2 The first planes

Chapter 2 The first planes Wilbur and Orville Wright were brothers who lived in America. They built bikes, but what they really wanted to build were planes.

威尔伯·莱特和奥维尔·莱特是住在美国的兄弟。 他们造自行车，但他们真正想造的是飞机。

Their first machine was a glider like Sir George's. In a strong wind, it could lift off the ground on its own. Orville and Wilbur flew... and crashed... and flew... and crashed. But all the time, they were learning about flying.

他们的第一台机器是一架像乔治爵士那样的滑翔机。 在强风中，它可以自行飞离地面。 奥维尔和威尔伯飞了起来…… 和崩溃……和飞…… 和崩溃。但一直以来，他们都在学习飞行。

Then they built planes with engines. These had spinning blades called propellers. The blades will push the air back and that will pull the plane forward. Finally, they had a plane they were sure would fly. They were so excited they tossed a coin to see who would fly first. Wilbur won.

然后他们制造了带有引擎的飞机。 它们有旋转的叶片，叫做螺旋桨。 叶片会将空气向后推，从而将飞机向前拉。 终于，他们有了一架肯定能飞的飞机。 他们非常兴奋，就掷硬币看谁先飞起来。 威尔伯赢了。

He crashed! It took two days to fix the plane. Then, on December 17, 1903, it was Orville's turn. Gently, he climbed into the cockpit and started the engine. The plane took off... and it flew!

他坠毁!修理飞机花了两天时间。 然后，在1903年12月17日，轮到奥维尔了。 他轻轻地爬进驾驶舱，发动了引擎。 飞机起飞了……它飞起来了！

But taking off wasn't as easy as it sounds. The Wright brothers had to build a track and pulley system to help. Weights were fixed to a rope which was tied to the plane. Hey, you! Get off the track!

但起飞并不像听起来那么容易。 莱特兄弟不得不建造一个轨道和滑轮系统来帮助他们。 砝码被固定在绑在飞机上的绳子上。 嘿,你!离开轨道！

Mechanics started the engine, the weights dropped and the plane shot along the launching track. This helped build up speed to lift the plane into the air. I could use a rope to pull me along!

机械师启动了引擎，重量下降，飞机沿着发射轨道飞驰。 这有助于增加速度，使飞机升到空中。 我可以用绳子拉我！