flyer III, the improved aircraft that achieved sustained controlled flights in 1905.