The Wright Flyer III was the third powered aircraft by the Wright Brothers, built during the winter of 1904–05. Orville Wright made the first flight with it on June 23, 1905. The Wright Flyer III had an airframe of spruce construction with a wing camber of 1-in-20 as used in 1903, rather than the less effective 1-in-25 used in 1904. The new machine was equipped with the engine and other hardware from the scrapped Flyer II and, after major modifications, achieved much greater performance than Flyers I and II.
The Wright Flyer III in its two-seat configuration at Kill Devil Hills, May 1908. Take-offs were made from the monorail launch track; the catapult and derrick were not used. This is the only surviving Wright brothers photo of the airplane in this configuration. A news photographer took a picture of the aircraft in flight from a distance, but very few details are visible.
The start of the first flight of Flyer III, June 23, 1905, Orville at the controls. The catapult tower, which they began using in September 1904, is at right, photographed for the first time. It helped accelerate the aircraft to takeoff speed. The Flyer looks virtually identical to the previous two powered versions, but noticeably different from its later appearance, after the Wrights extended and enlarged the elevator and rudder. According to the Library of Congress: "The two figures in the center are probably Wilbur Wright and
The Wright Flyer made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.
Displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the Frieze of American History detail The Birth of Aviation depicts Leonardo da Vinci, Samuel Langley, Octave Chanute, and the Wright Flyer's first flight
Distant view of the Wright airplane just after landing, taken from the starting point, with wing-rest in center of picture and launching rail at right. This flight, the fourth and final of 17 December 1903, was the longest: 852 feet (260 m) covered in 59 seconds. The photo was published in 1908.