Wright Brothers Content Document

Exhibition #3 – Wright Brothers “The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age” exhibit shows the history of the Wright brothers, their many accomplishments, and the impact they had on aviation and the world. The main artifacts in this gallery are, the original 1903 Wright Flyer, reproductions of two of the gliders, a kite created before the Wright Flyer, and an original Wright St. Clair bicycle. The exhibit is styled in an early 20th century look that fits the history and artifacts being presented. Exhibition Space Gallery 107 is a windowless gallery that is approximately 5000 square feet with a 20 ft. high ceiling and a separate entrance and exit. All galleries will be delivered by the Revitalization project to the design team as black boxes with open ceilings and a lighting grid. The electrical and IT will be updated facilitating more cutting edge interactive and visitor experiences. Final electrical capacity and specific material finishes have not been defined and the contractor will be responsible to coordinate with the COTR the final black box details which are being developed. Contractor shall be responsible for verifying that they have the latest version of the Black Box description. Exhibition Scope The National Air and Space Museum seeks the services of talented and creative exhibit design professionals to assist in the updating of the existing Wright Brothers exhibition that will be moving to a new location but retaining its message, script, images, and artifacts, in essence, keeping same overall look, feel and style of the current exhibition. The main message of the exhibition is to explain who the Wright brothers were; what did they achieve; and what was the immediate impact of their invention on the broader world. Currently, The National Air and Space Museum (NASM), has an exhibition called “The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age” in gallery 209. Opened in October 2003, this exhibit shows the history of the Wright Brothers, their many accomplishments, and the impact they had on aviation and the world. The main artifacts in this gallery are, one of the original 1903 Wright Flyers, reproductions of two of the gliders and a kite created before the Wright Flyer, and an original Wright St. Clair bicycle. The exhibit is styled in an early 20th century look that fits the history and artifacts being presented. As a part of the revitalization of NASM, The Wright Brothers exhibit will be updated and moved from gallery 209 to gallery 107. The Wright Brothers gallery is being moved to this space to fit with the overall theme of the museum and will be around other early flights exhibits. This will be a “turnkey” process, as in updating the exhibit but keeping the same design of the exhibit. However, many areas of this exhibit need to be significantly updated or completely rebuilt.

Gallery 107 has a different layout than gallery 209, most notably that gallery 107 is flipped. The flipping will require a change in the flow of the gallery and the overall design will require a reconfiguration. In order to reconfigure the existing design to fit within the new space the gallery will need to be completely rebuilt and is priced as such. However, if parts can be salvaged for the new gallery and can save on costs they will be used in the new space. The components that have been identified as complete rebuilds are most notably, the Wright Brother’s house, Salon, Workshop (overhead entrance treatment), Wright Flyer platform will require rebuilding so that they fit the new gallery space. The files for the existing murals exist and will not require a new design but will require some modifications to fit the new space. The fencing around the Wright Flyer may be reusable, but some portions will have to be redone to fit the new arrangement of panels that currently rest on top of the fencing. In addition the team would like to keep the existing cases with slight upgrades (powder coated metal) support legs for the new gallery. Many of the mechanical interactives need to be fixed so they can either display the desired effects better or will be changed to computer interactives to give a better experience. Much of the hardware of the computer interactives will be upgraded as well as the interactives themselves.

There are additional items that didn’t exist in the gallery 209 exhibit will be added. Family labels will be added to some portions of the exhibit in order to explain these areas in easier terms. Labels for audio panels and some of the new interactives will be added. All of the graphic panels will be redesigned using existing content and design.

General replacements for lighting, flooring and walls will need to be done. The 2-D cutout figures will have a new updated laminate which reduces glare. Some information panels will change configuration so they can be read more easily.

The artifacts that are currently on display will be moved to the new space by NASM Collections staff who will handle all artifact for this exhibit to include de-installation, transportation to UHC for condition reporting, conservation, etc. and transportation to NMB for re-mounting as required. This exhibit does not require any artifact incoming loans or gifts.

The Wright Brothers exhibition in galley 209 is currently scheduled to be de-installed beginning on December 9, 2019 through to April 2, 2020. Under the current schedule galley 107 (zone 3) will be available for remounting from October 19, 2020 – June 21, 2021 (8 months). The existing gallery 209 (zone 5) will be de-installed from October 19, 2020 – January 1, 2021 (3 months). Given this timeframe once the artifacts are removed from display (10/20) they can undergo Collections processing and conservation for a re-installation within the last two months of the gallery space remount schedule (4/21 – 6/21). During this time climate controlled storage (artifact dependent) will be required as the artifacts are processed and prepared for remounting. We will need to take into account that for 6 months the Wright Flyer and St. Clair Bicycle may be off display and evaluate how that effects the gift agreement that requires both artifacts to remain on display at all times.

Big Ideas: • Innovation – How did we learn to fly? What people and ideas contributed to the invention of the airplane? • Industrialization: How did technical change and improvement occur, 1903‐1914? What factors led to technological advance? How did aviation grow to become an important industry? • Globalization: A technology without borders ‐ what role did government play in fostering aeronautical progress? What impact did varying levels of government support have on aeronautical progress in different nations? Was early aviation a global technology? What elements promoted technology transfer? • Flights of the Imagination: How did public perceptions of the potential of the airplane change attitudes toward science, technology and the future? What sort of individuals emerged as representatives of the new air age? Exhibition Goals The Exhibition core team is imagining a space where millions of museum visitors will: • Share the excitement of early flight with visitors. • Help visitors understand the birth of the relationship between government and the aeronautical industry. • Underscore the extent to which aviation was a global enterprise. • Understand the broad social, cultural, economic and political impact of flight on the world. • Explore factors supporting innovation and technological progress.

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THE WRIGHT BROTHERS & THE INVENTION OF THE AERIAL AGE The invention of the airplane by Wilbur and Orville Wright is one of the great stories in American history. It entails the creation of a world-changing technology at the opening of an exciting new century, an era full of promise and confidence in the future. At the center of the tale are two talented, yet modest, Midwestern bicycle shop proprietors, whose inventive labors and achievement transformed them from respected small-town businessmen into international celebrities. The influence of their invention on the 20th century is beyond measure. The transport by air of goods and people, quickly and over great distances, and the military applications of flight technology have had global economic, geopolitical, and cultural impact. The Wrights’ invention not only solved a long- studied technical problem, but also fashioned a radically new world. This exhibition explores who Wilbur and Orville Wright were, what they achieved and how they did it, and the world’s initial reaction to their revolutionary invention during the first decade of human flight.

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WB:000-L2 The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age This exhibition is made possible through the generous sponsorship of: Alcoa Additional support provided by: The Alvin, Lottie and Rachel Gray Fund Fred and Barbara Telling SI National Board Fish and Neave The Gayle H. and Peter Bickers Foundation The Funger Foundation, Inc., NormaLee and Morton Funger Daniel Greenberg, Susan Steinhauser and the Greenberg Foundation Leighton and Carol Read Mr. and Mrs. B. Francis Saul II

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WB:000-L3 “Round Trip” by Alan Stone Shortly after the Wright brothers’ historic flight at Kitty Hawk, Albert Einstein introduced the world to his Theory of Relativity, which had intriguing implications regarding time travel. Imagine taking a round trip on an airplane moving at the speed of light. While time would seem to pass normally both for you and for the people you left behind at the airport, it would actually pass much more slowly for you. When you returned, you would be younger than those people at the airport. How much younger would depend on the amount of time your trip had taken and your relative velocity during the trip. Many have speculated on the possibilities of time travel. With this in mind artist Alan Stone has created “Round Trip.” Visitors will be videotaped as they enter this gallery. Most will probably spend about 30 minutes visiting The Wright Brothers exhibition. When they leave the gallery 30 minutes later, they will see at the exit those projected video images. While this is not time dilation, it evokes the sense of seeing your identical twin just entering the gallery.

