The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
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The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew a powered plane for the first time in 1908.
I know that books teach us the Wright brothers were the first to fly a heavier than air machine but, if one starts to study primary sources, documents of the time, he finds absolutely no serious evidence the two inventors really flew in 1903, 1904 or 1905.
There are many technical problems with "Flyer I 1903". The plane was unstable, underpowered and had propellers that appeared only in 1908, exactly in the same year when the Wright brothers flew for the first time in front of credible witnesses, beyond any doubt, using planes built in France in 1908 with french engines (Bariquand & Marre) and french propellers.
Beside the technical aspects (see the internet address I attached to this text, for a detailed analysis) which demonstrate "Flyer I 1903" was unflyable, there is also the declaration of Alpheus W. Drinkwater, telegraph operator, who clearly said:
"the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908"
"Wilbur and Orville Wright are credited with making their first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine on Dec. 17, 1903. But Alpheus W. Drinkwater, 76 years old, who sent the telegraph message ushering in the air age, said the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908, he said." Source: New York Times, Dec. 17, 1951.
Another witness, John T. Daniels, in a 1933 letter addressed to a friend, wrote he had seen the plane being carried up on a hill twice. In one picture, Daniels claimed he had made himself (see image 1), the slope going down in front of the airplane, that had just taken off, is visible. Another picture, with the plane landed, displays a big sand dune in the background as if the plane came from it.
For more details and evidence see:
http://wright-brothers.wikidot.com
and read it with care before making comments.
1) Detail from the well known picture showing "Flyer I 1903" taking off on Dec. 17, 1903. The slope going down in front of the plane is clearly visible.
2) "Flyer I 1903" on the ground (just landed) after its last (59 seconds) alleged flight performed on Dec. 17, 1903. A big sand dune can be seen in the background as if the plane came from it.
3) The declaration of Alpheus W. Drinkwater: "the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908".
I know that books teach us the Wright brothers were the first to fly a heavier than air machine but, if one starts to study primary sources, documents of the time, he finds absolutely no serious evidence the two inventors really flew in 1903, 1904 or 1905.
There are many technical problems with "Flyer I 1903". The plane was unstable, underpowered and had propellers that appeared only in 1908, exactly in the same year when the Wright brothers flew for the first time in front of credible witnesses, beyond any doubt, using planes built in France in 1908 with french engines (Bariquand & Marre) and french propellers.
Beside the technical aspects (see the internet address I attached to this text, for a detailed analysis) which demonstrate "Flyer I 1903" was unflyable, there is also the declaration of Alpheus W. Drinkwater, telegraph operator, who clearly said:
"the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908"
"Wilbur and Orville Wright are credited with making their first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine on Dec. 17, 1903. But Alpheus W. Drinkwater, 76 years old, who sent the telegraph message ushering in the air age, said the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908, he said." Source: New York Times, Dec. 17, 1951.
Another witness, John T. Daniels, in a 1933 letter addressed to a friend, wrote he had seen the plane being carried up on a hill twice. In one picture, Daniels claimed he had made himself (see image 1), the slope going down in front of the airplane, that had just taken off, is visible. Another picture, with the plane landed, displays a big sand dune in the background as if the plane came from it.
For more details and evidence see:
http://wright-brothers.wikidot.com
and read it with care before making comments.
1) Detail from the well known picture showing "Flyer I 1903" taking off on Dec. 17, 1903. The slope going down in front of the plane is clearly visible.
2) "Flyer I 1903" on the ground (just landed) after its last (59 seconds) alleged flight performed on Dec. 17, 1903. A big sand dune can be seen in the background as if the plane came from it.
3) The declaration of Alpheus W. Drinkwater: "the brothers only “glided” off Kill Devil Hill that day. Their first real flight came on May 6, 1908".
