What kind (design/make) of engine did the Wright brothers use in their historic 1903 flight?

Question

Did they buy it somewhere, or build it themselves, or. . .?
Thanks!

Answer 1

They and their mechanic, Charles Taylor, built it themselves. They had searched for engines that were both powerful enough and sufficiently lightweight, but were unable to find anything available commercially. So, just like their Flyer, they studied what was out there and built it themselves.

It's kind of a strange design; they apparently didn't figure out what a carburetor was, so they merely had fuel dripping into the intake manifold. A couple of links to sketches of the engine are attached, as well as a picture of the engine installed on the airplane.

BTW, Charles Taylor also went on to work with Calbraith Perry Rogers, who made the first transcontinental flight in an airplane, a Wright Flyer EX that Rogers named the 'Vin Fiz', after a company that sold soft drinks and sponsored him. Rogers, who had amassed all of about 90 minutes of flight time prior to his departure, crashed his airplane at least 16 times crossing the country from New York to Pasadena, which must have made for excellent job security for Charlie Taylor, as he and others in the support team followed Rogers in a support train. The 'Vin Fiz' is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum.

Today the FAA awards it's Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award to recognize the lifetime achievement of senior aircraft mechanics, in honor of the world's first aircraft mechanic.

Answer 2

In 1903, they built the Wright Flyer - later the Flyer I (today popularly known as the Kitty Hawk) - carved their own propellers, and had a purpose-built engine made by Charlie Taylor in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. The propellers had an 80% efficiency rate. The engine was superior to manufactured ones, having a high enough power-to-weight ratio to use on an aeroplane. The chains used to drive the propellers, though resembling those of bicycles, were heavy-duty hardware from a manufacturer of automobile chain-drives. While the early engines used by the Wright brothers are thought to no longer exist, a later example, serial number 17 from circa 1910, is on display at the New England Air Museum in Connecticut.

Answer 3

The Wright Bros made their own engine with the help of Charlie Taylor, a mechanic. It produced around 16 horsepower and weighed about 200 pounds (91 Kgs)

Answer 4

They built their own engine after they were unable to find an engine with a low weight to high horsepower ratio.

Weight is one of the most important concerns of aircraft builders. Even today, aircraft manufacturers spend millions of dollars and thousands of engineering man hours in order to find ways to reduce weight on various aircraft components.

Answer 5

They got it from their dad Banty Wright who worked for American Automatic (American LaFrance) in Elmira NY at the time. It was either a test/booster engine made at the American LaFrance Fire Apparatus facilities or a Herschell-Spillman carousel engine. They swapped them out alot. The American LaFrance engines were lighter but the Herschell-Spillman engines were more reliable.

Answer 6

They made it them selfs four cyl flat engine with poppet valves piston sucked open the valve letting in the next air and fuel

Answer 7

They built it themselves out of cast aluminum there is a PBS program that shows how they did it but I cant remember the name

Answer 8

Homemade!