WB:000-L4 Visitors to The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age will be videotaped upon entering the gallery as part of an art installation titled “Round Trip,” by video artist Alan Stone. Tapes will be erased daily.

WB:000-L5 Wright Shop Scene (Above) Treadle lathe lent by Dudley Biddison Gaslights lent by Russell K. Cashdollar and Daniel W. Mattausch

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WB:100-L1-P1 (background) Why Wilbur and Orville? How did these two men, working essentially alone and with little formal scientific training, solve a problem so complex and demanding as heavier-than-air flight, which had defied better-

known experimenters for centuries? The fact that the Wrights invented a successful airplane quickly and with little assistance suggests sheer genius at work. Certainly the brothers were very bright and talented, but the true answer is more complex and lies partly in their background and early experiences. The explanation of why these seemingly ordinary bicycle mechanics emerged to change the world begins with another question: Who were Wilbur and Orville Wright?

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WB:110-L1 Family and Place Wilbur and Orville were shaped by a strong family with a clearly defined moral philosophy and worldview. Their success as inventors in part stemmed from several deeply instilled Wright family traits. The time and place in which they lived also contributed to their achievement. In the late 19th century, their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, was part of an emerging manufacturing and industrial region— an environment well suited to learning the engineering and mechanical skills integral to the brothers’ inventive work.

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WB:111-L1 Rooted in America The Wright family story parallels many threads and movements in American history. The Wrights took part in the initial European settlement of North America, the fight for independence from Great Britain, and the expansion of the young United States on the western frontier. Wilbur and Orville’s parents and grandparents also were active in the major social reform movements of the 19th century: the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women’s rights.

WB:111-L2-P2 Early American Origins The first American Wright, Samuel, was an English-born Puritan. He emigrated to Boston as part of the “Great Migration” of Puritans to Massachusetts in the 1630s, less than two decades after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:111-L3-P3 A Revolutionary Wright Samuel Wright’s great-great-grandson, Dan Wright, was born in Connecticut in 1757 and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He fought in the Battle of Saratoga. After the war, he earned a living as a carpenter and a farmer. Courtesy of the Army Art Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History

WB:111-L4-P4 Settling the Frontier Dan Wright and his family took part in the rapid American expansion and settlement of the western frontier. In 1814 they settled on a farm near Centerville, Ohio, just south of Dayton. His youngest son, also named Dan, married Catherine Reeder, a Centerville woman and the product of two first-generation Ohio families. Dan and Catherine— Wilbur and Orville’s grandparents—continued the Wright

tradition of moving west and settled on 80 acres in Indiana.

Courtesy of the Cincinnati Historical Society Library

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WB:112-L1 Family Matters The importance of family was central to the Wright brothers’ lives and a powerful influence in everything they did. Their father, Milton, was a strong and respected figure in the Wright household. He and his wife, Susan, imbued their children with their core values, which consistently guided Wilbur and Orville’s attitudes and actions. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:112-L2-P2 Their Father: Milton Wright Milton Wright was born in Indiana, where he grew up on the rugged edge of westward-advancing American society. The physical hardships of the frontier instilled self-reliance. His father, an ardent abolitionist and supporter of the temperance movement against alcohol consumption, passed on his strength of character, sureness of purpose, and sense of high moral resolve.

WB:112-L3 Intellectual and Religious As a boy, Milton was an avid reader. Despite long hours working on the family farm, he studied a wide range of subjects and prided himself on his efforts to improve himself and to train his mind to think. Drawn to a religious life as a young man, Milton joined a Midwestern Protestant sect called the Church of the United Brethren in Christ in 1846. He became an itinerant minister and quickly rose in the church hierarchy, ultimately being elected a bishop in 1877.

October 11, 2003, page 7 WB:112-L4-P4 Their Mother: Susan Wright Susan Catherine Koerner was born in Virginia, but like Milton she grew up on an Indiana farm and joined the Church of the United Brethren in Christ as a teenager. Susan met Milton while studying literature at Hartsville College in Indiana, an unusual opportunity for a woman at that time and place. Both were looking for a partner devoted to a life in the church. They married in 1859 after a long courtship.

WB:112-L5 The Mother of Invention Unlike Milton, Susan had considerable mechanical aptitude. As a girl she spent many hours with her father in his carriage shop on the family farm learning how to use tools. Once she had her own family and household, she designed and built simple appliances for herself and made toys for her children. As boys, Wilbur and Orville would consult their mother whenever they needed mechanical assistance or advice.

WB:112-L6-P6 “We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment, our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit.” Orville Wright

A Progressive Environment A social reformer, Milton clung to the liberal causes of his youth: the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women’s rights. He believed in equal opportunity for all. Both Milton and Susan benefited from parents who encouraged broad intellectual pursuits. They carried on this tradition with their own children.

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WB:113-L1-P1 The Politics of Piety Milton Wright was drawn to the Church of the United Brethren in Christ largely because of its stand on such political and moral issues as slavery, alcohol, and Freemasonry, rather than its theology. He believed in saving souls for the hereafter, but his main focus was convincing people to lead righteous lives while on earth.

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WB:113-L3-P3 Milton (front row, center) at a United Brethren convention, circa 1900.

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WB:114-L1 The Wright Family Milton and Susan Wright had seven children, including a set of twins named Otis and Ida, who were born between Wilbur and Orville and died in infancy. Photos courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:114-L2-P2 Milton Wright 1829–1917

WB:114-L3-P3 Susan Wright 1831–1889

WB:114-L4-P4 Reuchlin Wright 1861–1920 The Wrights’ oldest child grew into a restless young man. He failed twice at college, then moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889, distancing himself both physically and psychologically from the family. He worked there as a bookkeeper until 1901, when he moved onto a Kansas farm with his wife and children and raised cattle. Reuchlin built a good life for his family in Kansas, but he remained estranged from the Dayton clan.

October 11, 2003, page 10 WB:114-L5-P5 Lorin Wright 1862–1939 Lorin Wright found it difficult to make a living in Dayton and left for Kansas City in 1886. He struggled, briefly returned to Dayton, and then headed west again, this time scraping out an existence on the Kansas frontier for two years. Lonely and homesick, he returned home in 1889, married his childhood sweetheart in 1892, and settled down to a quiet life as a Dayton bookkeeper.

WB:114-L6-P6 Wilbur Wright 1867–1912 Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. He was his father’s favorite child and emerged as the dominant personality among the siblings. Wilbur died from typhoid at the age of 45.

WB:114-L7-P7 Orville Wright 1871–1948 Orville was born in Dayton on August 19, 1871. With Wilbur’s early death in 1912, and the passing of his father a few years later, Orville shouldered the role of family patriarch for the last 30 years of his long life. National Air and Space Museum photo

October 11, 2003, page 11 WB:114-L8-P8 Katharine Wright 1874–1929 Katharine was 15 years old when her mother died of tuberculosis in 1889. As the only female child, it was simply taken for granted that she would assume her mother’s role of caring for the family and managing the household, which she did.