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stop being stupid and look at your own evidence.
look at photo 1
when the aircraft reached the end of the takeoff track it was how high in the air?
look at your own photo for the evidence.
look also at the propeller which can be seen running.
the wright brothers aren't remembered as the fathers of flight because they were the first to fly. they weren't. but they were the first to perfect controllable flight.
all subsequent aviation became possible because flight in the air could be controlled.
next you'll show photos "proving" that mankind hasn't been to the moon....
look at photo 1
when the aircraft reached the end of the takeoff track it was how high in the air?
look at your own photo for the evidence.
look also at the propeller which can be seen running.
the wright brothers aren't remembered as the fathers of flight because they were the first to fly. they weren't. but they were the first to perfect controllable flight.
all subsequent aviation became possible because flight in the air could be controlled.
next you'll show photos "proving" that mankind hasn't been to the moon....
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when the aircraft reached the end of the takeoff track it was how high in the air?
The speed of the headwind was 22 miles/hour = 35 km/h, (see: L'Aerophile, January 1904, L'Aérophile (Paris) ). At such a strong wind, blowing along the slope, uphill, the plane received a considerable lift. Without engine and propellers Flyer I would have taken off and glided a long distance!!
Just because the propellers were running it does not mean they generated enough thrust. A power assisted descent is not a real powered flight.
the wright brothers aren't remembered as the fathers of flight because they were the first to fly. they weren't. but they were the first to perfect controllable flight.
all subsequent aviation became possible because flight in the air could be controlled.
all subsequent aviation became possible because flight in the air could be controlled.
Regarding the priority of the Wright brothers, in being the first to perfect controllable flight, this is the most ridiculous claim aviation history books have perpetuated. "Flyer I 1903" was incredibly unstable as a few aviation experts have noticed:
Piloting "Flyer I 1903" is "like balancing a yardstick on one finger, two at one time. If you lose it, it goes — quickly, said Fred Culick …"
(1)"EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Aviation experts … have found the Wright stuff — in the hands of modern pilots … — is a little wrong."
(2)"I'd say it was almost a miracle they were able to fly it, said Jack Cherne"
(3)"Using that data, they created a computer flight simulator that shows the plane to be so unstable, it is nearly impossible to fly."
(4)"It's like balancing a yardstick on one finger, two at one time. If you lose it, it goes — quickly, said Fred Culick …"
(5)"Every pilot, his first try, crashed the simulator. It took less than a second, said Capt. Tim Jorris".
(6)"I thoroughly cannot imagine the Wright brothers, having very little experience in powered aircraft, getting this airborne and flying, said Major Mike Jansen. "My respect for what they did went up immediately the first time I took the controls.""
(7)"Modifications will include … . A computer feedback system will assist the pilot. We want the experience, but we don't want to kill ourselves, Cherne said."
see: USATODAY.com - Wright Flyer a handful for today's pilots
The 2003 replica of "Flyer I 1903" couldn't fly more than 115 feet (35 m)
The 2003 accurate replica of the Wright brothers' plane (tested on December 17, 1903) was not able to do more than short flights (using a more powerful engine than the original). None of its takeoffs came close to the claimed 852 feet, 59 seconds best flight performed on December 17, 1903. What the 2003 experiment really showed was that the 1903 airplane could have been theoretically able to take off and fly chaotically for 100 - 115 feet, no more. "Flyer I" was uncontrollable and not capable to execute a sustained 59 sec. flight.
1) "On November 20, 2003, Dr. Kevin Kochersberger piloted the 1903 Wright Experience Replica Flyer. With 15-18 mph winds he flew a distance of nearly 100 feet."
see video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1mscspl-VU
2) "December 3, 2003 test flight of the Wright Experience 1903 Wright Flyer Replica. Dr. Kevin Kochersberger was at the controls and piloted the Flyer for a distance of 115 feet. Slight cross wind after initial rotation which is compensated with slight wing warp."
see video:
People (ex., Henri Farman) flew stably, in close circuit, for about 19 minutes, without Wing Warping or any kind of aileron, before Aug. 8, 1908 the day when the Wright brothers showed their plane and performed their first public flight (1 min and 45 sec). All the things the Wright brothers claimed as their invention, in the patent they finally got on May 22, 1906, were simply non essential for stable flight or controlling the trajectory of planes.
