What was the name of the Wright brothers’ 1903 powered airplane?

The Wright brothers’ 1903 powered airplane was called the Wright Flyer.

The machine is also known as the 1903 Flyer or the Wright Flyer I. It was a canard biplane with twin propellers driven by a gasoline engine. The brothers designed and built it after years of glider experiments and wind-tunnel testing.

The name is often confused with Wright Flyer III, the substantially improved 1905 aircraft. Flyer III was the first Wright airplane capable of sustained, controlled, practical flight, but it was not the machine used for the first powered flights in 1903. The Wright Military Flyer was a later aircraft built for the U.S. Army.

The original 1903 Flyer was constructed mainly from spruce, ash, muslin fabric, and wire. Its twin-engine-shaft arrangement and forward elevator reflected the brothers’ experimental approach to aircraft design.