WB:114-L9-P9 Career Woman Despite her new domestic responsibilities, Katharine continued to pursue her educational and career goals, things her parents encouraged for all their children. She excelled in high school and graduated from Oberlin College in 1898, the only Wright child to complete a full college course. She settled into a satisfying career as a teacher at a Dayton high school, while continuing to attend to her household duties.

WB:114-L10-P10 Katharine (center) out for a spin in an early automobile in 1903.

WB:114-L11 “No family ever had a happier childhood than ours. I was always in a hurry to get home after I had been away half a day.” Katharine Wright

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WB:115-L1 Dayton: A Place Called Home By the 1890s, Dayton, Ohio, was emerging as a typical city in an increasingly industrialized America. It boasted a growing manufacturing economy; modern municipal improvements, such as paved streets, electric lighting, streetcars, and a telephone system; and surging population growth. Milton Wright’s appointment as editor of the United Brethren in Christ church newspaper in 1869 first brought him and his family to Dayton, the city his sons would make famous.

WB:115-L2-P2 Rushing Toward the 20th Century By its centennial in 1896, Dayton was experiencing unprecedented expansion and economic strength. Its population had reached 80,000. With a thousand factories, machine shops, and foundries, it had become a national center for the production of farm implements, bicycles, metal castings, and railroad cars. Dayton was also home of the National Cash Register Company, a major force behind the city’s prosperity. Courtesy of Tom D. Crouch

WB:115-L3-P3 A Setting for Innovation Dayton’s emergence as a center of manufacturing and industry made it a place conducive to technological innovation. The Wright brothers’ own bicycle manufacturing business placed them squarely within this environment. Courtesy of Tom D. Crouch

October 11, 2003, page 13 WB:115-L4 “If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio.” Wilbur Wright, 1910

The Wrights Come to Dayton After several years on the move because of church assignments, Milton Wright and his family returned to Dayton for good in 1884. The Wright brothers lived a happy and contented life in Dayton. They were proud to be from Ohio and believed that growing up there gave them certain advantages in life.

WB:115-L5-P5 7 Hawthorn Street The Wright family home at 7 Hawthorn Street in west Dayton was where much of the creative thinking and planning behind the world’s first airplane took place. Wilbur and Orville added the shutters and built the wraparound porch. They resided at the Hawthorn Street house with their father and sister until Wilbur’s death in 1912. Henry Ford purchased the house, along with the Wrights’ bicycle shop, and moved them in 1937 to his Greenfield Village complex in Dearborn, Michigan, where they are open to the public.

WB:115-L6-P6 The parlor of the Wrights’ home. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:115-L7-P7 Katharine Wright taught at Steele High School in Dayton after graduating from Oberlin College in 1898. Courtesy of Tom D. Crouch

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WB:120-L1 Wilbur & Orville: “The Wright Brothers” Few great figures in American history are shrouded in more misconceptions than Wilbur and Orville Wright. Their fame and popular stature is extraordinary, but their personal story is largely unknown, and their inventive work has been divorced from its technological and scientific context. They are typically portrayed as clever and beneficent bicycle mechanics who made the airplane their gift to the world. They are referred to as if they were a single persona: “the Wright Brothers”—one mind, one personality. Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright were, of course, two distinct individuals who brought unique talents and perspectives to their collaboration. While the Wrights deserve much of their towering reputation, they should be understood as the complex, textured, very human, characters that they were. Their achievement is even more impressive in that light.

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WB:121-L1-P1 Wilbur: Steady and Confident Wilbur Wright was self-confident, controlled, and of steady demeanor—“never rattled in thought or temper,” as his father described him. Highly intelligent, he was a voracious reader, a talented writer, and a gifted speaker. Outgoing when circumstances required, he could also isolate himself and shut out the world when he chose.

WB:121-L2-P2 Wilbur at age 13.

WB:121-L3-S3 “I have always thought I would like to be a teacher.… It would be congenial to my tastes, and I think with proper training I could be reasonably successful.” Wilbur Wright, 1894

A Young Man with Promise Wilbur was quiet, but sure of himself. He was intellectually motivated, excelled in school, had an extraordinary memory, and was a good athlete. Toward the end of his senior year at Richmond High School in Indiana, the family suddenly returned to Dayton due to Milton’s church responsibilities. Wilbur was unable to complete his courses and graduate. Hoping to attend Yale and become a teacher, he enrolled in several college preparatory courses at Central High School in Dayton. Report card Lent by Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

October 11, 2003, page 16 WB:121-L4 The “Ten Dayton Boys” Growing up, Wilbur was mature for his age and gravitated toward his older brothers, Reuchlin and Lorin. Along with seven of their friends, they accepted Wilbur as the youngest member of an informal social club they called the Ten Dayton Boys. Singing was a favorite pastime of the group.

WB:121-L4a-P4a Wilbur stands at the center, with Reuchlin to his right and Lorin seated at the extreme right. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:121-L5-P5 An Accident and Isolation Wilbur’s bright future suddenly changed when he was injured playing an ice hockey type of game during the winter of 1885–86. The damage to his face and teeth healed, but he suffered lingering heart and digestive complications. He became depressed and withdrew from the world. The confident, robust young Wilbur faded. Uncertain of his health and future, Wilbur dropped his plans to attend Yale and descended into a self-imposed isolation of reading and contemplation. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:121-L6 Caring for Mother . . . By the time of Wilbur’s accident, Susan Wright was already ill with tuberculosis and in need of constant care. Struggling with finding a new direction in his own life, Wilbur devoted himself to nursing his mother until she died in 1889.

October 11, 2003, page 17 WB:121-L7-P7 . . . And Finding Himself Again His father’s extensive library was Wilbur’s sanctuary during his “lost years” from 1886 to 1889. He became as well read as any college graduate and honed his writing skills while helping his father fight political battles in the church. This pamphlet, produced in 1888, was Wilbur’s first published writing.

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WB:122-L1-P1 Orville: Impulsive and Optimistic Orville Wright was more impulsive than his contemplative, thoughtful older brother. He had boundless curiosity and energetically pursued a range of interests. His mind was quick, and he was always coming up with new inventions. While pursuing the airplane was initially Wilbur’s idea, Orville’s enthusiasm and optimism were often what carried them through to solutions of difficult technical problems.

WB:122-L2-P2 Orville at age 9.

WB:122-L3 “I don’t believe there ever was a man who could do the work he did in all kinds of dirt, oil and grime and come out of it looking immaculate.” Ivonette Wright Miller, Orville’s niece

A Born Inventor Orville showed an interest in technology and science early in life. He was always performing experiments and dismantling things to find out how they worked. He fit the stereotype of the budding inventor far more than Wilbur.

October 11, 2003, page 19 WB:122-L4-S4 A Restless Student . . . Orville was as bright as his brother, but he could be mischievous in the classroom and did not always apply himself fully. His work habits improved in high school. But instead of following the prescribed junior-year curriculum, he opted for a series of advanced college preparatory courses. As a result, he would not qualify for his high school degree at the end of his senior year, so he decided not to attend school that term. He never graduated. Lent by Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

Report card

WB:122-L5 . . . But Highly Educated Nonetheless Despite his lack of interest in formal credentials, Orville, like Wilbur, was committed to broad learning and supplemented his schooling with a great deal of private study. The brothers in fact had an education comparable to a modern four-year college degree.

