<P> The Wrights wrote to several engine manufacturers, but none could meet their need for a sufficiently lightweight powerplant . They turned to their shop mechanic, Charlie Taylor, who built an engine in just six weeks in close consultation with the brothers . To keep the weight down the engine block was cast from aluminum, a rare practice at the time . The Wright / Taylor engine had a primitive version of a carburetor, and had no fuel pump . Gasoline was gravity - fed from the fuel tank mounted on a wing strut into a chamber next to the cylinders where it was mixed with air: the fuel - air mixture was then vaporized by heat from the crankcase, forcing it into the cylinders . </P> <P> The propeller drive chains, resembling those of bicycles, were supplied by a manufacturer of heavy - duty automobile chains . The Flyer cost less than a thousand dollars, in contrast to more than $50,000 in government funds given to Samuel Langley for his man - carrying Great Aerodrome . The Flyer had a wingspan of 40.3 ft (12.3 m), weighed 605 lb (274 kg) and had a 12 horsepower (8.9 kW) 180 lb (82 kg) engine . </P> <P> In camp at Kill Devil Hills, they endured weeks of delays caused by broken propeller shafts during engine tests . After the shafts were replaced (requiring two trips back to Dayton), Wilbur won a coin toss and made a three - second flight attempt on December 14, 1903, stalling after takeoff and causing minor damage to the Flyer . (Because December 13, 1903, was a Sunday, the brothers did not make any attempts that day, even though the weather was good, so their first powered test flight happened on the 121st anniversary of the first test flight that the Montgolfier brothers had done, on December 14, 1782 .) In a message to their family, Wilbur referred to the trial as having "only partial success", stating "the power is ample, and but for a trifling error due to lack of experience with this machine and this method of starting, the machine would undoubtedly have flown beautifully ." Following repairs, the Wrights finally took to the air on December 17, 1903, making two flights each from level ground into a freezing headwind gusting to 27 miles per hour (43 km / h). The first flight, by Orville at 10: 35 am, of 120 feet (37 m) in 12 seconds, at a speed of only 6.8 miles per hour (10.9 km / h) over the ground, was recorded in a famous photograph . The next two flights covered approximately 175 and 200 feet (53 and 61 m), by Wilbur and Orville respectively . Their altitude was about 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground . The following is Orville Wright's account of the final flight of the day: </P> <P> Wilbur started the fourth and last flight at just about 12 o'clock . The first few hundred feet were up and down, as before, but by the time three hundred ft had been covered, the machine was under much better control . The course for the next four or five hundred feet had but little undulation . However, when out about eight hundred feet the machine began pitching again, and, in one of its darts downward, struck the ground . The distance over the ground was measured to be 852 feet; the time of the flight was 59 seconds . The frame supporting the front rudder was badly broken, but the main part of the machine was not injured at all . We estimated that the machine could be put in condition for flight again in about a day or two . </P>

How many times did it take the wright brothers to fly
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