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Wing Warping as an effective method to steer a glider (plane) can not be considered the invention of the Wright brothers
Mouillard and Octave Chanute have a clear priority
There is the US patent No. 582,757 of 1897 by Mouillard and Octave Chanute (see: https://www.google.com/patents/US582757 ) which describes a glider equipped with flexible wing tips. The deformation level of the wings extremities is controlled by the pilot with the main goal to steer the plane to the right of left efficiently.
Excerpt from the US patent No. 582,757 by Mouillard and Octave Chanute (a professor the Wright brothers knew before they built their first gliders):
"In order to provide for the horizontal steering of the apparatus-that is, the guiding it to the right or left--I substitute for the ordinary rudder a novel and more effective arrangement. A portion (J) of the fabric at the rear of each wing is free from the frame at its outer edge and at the sides. It is stiffened with suitable blades or slats (N), of flexible material, and normally rests up against the netting. Cords (O) are attached to the rear edge of the portion (J') and pass forward to rings (P), where they unite and run to the handles (Q) near the inner ends of the wings. A pull upon one of these handles causes the portion (J') to curve downward (as shown in fig. 10), and thus catch the air, increasing the resistance upon that side of the apparatus and causing it to turn in that direction. Any other equivalent device for creating at will an additional resistance to the air on either side of the apparatus may be employed, and I do not limit myself to the one shown and described....
"The horizontal steering is effected by the downwardly movable rear portion (J') of the fabric in the manner already described. When both sides are pulled down together, they serve as an effective brake to cheek the speed."
As a note: The Wright brothers have a patent published on May 22, 1906 also for a glider not a powered plane (same as Mouillard). The brevet, amongst other things, claims Wing Warping (deforming the wing tips) as a method for effectively steering a glider.
L. P. Mouillard's glider with flexible wing tips.
Mouillard and Octave Chanute have a clear priority
There is the US patent No. 582,757 of 1897 by Mouillard and Octave Chanute (see: https://www.google.com/patents/US582757 ) which describes a glider equipped with flexible wing tips. The deformation level of the wings extremities is controlled by the pilot with the main goal to steer the plane to the right of left efficiently.
Excerpt from the US patent No. 582,757 by Mouillard and Octave Chanute (a professor the Wright brothers knew before they built their first gliders):
"In order to provide for the horizontal steering of the apparatus-that is, the guiding it to the right or left--I substitute for the ordinary rudder a novel and more effective arrangement. A portion (J) of the fabric at the rear of each wing is free from the frame at its outer edge and at the sides. It is stiffened with suitable blades or slats (N), of flexible material, and normally rests up against the netting. Cords (O) are attached to the rear edge of the portion (J') and pass forward to rings (P), where they unite and run to the handles (Q) near the inner ends of the wings. A pull upon one of these handles causes the portion (J') to curve downward (as shown in fig. 10), and thus catch the air, increasing the resistance upon that side of the apparatus and causing it to turn in that direction. Any other equivalent device for creating at will an additional resistance to the air on either side of the apparatus may be employed, and I do not limit myself to the one shown and described....
"The horizontal steering is effected by the downwardly movable rear portion (J') of the fabric in the manner already described. When both sides are pulled down together, they serve as an effective brake to cheek the speed."
As a note: The Wright brothers have a patent published on May 22, 1906 also for a glider not a powered plane (same as Mouillard). The brevet, amongst other things, claims Wing Warping (deforming the wing tips) as a method for effectively steering a glider.
L. P. Mouillard's glider with flexible wing tips.
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"Flyer I 1903" had a propeller placed underneath that revolved horizontally!!, according to an article signed Wilbur Wright and published in Feb. 1904
"One of the propellers was set to revolve vertically and intended to give a forward motion, while the other underneath the machine and revolving horizontally, was to assist in sustaining it in the air. … After the motor device was completed, two flights were made by my brother and two by myself on December 17th last."