WB:122-L6-P6 An Artistic Bent Orville possessed some talent for drawing, as evidenced by this page from his high school botany sketchbook. He also played the mandolin. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:122-L7-S7 Orville’s Mandolin Mandolin “Orv has begun lessons on his mandolin and we are getting 24 in. X 8 in. X 5 in. even with the neighborhood for the noise they have made on pianos. He sits around and picks that thing until I can hardly stay in the house.” Katharine Wright, 1900 Lent by the San Diego Aerospace Museum

October 11, 2003, page 20 WB:122-L8-P8 The Shy One Orville was charming and an interesting conversationalist with family and close friends, as well as an incorrigible practical joker. But unlike the outgoing Wilbur, he was painfully shy among strangers. Wilbur always represented the brothers publicly. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

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WB:123-L1-P1 Wilbur & Orville Become a Team The Wright brothers had a variety of individual talents, skills, and personality traits that complemented one another. Relying on each other’s strengths and compensating for each other’s weaknesses was crucial to their invention of the airplane. Neither probably could have achieved alone what they did as a team.

WB:123-L2 “From the time we were little children my brother Orville and myself lived together. We usually owned all of our toys in common, talked over our thoughts and aspirations so that nearly everything that was done in our lives has been the result of conversations, suggestions and discussions between us.” Wilbur Wright, 1912 Written long after the brothers became famous, Wilbur’s reflection upon his relationship with Orville is a little romanticized. The closeness he described only began in earnest when the brothers were in their late teens.

WB:123-L3 The Family Fortress The Wrights’ parents taught their children that the world was an unfriendly place; unscrupulous persons lay in wait and temptations beckoned. They were convinced that the strength of family bonds offered the only real support in life. After their older brothers left home and their mother died, Wilbur, Orville, their sister Katharine, and their father remained at 7 Hawthorn Street and formed a close-knit unit. Their mutual support enabled them to weather all manner of crises.

October 11, 2003, page 22 WB:123-L4-P4 An Unspoken Pact In the mid-1890s, Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine were in their twenties, the age young people of their time typically began to seriously contemplate marriage. Yet none of them showed any interest in finding a mate. They seemed bound by an unspoken agreement to remain together and let no one come between them.

WB:123-L5-P5 A Source of Confidence The Wrights’ supportive home life provided Wilbur and Orville with a strong belief in themselves. This self- confidence enabled them to reject the theories of well-known and more experienced aeronautical experimenters when the brothers felt their own ideas were correct. Often it was the emotional anchor provided by their strong family ties that helped Wilbur and Orville persevere when they encountered difficulties in their research.

WB:123-L6 Spirited Arguments “I like scrapping with Orv,” Wilbur said, “he’s such a good scrapper.” Heated discussions were a frequent and significant aspect of the Wrights’ creative process. Their ability to defend a position with genuine passion, while considering the other’s point of view, was essential to their inventive success.

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WB:130-L1 The Wrights Before Flight Technology and innovation were part of the Wright brothers’ lives before they began their study of aeronautics. Orville in particular was intrigued by mechanical things as a youngster, always building, fixing, and tinkering. His first serious technical interest and pursuit was printing. He began a printing business as a teenager, in which Wilbur later joined him. The Wright brothers’ major technical activity before flight was bicycle repair and manufacture. The business not only provided their livelihood, but also funded their aeronautical experiments.

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WB:131-L1 Wright & Wright Printers Wilbur and Orville’s first formal collaboration was a small printing business they began in the mid-1880s. They did job- printing and published several short-lived local newspapers. The close and productive team that created the first airplane formed during this period.

WB:131-L1a-P1a Wright & Wright, Job Printers occupied a second floor office in the Hoover Block. Courtesy of Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:131-L2-P2 A Hobby for Orville Milton Wright had an office in the United Brethren Printing Establishment, and his boys Wilbur and Orville enjoyed frequent access to the pressrooms. Fascinated with the operation, Orville took up printing as a serious hobby shortly after the family returned to Dayton in 1884. Courtesy of Tom D. Crouch

WB:131-L3- S3a,b Sines & Wright: Printers Orville’s boyhood friend Ed Sines was also a printing enthusiast. The boys began a small job-printing business in 1886, operated out of their homes, called Sines & Wright. They printed such items as handbills, advertising circulars, letterhead, business cards, and tickets. Lent by Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:131-L4-P4 The Midget Sines & Wright produced the first (and last) issue of a small school newspaper called The Midget, but the single issue was never distributed. Following a dispute shortly thereafter, Orville bought out Ed Sines’s part of the business, although Sines stayed on to work for him. Courtesy of Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio

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WB:132-L1-S1 Wright Bros., Job Printers In 1888 with Wilbur’s assistance, Orville designed and built a larger, more professional press so he could accept bigger jobs. Among his first contracts was the church pamphlet written by Wilbur, Scenes in the Church Commission During the Last Day of Its Session. It marked the first time their historic moniker, “the Church pamphlet, Wright brothers,” appeared in print. 8 in. x 5.5 in. Lent by Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:132-L3-P3 The Beginning of a Close Collaboration Orville launched a local weekly newspaper called the West Side News in 1889. After a few issues, Wilbur’s name appeared on the masthead as Editor, with Orville listed as Publisher. The Wright brothers’ close working relationship was now established. Courtesy of Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:132-L4-S4a,b The Evening Item Original issues of Evening Item In 1890, the West Side News became a daily called the approx. 30” x 20” Evening Item. Although it was a good local paper, stiff competition from a dozen other Dayton newspapers caused the Item to cease publication after 78 issues. Now known as Wright & Wright, Printers, the brothers decided that doing job-printing solely was more profitable.

WB:132-L5-S5a-g Wright & Wright, Printers did a significant business printing church publications.

“Christian Giving,” 6 in. X 4.5 in.

October 11, 2003, page 26 WB:132-L6-P6 Wright & Wright Closes Its Doors The Wrights maintained their printing business until 1899. They sold it after Ed Sines, who had been doing most of the day-to-day work, left the business. Sines is shown here in the printing office in 1897. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:132-L7-S7 Printing type used by the Wright brothers. Printing type Lent by The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

WB:132-L8-P8a,b,c-S8a,b,c Printing blocks used in one of the Wright brothers’ bicycle Printing blocks (3) parts catalogs. approx. 1” x 1” x 2” Lent by Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio

[images] Courtesy of Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio

[Photos of each block]

October 11, 2003, page 27

WB:133-L1-P1 Paul Laurence Dunbar The Wrights had one more brief newspaper experience. Orville’s high school classmate, Paul Laurence Dunbar, who would later achieve fame as a prominent African American writer and poet, began the Dayton Tattler, a weekly oriented toward the city’s black community. He hired the Wright brothers to print it, but only three issues appeared.

WB:133-L1aP1a Courtesy of Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio

WB:133-L2-P2 Orville and Dunbar’s high school class picture. Both are in the back row: Dunbar, extreme left; Orville, fourth from left. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:133-L3 Early Dunbar The Wright brothers published some of Dunbar’s earliest verse. This unsigned humorous piece appeared in the last issue of the West Side News. Come, come assist me, trusted Muse! For I would sing of the West Side News; A sheet that’s newsy, pure and bright— Whose editor is Orville Wright; And by his side another shines Whom you shall know as Edwin Sines. Now all will buy this sheet I trust, And watch out for their April “bust.”

