Although December 17, 1903, is heralded as the date of the first controlled powered flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright may never have succeeded were it not for their groundbreaking work in aerodynamics with a homemade wind tunnel. The Wright brothers were the first to compare their wind tunnel observations to the performance of actual aircraft. The story of their successful venture not only highlights a triumph of the human spirit, but also serves as an authentic context in which to explore aviation content through science as inquiry.