Source, "The Experiments of a Flying Man", author Wilbur Wright, The Independent, Feb. 04, 1904, pag. 246, internet address The Experiments of a Flying Man [Wilbur Wright, Independent, February 1904] | Library of Congress
Definitely, the flying machine W. Wright talked about in the article is not the one with two pusher propellers, well known from pictures published for the first time in September 1908 in "The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane" that appeared in The Century Magazine (see The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane [Orville and Wilbur Wright, The Century Magazine, September 1908] | Library of Congress , page 644 ).
In conclusion, two different articles, written by the same Wright brothers and published more than four years and half apart, talk about two distinct airplanes (two different Flyer I) as flying on Dec. 17, 1903. The brothers definitely lied in one of the two texts. There is no way they could have told the truth in both articles.
"Flyer I" with a propeller beneath appeared in numerous publications as late as May 1906 (see: Scrapbooks: January 1902-December 1908 | Library of Congress ).
"One of the propellers was set to revolve vertically and intended to give a forward motion, while the other underneath the machine and revolving horizontally, was to assist in sustaining it in the air. … After the motor device was completed, two flights were made by my brother and two by myself on December 17th last."
Source, "The Experiments of a Flying Man", author Wilbur Wright, The Independent, Feb. 04, 1904, pag. 246, internet address The Experiments of a Flying Man [Wilbur Wright, Independent, February 1904] | Library of Congress
Definitely, the flying machine W. Wright talked about in the article is not the one with two pusher propellers, well known from pictures published for the first time in September 1908 in "The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane" that appeared in The Century Magazine (see The Wright Brothers' Aeroplane [Orville and Wilbur Wright, The Century Magazine, September 1908] | Library of Congress , page 644 ).
In conclusion, two different articles, written by the same Wright brothers and published more than four years and half apart, talk about two distinct airplanes (two different Flyer I) as flying on Dec. 17, 1903. The brothers definitely lied in one of the two texts. There is no way they could have told the truth in both articles.
"Flyer I" with a propeller beneath appeared in numerous publications as late as May 1906 (see: Scrapbooks: January 1902-December 1908 | Library of Congress ).
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IT WAS A POWERED FLIGHT (4 flights actually). IT started from level without a catapult. Members of the UNITED STATES LIFE SAVING SERVICE were witnesses. (the life saving service was the start of the coast guard, SEMPER PARATUS) They also helped in moving the plane.
"Manteo NC, June 30 —- 1933,
Dear friend,
I Don’t know very much to write about the flight. I was there, and it was on Dec the 17, — 1903 about 10 o’clock. They carried the machine up on the Hill and Put her on the track, and started the engine … and he went about 100 feet or more, and then Mr. Wilbur taken the machine up on the Hill and Put her on the track and he went off across the Beach about a half a mile …
Sincerely,
John T. Daniels, Manteo NC, Box 1W"
Source: Eyewitness Account of First Flight by John Daniels
John Daniels talks about two, not four flights, and clearly specifies the plane was carried up on a hill before each flight.
Engine assisted descents in strong headwinds do not qualify as true powered flights.
WING WARPING was not the EUREKA MOMENT of the WRIGHT's. IT WAS THE RUDDER which, when coupled to the movement of the WING WARPING overcame what the WRIGHT's called, "WARP DRAG" and what we now call adverse aileron yaw.
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The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
I'm still trying to figure out your angle in all this. I've recently finished Assassins Creed IV, tell me, you wouldn't happen to have one blue eye and one brown?
The engine sustained the Flyer, and although a modern pilot with training on modern aircraft have trouble handling the Flyer, the brothers Wright had experience with their design style already.
In the words of the Ice Queen, Let it go, let it goooo...
The engine sustained the Flyer, and although a modern pilot with training on modern aircraft have trouble handling the Flyer, the brothers Wright had experience with their design style already.
In the words of the Ice Queen, Let it go, let it goooo...
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How could an unqualified man have designed and built an engine in 6 weeks?!