October 11, 2003, page 28 WB:133-L4-P4 “Orville Wright is out of sight In the printing business. No other mind is half so bright As his’n is.” Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1893 Courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society

October 11, 2003, page 29

WB:134-L1 The Wright Cycle Co. The Wright brothers’ best-known pre-aeronautical occupation was bicycle repair and manufacture. Their bicycle business provided them with an adequate and enjoyable living, an upstanding reputation in the local business community, and an outlet for their mechanical interests. Knowledge and experience with bicycles also proved valuable to the Wrights’ development of a successful airplane.

WB:134-L1a Wright Shop Scene (Above) Workbench lent by Dudley Biddison Tools lent by Dittmar Geiger Gaslights lent by Russell K. Cashdollar and Daniel W. Mattausch Bicycle wheels lent by Russell Mamone

WB:134-L2-P2 The Bicycle Craze The bicycle craze in America began in 1887 with the introduction from England of the safety bicycle. The safety, with its two wheels of equal size, was easier to ride than the traditional high-wheel bicycle. It made the freedom of cycling accessible to a much wider market. At the height of the bicycle boom in the 1890s, more than 300 companies were producing over a million bicycles per year. Courtesy of Hulton Archive Collection, Getty Images

WB:134-L3-P3 A “Scorcher” The brothers purchased bicycles in the spring of 1892. Wilbur preferred long country rides, while Orville enjoyed racing and considered himself a “scorcher” on the track. Surprisingly, no photographs exist of Wilbur or Orville on or with a bicycle. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

October 11, 2003, page 30 WB:134-L4-P4 Katharine Wright (second from right) out for a ride with her friends. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:134-L5 A New Challenge The Wrights’ growing local reputation as skillful cyclists and mechanics led to many requests from friends to fix their bicycles. In 1893 they capitalized on the situation and opened a small rental and repair shop. With their newspapers defunct and Ed Sines handling most of the day-to-day tasks of the printing shop, the brothers were in search of a new challenge. Bicycles furnished it.

WB:134-L6-S6 Wright Cycle Co. bicycle repair claim check. Lent by the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Claim check, 2 in. X 2.5 in.

October 11, 2003, page 31

WB:135-L1 The Business Grows The Wright Cycle Co. did business in five different locations on the west side of Dayton between 1892 and 1897. The brothers quickly expanded their enterprise from rental and repair to a sales shop carrying more than a dozen brands.

WB:135-L2-P2a,b The Wright brothers’ fourth shop, which opened in 1895, was recently restored and is now a Dayton museum. Courtesy of Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives Courtesy of the National Park Service

WB 135-L3-P3 The Wrights Become Cycle Makers By the mid-1890s, Dayton had more than two dozen bicycle shops. With competition growing stiff, Wilbur and Orville decided to manufacture their own line in 1895 and introduced their first model the following year. Here, Orville (right) works with Ed Sines on bicycle frames in 1897.

October 11, 2003, page 32 WB:135-L4-P4a,b 1127 West Third Street The brothers moved the Wright Cycle Co. for the last time in 1897, to 1127 West Third Street. Here they built all their experimental aircraft, including the first powered airplane in 1903. Henry Ford purchased the shop, along with the Wrights’ house, and moved them in 1937 to his Greenfield Village complex in Dearborn, Michigan, where they are open to the public. Courtesy of Underwood & Underwood/Corbis Courtesy of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

WB:135-L5-P5a,b Wright Cycle Production and Sales While major bicycle manufacturers employed new mass production techniques adopted from the firearm and sewing machine industries, the Wrights remained small scale and produced hand-crafted originals. Their advertising emphasized high-quality frame construction and mechanisms, and a polished, durable enamel finish. During their peak production years of 1896 to 1900, Wilbur and Orville built about 300 bicycles and earned $2,000 to 3,000 per year. Courtesy of Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio

October 11, 2003, page 33 WB:135-L6-P6 The Van Cleve The Wrights’ top-of-the-line model was the Van Cleve, named after their mother’s pioneering ancestors, who were among Dayton’s first settlers. It was priced at $65. Courtesy of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

WB:135-L7-S7 A Rare Wright Bicycle Original St. Clair bicycle Only five bicycles manufactured by the Wright brothers approx. 6’ x 4’ x 2’ are known to exist. This one, a model they called the St. Clair, was built in 1898. Less expensive than the Van Cleve, the St. Clair sold for $42.50.

Courtesy of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

October 11, 2003, page 34

WB:136-L1 From Bike to Flight A number of conceptual links exist between bicycles and airplanes, so it is not pure coincidence that mechanical flight was invented by experimenters knowledgeable about bicycles. Many things contributed to the Wrights’ success with flight, but their familiarity with bicycles clearly was a factor.

WB:136-L2-S2 “Wheeling is just like flying!” The Aeronautical Annual James Howard Means, editor of the influential journal, 12 in. X 9.5 in. The Aeronautical Annual, published an article in 1896 called “Wheeling and Flying,” in which he suggested a link between bicycles and flight: “It is not uncommon for the cyclist…to remark, Wheeling is just like flying!… To learn to wheel one must learn to balance; to learn to fly one must learn to balance.” Lent by Peter L. Jakab

WB:136-L3 Connections to the Airplane In designing their airplane, the Wrights drew upon a number of bicycle concepts: • The central importance of balance and control. • The need for strong but lightweight structures. • The chain-and-sprocket transmission system for propulsion. • Concerns regarding wind resistance and aerodynamic shape of the operator.

October 11, 2003, page 35 WB:200-L1-P1 Visions of a Flying Machine Between 1899 and 1905, the Wright brothers conducted a program of aeronautical research and experimentation that led to the first successful powered airplane in 1903 and a refined, practical flying machine two years later. All successful airplanes since then have incorporated the basic design elements of the 1903 Wright Flyer. The brothers’ success was rooted in their inventive method. Their specific research techniques, innate skills, and personality traits came together in a unique way and largely explain why these two people invented the airplane. The genius of Wilbur and Orville lay not only in the singular act of getting a flying machine into the air, but also in the approach they evolved and employed to create the technology of flight.

March 29, 2006, page 36

WB:205-L1 What Did the Wrights Actually Do? The Wright brothers’ inventive work resulted in three major accomplishments: 1. They designed, built, and flew a series of successful aircraft. 2. They pioneered the modern practice of aeronautical engineering. 3. They developed the tool of flight testing and data feedback into the design of an aircraft.

WB:205-L2-P2 The Aircraft The aircraft the Wright brothers designed and built between 1900 and 1905 were truly revolutionary. They embodied solutions to all the many technical problems that had to be overcome to achieve mechanical flight. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:205-L3-P3 Aeronautical Engineering Equally important, the Wright brothers developed the essential principles of modern aeronautical engineering. Particularly with their pioneering use of the wind tunnel as a primary design tool, they established the basic approach and techniques still used by all aeronautical engineers.

WB:205-L4-P4 Flight Testing The Wright brothers’ systematic flight-testing program was critical to their success. Their method of evaluating data gathered by testing an aircraft in flight, then refining the design based on those results, remains an essential tool in aerospace research and development. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 37

WB:210-L1 Taking Up the Challenge By the mid-1890s, the Wright brothers’ bicycle business was well-established and furnished them with a respectable and enjoyable living. But it did not provide the mental rigor they craved. Both a little restless, they began to contemplate a new outlet for their inquisitiveness. They chose the airplane. In the 1890s, aviation was a new, wide-open field of study that provided rich possibilities for investigation. In the beginning, Wilbur and Orville did not set out to invent the airplane. They only hoped to challenge their creative talents and perhaps make a modest contribution to the eventual achievement of human flight.

