It appears that the journalist FRANÇOIS PEYREY said: "For a long time, the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluff...They are today hallowed in France, and I feel an intense pleasure ... to make amends." not Ernest Archdeacon
Ernest Archdeacon is quoted as admitting that "he had committed an injustice in disbelieving the Wrights' achievements" (see 1). However, I found that the journalist Francois Peyrey, who, in August 1908, wrote a book that praised the achievements of the Wright brothers, was the one who said what aviation history books attribute to Archdeacon (see 2).
Whether Francois Peyrey took money to write the book or not, I do not know, but many of his affirmations are simply ridiculous, like (see 2): "It would be as ridiculous to challenge the first flight of December 17, 1903, in North Carolina, as to deny the existence of the recent tests at Sarthe (Le Mans, France, Aug. 1908)."
Just because W. Wright flew a powered plane in front of credible witnesses on Aug. 8, 1908 it does not mean he also flew in 1903, 1904 or 1905. The logic of Peyrey was evidently not good.
(1) "For a moment, patriotic loyalty withered. Even Ernest Archdeacon lowered the French tricolor long enough to make a brief concession. “For a long time, for too long a time, the Wright brothers have been accused in Europe of bluff--even perhaps in the land of their birth. They are today hallowed in France, and I feel an intense pleasure in counting myself among the first to make amends for that flagrant injustice.""
Source: James Tobin, "To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight", pag. 309
(2) "J'ai eu moi-même (François Peyrey) la bonne fortune de me trouver aux Hunaudières, le 8 août 1908, date de la mémorable démonstration. Je vais donc essayer de donner à nos lecteurs une idée de la maîtrise incomparable des aviateurs américains, dans l'art prestigieux d'imiter les oiseaux.
Longtemps, trop longtemps, les frères Wright ont été accusés de bluff en Europe, peut-être même dans leur pays natal. Ils sont aujourd'hui consacrés par la France, et je (François Peyrey) ressens un plaisir intense de compter parmi les premiers qui répareront la flagrante injustice.
Wilbur Wright a volé, nous l'avons vu évoluer, nous avons constaté son expérience datant de plusieurs années, sa connaissance approfondie du métier d'oiseau. Il serait tout aussi puéril de contester le premier vol du 17 décembre 1903, dans la Caroline du Nord, que de nier les récentes expériences de la Sarthe.
Je me trouvais donc, le 8 août, à la première heure, sur l'hippodrome des Hunaudières (8 km. du Mans, route de Tours). ..."
Source: FRANÇOIS PEYREY, "Les Premiers Hommes=Oiseaux Wilbur et Orville WRIGHT", PARIS, Henry Guiton, Imprimeur - Editeur, 35, rue de Trévise,35, pag 37 -38, 1908, https://archive.org/stream/lespremie...e/n46/mode/2up
Last edited by simplex1; 20th Jun 2014 at 01:42.