About the engine that powered "Flyer I 1903" various authors said that:
"The Wrights wrote to several engine manufacturers, but none met their need for a sufficiently lightweight power-plant. They turned to their shop mechanic, Charlie Taylor, who built an engine in just six weeks in close consultation with the brothers."
The article about Taylor ( Charlie Taylor (mechanic) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) also does not bring more light saying just that Taylor was a mechanic hired by Wright brothers to repair bicycles and "He designed and built the aluminum water-cooled engine in only six weeks, based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights."
It is not uncommon for a mechanic to adapt a ready made engine to a specific purpose, but to design it from scratch and build it in 6 weeks is simply incredible.
About the engine that powered "Flyer I 1903" various authors said that:
"The Wrights wrote to several engine manufacturers, but none met their need for a sufficiently lightweight power-plant. They turned to their shop mechanic, Charlie Taylor, who built an engine in just six weeks in close consultation with the brothers."
The article about Taylor ( Charlie Taylor (mechanic) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) also does not bring more light saying just that Taylor was a mechanic hired by Wright brothers to repair bicycles and "He designed and built the aluminum water-cooled engine in only six weeks, based partly on rough sketches provided by the Wrights."
It is not uncommon for a mechanic to adapt a ready made engine to a specific purpose, but to design it from scratch and build it in 6 weeks is simply incredible.
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The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
Incredible but not impossible. My grandfather, god rest his soul, was 'only' a techy with GEC Marconi. But he had also been a Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineer corporal during National Service. When it came to anything with an engine, you could trust him to take care of the issue or have a contact who could.
Just because you can't, doesn't mean others can't.
I posit again, what is your angle and beef? Who are you touting as the true first pilot? Ikarus does not count and da Vinci is out of the running also.
Just because you can't, doesn't mean others can't.
I posit again, what is your angle and beef? Who are you touting as the true first pilot? Ikarus does not count and da Vinci is out of the running also.
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Incredible but not impossible. My grandfather ...
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although a modern pilot with training on modern aircraft have trouble handling the Flyer, the brothers Wright had experience with their design style already.
2) Replicas of the gliders built by the Wright brothers were flown without problems by many people. Flyer I, despite the fact it resembles the gliders, behaves quite differently. It is a different machine.
3) Apart from Kevin Kochersberger and his team there was a group of pilots who tried to fly a Learjet 24D programmed to behave like the original Flyer I and they failed.
"The exercise also humbled experienced Air Force test pilots.
"Every pilot, his first try, crashed the simulator. It took less than a second," said Capt. Tim Jorris, one of a small group of pilots at Edwards Air Force Base who tried the simulator.
The pilots eventually took to the skies in a Learjet 24D programmed to fly like the original Flyer. Most had to rely on a computer-assisted stability system to keep the jet aloft.
"I thoroughly cannot imagine the Wright brothers, having very little experience in powered aircraft, getting this airborne and flying," said Major Mike Jansen. "My respect for what they did went up immediately the first time I took the controls.""
Source: USATODAY.com - Wright Flyer a handful for today's pilots
In conclusion, the modern pilots trained and already knew how to handle Flyer I before taking the controls.
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simplex you are a revisionist crank and are deluding yourself and wasting pprune space.
1. 30 years AFTER the fact, daniels writes a little note. You do not know the state of mind he was in when (and if ) he wrote the note. He may have been a victim of disease, drugs, or booze. AND NO ONE ELSE of the company of men who watched the flights was contacted or questioned.
IF there was any question about the flight, it would have to have come to light within 10 years of the flight to have any real meaning. I am using 10 years as the time frame because it was during Wilbur's life and would have come up in patent battles in court. BUT IT DID NOT>
REally, how hard was it to build a crude engine? They had a mechanical shop, and could easily get supplies. I'll bet you don't even know what a "make and break" ignition system is. Automobiles were relatively new then and engines were as easy to make as a trip to a computer store was 30 years ago. Provided you had the place to make it (and they did).
Wondering if you even know that Orville built a wind tunnel to test the designs of the wings? Engines, Wind Tunnels , and what have you made simplex?