WB:210-L2-P2 Pénaud Helicopter The brothers’ first experience with flight occurred in 1878, when their father gave them a small rubber band–powered toy helicopter designed by French aviation pioneer Alphonse Pénaud. Intrigued by the little flying machine, they made several copies of it of varying sizes. After playing and experimenting with them, the brothers behaved like most young boys: they moved on to other diversions. Orville made this sketch of the toy in 1929. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 38 WB:210-L3-P3 “I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then if possible add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success.” Wilbur Wright May 30, 1899 The Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Dear Sirs: The Wrights formally expressed their desire to join the aeronautical community in this letter Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution on May 30, 1899. After affirming his belief that human flight was possible, he declared his intent to pursue research in the field. Toward that end, he requested whatever publications on the subject the Smithsonian could provide.

March 29, 2006, page 39

WB:211-L1 A Place to Start These are among the publications the Smithsonian recommended to the Wrights. Progress in Flying Machines and The Aeronautical Annuals proved especially valuable and provided a solid foundation for their research. (These copies are original editions, but not the ones owned by the Wrights.)

WB:211-L2-S2a-d Octave Chanute, Progress in Flying Machines, 1894 5 books: four 6 x 9 in., one 10 x 13 in. Lent by Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Air and Space Museum Library Other publications lent by Peter L. Jakab

WB:211-L3-S3 Letter from Wilbur thanking the Smithsonian and remitting payment for Experiments in Aerodynamics. Lent by Smithsonian Institution Archives

Letter (1 page, 8.5 X 11 inches)

March 29, 2006, page 40

WB:220-L1 Studying Their Predecessors After collecting reference material from the Smithsonian and other sources, the Wright brothers began studying their predecessors. They were surprised to learn that, despite humanity’s centuries-old interest in flight, little progress had been made in aeronautics before 1800. Until that time, few trained scientists or mechanics thought it a sensible undertaking. During the 1800s, however, a community of technically trained people interested in flight had evolved. They had amassed a body of aeronautical knowledge that represented the first real steps toward achieving human flight. Much of what Wilbur and Orville accomplished was highly original. However, the findings of several key 19th-century experimenters provided useful pieces to the puzzle and saved the Wrights from pursuing many unfruitful avenues of research.

March 29, 2006, page 41

WB:221-L1-P1 Sir George Cayley 1773–1857 The career of Englishman Sir George Cayley marked a turning point in the history of aviation. Cayley was the first to mount a well- conceived, systematic program of aeronautical research grounded in the scientific method. He conducted practical experiments in aerodynamics, published his findings in scientific journals, and performed flight tests with models and full-size gliders.

WB:221-L2-P2a,b Cayley Silver Disc, 1799 Although Cayley never achieved his goal of powered flight, he defined the basic form of the airplane: a machine with fixed wings, a fuselage, and a tail, with separate systems to provide lift, propulsion, and control. Cayley commemorated this breakthrough by striking a silver disc in 1799 with an image of the airplane as he conceived it. On the reverse, he inscribed an aerodynamic 1 inch in diameter force diagram, which illustrates how clearly he understood the Revised 3-06 basic requirements of mechanical flight. The actual disc is about the size of a quarter and is in the collection of the Science Museum, London.

WB:221-L3-P3 Cayley whirling arm device for gathering aerodynamic data on model wing surfaces, 1804.

WB:221-L4-P4 Cayley model glider, 1804.

WB:221-L5-P5 Cayley full-size aircraft, the Boy-Carrier, 1849.

March 29, 2006, page 42

WB:222-L1 Three Approaches to Aeronautical Research As flight research became better organized in the second half of the 1800s, aeronautical pioneers pursued three distinct lines of experimentation: 1. Some went directly to full-size, powered aircraft, focusing on the engine as the main problem. 2. Others used models as their primary research tool. 3. Still others believed that testing their ideas with full-size gliders was the most effective approach.

WB:222-L2-P2 1. Sir Hiram Maxim’s unsuccessful four-ton, twin-engine, full-size powered aircraft, 1894.

WB:222-L3-P3 2. Samuel P. Langley’s large steam-powered model Aerodrome No. 5 making a successful flight, 1896.

March 29, 2006, page 43 WB:222-L4-P4 3. Chanute-Herring unpowered glider in flight, 1896.

WB:222-L5 The Wrights’ Course By the late 1890s, experimenting with full-size, man- carrying gliders was proving to be the most fruitful avenue. These experimenters believed in a gradual, evolutionary path to flight. Careful study of aerodynamics and control with simple hang gliders, they argued, would lead to a more sophisticated powered airplane capable of sustained, controlled flight. The Wright brothers followed this course.

March 29, 2006, page 44

WB:223-L1-P1-S1 Otto Lilienthal 1848–1896 The most influential glider pioneer was Otto Lilienthal, a German engineer who began his aeronautical research in 1871 by studying bird flight. After nearly two decades of imaginative experimentation and research, he produced the best and most complete body of aerodynamic data up to that time. He published

his results in Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst Book approx. 8 x10 inches (Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation) in 1889. Lent by Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Air and Space Museum Library

WB 223-L2-P2 Lilienthal’s Gliders Following his program of data collection, Lilienthal constructed and tested a series of elegant, full-size gliders. Between 1891 and 1896 he made nearly 2,000 brief flights in 16 different glider designs based on his aerodynamic research. An original Lilienthal glider is displayed in the Museum’s Early Flight gallery.

WB 223-L3-P3 “The Flying Man” Lilienthal had a great psychological impact on aviation. Nicknamed “The Flying Man,” he was pictured soaring gracefully over hillsides in photos in newspapers and magazines the world over. Lilienthal’s fame and this visible proof that a human could fly inspired other experimenters.

WB:223-L4 “[Lilienthal] was without question the greatest of the precursors, and the world owes to him a great debt.” Wilbur Wright September 1912 An Abrupt and Tragic End On August 9, 1896, while flying one of his monoplane gliders, Lilienthal stalled and crashed. He died from his injuries the following day. The Wright brothers later cited his death as the point when their serious interest in flight research began.

March 29, 2006, page 45

WB:230-L1 Learning the Art of Airplane Design Less than three months after writing to the Smithsonian for aeronautical information, the Wright brothers had defined the essential requirements of a heavier-than-air flying machine and successfully built and tested a kite that incorporated many of these design characteristics in rudimentary form. Their inventive approach was grounded in a strict engineering method. They did not use uninformed trial-and-error techniques like many of their contemporaries, nor did they tackle the problem as theoretical scientists. Their goal was less to understand why in principle the forces of flight behaved as they did than to learn how they acted with respect to one another, and to use that information to construct a successful flying machine.

March 29, 2006, page 46

WB:231-L1 Three Fundamental Problems The Wrights followed Sir George Cayley’s lead and initially reduced the obstacles to flight to three broad categories: 1. A set of lifting surfaces, or wings. 2. A method of balancing and controlling the aircraft. 3. A means of propulsion. Most earlier experimenters focused only on one or another of these problems and did not consider the final design from the outset. The Wrights recognized that each of these areas had to be successfully addressed to build a working airplane. They believed that the aerodynamic and propulsion problems would be comparatively easier to solve, so they first concentrated on how to maintain balance and control.

WB:231-L2-G2 Stability and Control: The Influence of the Bicycle Many earlier experimenters believed that air currents were too swift and unpredictable for human reflexes. Therefore, an aircraft had to be inherently stable for the pilot to be able to maintain control. Because of the Wrights’ extensive experience with the bicycle—a highly unstable but controllable machine—they reasoned that an airplane could be unstable yet controllable as well.

WB:231-L3-P3 The Drawbacks of Lilienthal’s Method of Control Otto Lilienthal controlled his glider by shifting his body weight from side to side, which altered the craft’s center of gravity and caused it to turn. The Wrights recognized that this technique severely limited the size of the aircraft, because the pilot and craft had to be similar in weight for body shifting to be effective. They reasoned that if they could control balance aerodynamically—using the forces air exerts on a wing—they could build an aircraft of any size and weight.

March 29, 2006, page 47

WB:232-L1-P1 The Breakthrough Concept: Wing-Warping The Wrights realized that if the wing on one side of the aircraft met the oncoming flow of air at a greater angle than the opposite wing, it would generate more lift on that side. In response, that wing would rise, causing the aircraft to bank. If the pilot could manipulate the wings in this way, he could maintain balance and turn the aircraft as well. The brothers considered using a system of gears and pivoting shafts to angle the wings in opposite directions, but they quickly realized such a system would be too heavy and complex.

Then they conceived the elegant concept of twisting, or warping, the wing structure itself, a method they called wing-warping.

WB:232-L2-G2 How Wing-Warping Works

WB:232-L3 The Twisted Box Inspiration The brothers next had to adapt this concept to a structural design. Wilbur hit upon an idea while absentmindedly twisting a cardboard box from a bicycle inner tube as he chatted with a customer in the brothers’ shop. He observed that even when he applied a considerable twist, the box retained its lateral stiffness. It occurred to him that the same principle could be applied to a set of properly rigged biplane wings.

WB:232-L4-MI4 The Wright brothers designed the wing structure to be Mechanical interactive on wing structure both rigid and flexible.

1. Lift the flat panel and the box and compare their stiffness.

2. Move the lever to twist the other box. Does it flex easily?

The box structure is stiffer along its length than the flat panel, but it can be twisted and still maintain its strength.

The Wright Flyer’s wing structure is shaped like the box. It is strong yet allows a twisting motion—wing-warping—which the Wrights used to control the airplane in a turn.

March 29, 2006, page 48 WB:232-L5 The Significance of Wing-Warping Controlling lateral balance aerodynamically with wing- warping reflected the Wrights’ focus on producing a practical airplane that could be developed further. They were not interested in merely getting off the ground with a dead-end design, simply for the credit of having made the first flight.

WB:232-L6-G6 Birds Do It Too When birds soar (gliding rather than flapping their wings), they control their lateral movement by adjusting the angle of their wingtips, similar to the Wrights’ wing-warping technique. The brothers’ records are unclear regarding what they actually derived from observing bird flight.

March 29, 2006, page 49

WB:233-L1 Testing Wing-Warping The Wrights were aware of earlier biplane designs, in particular the successful 1896 Chanute-Herring glider. That aircraft’s bracing especially drew their interest. Steel wires crisscrossed between vertical wooden struts that supported the upper and lower wings, creating a simple, rigid structure. The Wrights adapted this bracing system to their first aircraft, a kite they built in 1899 to test their control idea.

WB:233-L2-P2 The 1896 glider built by Octave Chanute and Augustus Herring. Note the biplane wing layout, vertical struts, and bracing wires. As with Lilienthal’s glider, the pilot controlled the craft by shifting his body weight.

WB:233-L3-P3 Drawing on his experience as a civil engineer, Chanute patterned his glider’s bracing system after the Pratt truss, a commonly used method of bridge construction developed in the 1840s. Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Behring Center

WB:233-L3a-MI3a The Wright brothers added diagonal bracing wires Mechanical interactive on Pratt truss between the two wings.

1. Slide the left handle side to side, then the right handle.

2. What difference can you feel?

The structure on the right is rigid. The one on the left is not.

The diagonal bracing wires make the biplane wing structure rigid.

March 29, 2006, page 50 WB:233-L3b-G3b The Wrights used a modified Pratt truss bracing system on all their aircraft, beginning with the 1899 kite.

WB:233-L4-S4 1899 Wright Kite (reproduction hanging overhead) The Wrights combined their wing-warping control concept and the structural design of the Chanute-Herring glider in their first aircraft, a biplane kite with a 5-foot wingspan, built in July 1899. To allow for wing-warping, they left the kite unbraced between the front and rear struts (vertical posts). It was controlled with four lines running from the top and bottom of the front outer struts to a pair of sticks held by the operator. Tilting the sticks in opposite directions caused the wing structure to twist. No photographs exist of the 1899 kite; only a sketch of it illustrating wing-warping, drawn by Wilbur in 1912. Lent by Rick Young

WB:233-L5-MI5 [deleted]

WB:233-L6-G6 Flight Testing the Kite Wilbur flew the kite at a nearby field in mid-summer. The only witnesses were a group of schoolboys, who were fascinated by the large, unusual-looking kite this adult in business attire was “toying” with. The kite responded quickly and precisely to Wilbur’s commands. Having proven the soundness of their wing- warping control system, the Wrights began designing a full- size, piloted glider.

WB:233-L7 Visual Thinking The development of wing-warping and the design of the 1899 kite illustrate how adept both Wilbur and Orville were at moving back and forth between the abstract and the concrete. They had a great capacity for creating conceptual models of a solution to a problem that could then be transformed into practical hardware. Visual thinking was a critical aspect of this process. The Wright brothers’ use of graphic mental imagery to conceptualize basic structures and mechanisms was among the most important elements of their inventive method.

March 29, 2006, page 51

WB:234-L1 Designing the First Wright Glider The Wrights next began to study aerodynamics and structures in preparation for building their first piloted glider. It was one thing to design a set of wings for a small kite, quite another to build a large, heavy glider, climb aboard, and launch oneself into the air. The brothers now began to consider such things as the precise curve of the wing profile, the wing area necessary to lift a pilot, and the type of materials needed to construct a glider.

WB:234-L2 SUBSECTION Aerodynamics: Pitch Control & Wing Profile Having developed wing-warping for lateral control, the Wrights now addressed control in pitch, or climb and descent. This required a careful study of wing shape and an understanding of the forces acting on a wing.

WB:234-L3-G3 Lift and the Center of Pressure Lift is the vertical force acting on a wing. The focal point of this lift force is called the center of pressure. In flight, as the wing changes its orientation to the oncoming flow of air, the center of pressure moves back and forth along the surface of the wing.

WB:234-L4-G4 Controlling the Center of Pressure When the center of pressure and the center of gravity coincide, the aircraft continues in level flight. If the center of pressure moves behind the center of gravity, the airplane pitches down. If it moves ahead of the center of gravity, the airplane pitches up. To control climb and descent, the pilot must be able to control the movement of the center of pressure.

March 29, 2006, page 52 WB:234-L5-MI5 To make their airplane climb and descend, the Wright Instructions revised 3-15-04 brothers used a forward elevator to control the movement Instructions revised 11-29-10 of the center of pressure on the airplane.

1. Slowly push the lever from side to side.

2. Notice how moving the lever tilts the forward elevator up or down.

Tilting the elevator upward shifts the airplane’s center of pressure ahead of its center of gravity. This causes the airplane to rise.

Tilting the elevator downward shifts the airplane’s center of pressure behind its center of gravity. This causes the airplane to descend.