While it is true that the Wrights did go back to separate rudder and wingwarping/aileron controls, I will remind you that an award winning plane many years later used the same idea of an interconnected rudder and aileron system (ercoupe).
BUT what they did figure out was that you needed RUDDER to overcome warp drag (adverse aileron yaw).
YOU SIR are sadly misinformed.
MODS, please close the thread unless this person has personal information gleaned from direct , empiric observation.
OH and computer simulations of airplanes? Unless they were multi million dollar high quality, airline type , simulators, I can't fly the little computer simulations either. but don't tell all those people sitting behind me, and the flight attendants and my copilot!
I am amazed at your poor analysis. I am amazed at your gullibility in this matter.
REVISIONIST CRANK and a poor one at that.
LOCK IT UP MODS! Over and Out.
1. 30 years AFTER the fact, daniels writes a little note. You do not know the state of mind he was in when (and if ) he wrote the note. He may have been a victim of disease, drugs, or booze. AND NO ONE ELSE of the company of men who watched the flights was contacted or questioned.
IF there was any question about the flight, it would have to have come to light within 10 years of the flight to have any real meaning. I am using 10 years as the time frame because it was during Wilbur's life and would have come up in patent battles in court. BUT IT DID NOT>
REally, how hard was it to build a crude engine? They had a mechanical shop, and could easily get supplies. I'll bet you don't even know what a "make and break" ignition system is. Automobiles were relatively new then and engines were as easy to make as a trip to a computer store was 30 years ago. Provided you had the place to make it (and they did).
Wondering if you even know that Orville built a wind tunnel to test the designs of the wings? Engines, Wind Tunnels , and what have you made simplex?
While it is true that the Wrights did go back to separate rudder and wingwarping/aileron controls, I will remind you that an award winning plane many years later used the same idea of an interconnected rudder and aileron system (ercoupe).
BUT what they did figure out was that you needed RUDDER to overcome warp drag (adverse aileron yaw).
YOU SIR are sadly misinformed.
MODS, please close the thread unless this person has personal information gleaned from direct , empiric observation.
OH and computer simulations of airplanes? Unless they were multi million dollar high quality, airline type , simulators, I can't fly the little computer simulations either. but don't tell all those people sitting behind me, and the flight attendants and my copilot!
I am amazed at your poor analysis. I am amazed at your gullibility in this matter.
REVISIONIST CRANK and a poor one at that.
LOCK IT UP MODS! Over and Out.
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A big sand dune can be seen in the background as if the plane came from it.
The following video gives some idea of the elevator/pitch stability and control. This film was taken in Italy on April 24, 1909. It is the first time a motion picture was ever shot from a plane in flight. The footage shows what it was like to fly on one of the early Wright craft, with Wilbur at the helm.
https://ia600700.us.archive.org/29/i...Italy_1909.mp4
Last edited by Brian Abraham; 27th May 2014 at 01:15. Reason: add video
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IF you look carefully at the video, you can see the tiny bit of yarn used as an angle of attack gauge.
The Wrights were not just bicycle mechanics, they put a huge amount of scientific effort into their work. In fact, they discovered that lillienthal's equations for flight were in error.
Octave Chanute by the way was very impressed with the Wrights and even joined them one summer at Kitty Hawk with his own glider. Chanute wrote very positively about the Wrights and the US govt took notice.
OF COURSE Chanute was there and simplex1 is still pretty far away from Kitty Hawk,Nc
The Wrights were not just bicycle mechanics, they put a huge amount of scientific effort into their work. In fact, they discovered that lillienthal's equations for flight were in error.
Octave Chanute by the way was very impressed with the Wrights and even joined them one summer at Kitty Hawk with his own glider. Chanute wrote very positively about the Wrights and the US govt took notice.
OF COURSE Chanute was there and simplex1 is still pretty far away from Kitty Hawk,Nc
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30 years AFTER the fact, daniels writes a little note. You do not know the state of mind he was in when (and if ) he wrote the note. He may have been a victim of disease, drugs, or booze. AND NO ONE ELSE of the company of men who watched the flights was contacted or questioned.
In a statement made 32 years later on 12 March 1935, Mr. J. T. Daniels, then a member of the Nags Head Coast Guard Station, stated:
"Orville Wright made the first flight in the plane with the power in it, between then and eleven o'clock, the 17th of December, 1903, and he went some 100 feet. Then we carried it back on the hill and put it on the track and Mr. Wilbur Wright got in the machine and went about one half mile out across the beach towards the ocean. Then we carried the machine back to camp and set it down and the wind breezed up and blew it over and just smashed it to pieces with me hanging on to it. The way they decided who was to make the first flight was as they were talking, Wilbur and Orville walked aside and flipped a coin, and Orville won the toss and he made the first flight."
Mr. A. D. Etheridge who was at the Nags Head Lifesaving Station on March 12, 1935, gave a few more details on the preparation for the flight in 1903 when he was stationed at the Kill Devil Lifesaving Station:"We assisted in every way and I hauled the lumber for the camp. We really helped around there hauling timber and carrying mail out to them each day. It would come from Kitty Hawk by patrol each night. In pretty weather we would be out there while they were gliding, watching them. Then after they began to assemble the machine in the house, they would let us in and we began to become interested in carrying the mail just to look on and see what they were doing. They did not mind us at all because they knew where we were from and know us. We inquired what day they expected to fly. Finally they told us the day. Finally, on this day, the 17th of December, Daniels, Dough and myself were out there helping to get the machine out of the camp out on the track. They started the motor, testing it out for quite a while. Finally, they got to talking about getting together about flying and got it ready to turn loose. Finally, they decided to try the flight and then they went on just about the way you have been told by Daniels. They talked matters over---how delighted they were in what they had done in their flights and were expecting to try it---the machine---over and they gave up right then an packed up and went home. They said they were very well satisfied with what they had done. At that time they assembled everything they wanted to take away. They said they were going to take the engine back with them and the wings of the plane they left with me. Later I got a letter from a man in Philadelphia telling that Wilbur had written and told him that I had the old plane and that he wanted to buy it if I would dispose of it; so I wrote him a letter that I would sell it to him for $25.00. He sent me a check for it, and it is right here that I lost a fortune if I had kept it."
Source: USCG: Frequently Asked Questions
The 1935 declaration of A. D. Etheridge contains another big trouble for the Wright brothers' credibility. Etheridge said the two inventors had taken just the engine back with them while the plane remained with Etheridge who latter sold it for 25$ (big money for 1903).Source: USCG: Frequently Asked Questions
The story of Orville Wright is that he and his brother took the remains of the 1903 plane back with them and latter Orville rebuilt the plane which reached England, remained there till after WWII and finally returned in US, being displayed now in a museum.
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about curtiss, the man who stole patented material from the wrights.
yes, he was a heckuva mechanic. but to be sure, the aileron (french for small wing) was part of alexander graham bells business. bell, trying desperately to save the reputation of langley, paid curtiss to come up with a plane.
bell wanted curtiss to prove that langley's aerodrome could fly, but curtiss was more interested in "THE WRIGHT WAY" to fly.
amazingly enough, wright became a company that built engines, curtiss built airframes and curtiss wright became one.
yes, he was a heckuva mechanic. but to be sure, the aileron (french for small wing) was part of alexander graham bells business. bell, trying desperately to save the reputation of langley, paid curtiss to come up with a plane.
bell wanted curtiss to prove that langley's aerodrome could fly, but curtiss was more interested in "THE WRIGHT WAY" to fly.
amazingly enough, wright became a company that built engines, curtiss built airframes and curtiss wright became one.
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OH and computer simulations of airplanes? Unless they were multi million dollar high quality, airline type , simulators, I can't fly the little computer simulations either.
"The pilots eventually took to the skies in a Learjet 24D programmed to fly like the original Flyer. Most had to rely on a computer-assisted stability system to keep the jet aloft."
Source: USATODAY.com - Wright Flyer a handful for today's pilots