WB:234-L6 Elevator Otto Lilienthal tried to keep up with the center of pressure’s continual movement by constantly shifting his body weight, which adjusted the center of gravity. This required frequent acrobatic movements that the Wrights felt were impractical and dangerous. Instead they controlled the movement of the center of pressure aerodynamically, by mounting a movable horizontal surface, called an elevator, in front of the wings. As they deflected the elevator up or down, the pressure on it would counteract the upward or downward pitching of the airplane due to the changing position of the center of pressure.

WB:234-L7 Canard Configuration An elevator mounted in front of the wings is known as a canard configuration. A canard lessens the violent reaction that generally occurs when an aircraft with a rear-mounted elevator stalls, or loses lift. This type of stall cost Otto Lilienthal his life. With a canard, the aircraft settles more gently after a stall, a characteristic that saved the lives of Wilbur and Orville on several occasions.

March 29, 2006, page 53 WB:234-L8-G8 Wing Profile Designing the shape of the wing profile, or airfoil, was also important. Others had already determined that curved wings generated more lift than flat ones. Most had used a perfect arc, with the high point of the curve in the middle. The Wrights placed the high point of the curve much closer to the wing’s leading edge and made the depth of curvature fairly shallow. They believed this would reduce the movement of the center of pressure, making the aircraft more stable and easier to control.

WB:234-L8a-G8a What Is a Stall? As an airplane slows, the speed of the air flow over the wing decreases, causing a loss of lift. If the flow slows too much, at a critical point the wing loses all lift, or stalls, and then the aircraft drops abruptly. This typically happens if the wing is brought to a very high angle of attack. With a canard configuration (elevator in the front) the response to a stall is more gentle than with a rear-mounted elevator.

March 29, 2006, page 54

WB:234-L9 SUBSECTION Aerodynamics: Aircraft Size

Beyond control and airfoil shape, another consideration was size. How large a wing area was needed, and how light did the glider have to be to lift a pilot into the air? The mathematical relationships between speed, wing surface area, lift, and drag were already well established. With these the Wrights were able to calculate the size, weight, and speed requirements for their glider.

WB:234-L10-P10 The Origins of Aerodynamics Over two centuries, fluid mechanics—the study of the forces generated by an object moving through a fluid—had been applied to a variety of engineering problems. Working on water mills and windmills, 18th-century British engineer John Smeaton established that the amount of pressure on the object depends on how fast the fluid moves over it. This relationship would be critical to aerodynamics. Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Behring Center

WB:234-L11 Measuring Pressure and Smeaton’s Coefficient Following the Smeaton relationship, the air pressure on a wing depends on how fast the air is moving over the wing. When measuring pressure in a flow, the density of the fluid involved—air in this case—must be accounted for with a multiplying factor called a coefficient. A value for air of 0.005 was derived in the mid-18th century and named after Smeaton.

March 29, 2006, page 55 WB:234-L12 Calculating Lift and Drag In 1792 another British engineer, Samuel Vince, showed that the force a fluid exerts on a surface also depends on the surface’s angle to the oncoming flow. Therefore, when calculating the forces of lift and drag acting on a wing, other multiplying factors must be applied: the coefficients of lift and drag. The equations used to calculate lift and drag available to the Wrights are still basically the same ones used today: 2 Lift = kV SCl k = Smeaton’s coefficient 2 Drag = kV SCd V = the speed of the airflow in miles per hour S = wing area in square feet Cl = coefficient of lift Cd = coefficient of drag

WB:234-L13-P13 The Famous Lilienthal Table Otto Lilienthal compiled and published a table of coefficients of lift and drag for the airfoil shape he used on his gliders. The table became quite well known and was the starting point for aerodynamic research for many experimenters, including the Wright brothers.

March 29, 2006, page 56

WB:240-L1 Riding the Winds The 1900 Wright Glider Armed with the lift and drag equations, Otto Lilienthal’s aerodynamic data, and their own design concepts for control, wing shape, and structure, the Wright brothers began building their first piloted glider in August 1900. They completed the components in just a few weeks. Wilbur and Orville finally made their first tentative leaps into the air in October 1900. While the glider provided less lift than their calculations predicted it should, it proved their design concepts and control method were sound. The Wrights were still a long way from powered flight, but their glider was by far the most advanced aircraft yet created.

WB:240-L2 “If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.” Wilbur Wright on learning to ride a flying machine September 18, 1901

March 29, 2006, page 57

WB:241-L1 Kitty Hawk, North Carolina To test their glider, the Wrights needed a site with wide- open spaces and strong, steady winds. They wrote to the U.S. Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C., to find suitable locations. Among the places that seemed promising was Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a small fishing village on an isolated strip of beach on the Mid-Atlantic coast. Beyond the favorable conditions for gliding, the welcoming response to a letter Wilbur wrote to the local weather station settled the matter. William Tate, the best-educated resident of the little hamlet, enthusiastically endorsed Kitty Hawk as a fine place to conduct the experiments Wilbur described, and he offered to help in any way he could.

WB:241-L2 “If you decide to try your machine here & come I will take pleasure in doing all I can for your convenience & success & pleasure, & I assure you you will find a hospitable people when you come among us.” William J. Tate to Wilbur Wright August 18, 1900

WB:241-L3-P3 William J. Tate and family in front of the Kitty Hawk Post Office, 1900. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

March 29, 2006, page 58 WB:241-L4-P4 The residents of Kitty Hawk split their time between fishing and manning the local lifesaving station, shown here in 1900. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:241-L5a An Arduous Journey

WB:241-L5-G5 The Trip Begins Wilbur set off for Kitty Hawk on the evening of September 6, 1900. Orville stayed behind to handle some business affairs but would follow shortly. Wilbur traveled by train to Old Point Comfort, Virginia, arriving on the evening of the 7th, then took a steamship to Norfolk, where he stayed the night. After purchasing some lumber to complete the glider, Wilbur boarded a train for Elizabeth City, North Carolina, at 4:30 p.m., September 8. The temperature was near 100 degrees.

WB:241-L5b-P5b Union Station, Dayton, Ohio. Courtesy of Tom D. Crouch

WB:241-L6-P6 The Trek Continues Curiously, no one in Elizabeth City knew much about Kitty Hawk or how to get there. After three days in town, Wilbur found a local fisherman, Israel Perry, who could take him across Albemarle Sound. Storms and gale-force winds battered the schooner during the crossing, but they arrived safely at Kitty Hawk on the evening of September 12.

March 29, 2006, page 59 WB:241-L7-P7 Arrival Wilbur spent the night aboard Perry’s boat, then made his way to William Tate’s home in the morning. It had been two difficult, fright-filled days since leaving Elizabeth City, and a full week since his departure from Dayton. The Wrights camped in a large tent during their first visit. The following year they would build a rough-hewn wooden hangar. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:241-L8-P8 “Like the Sahara” Weather proved unpredictable. Sudden squalls frequently blew in off the ocean, and the constantly shifting sand got into everything. Insects, especially mosquitoes, pestered them. Food was scarce, so the Wrights always brought their own provisions. Years later Orville remarked that the place was “like the Sahara, or what I imagine the Sahara to be.” Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:241-L9-P9 The Wrights’ provisions and the interior of their camp building in 1902. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

March 29, 2006, page 60 WB:241-L10 “We came down here for wind and sand, and we have got them. . . . The sand is the greatest thing in Kitty Hawk, and soon will be the only thing.” Orville Wright October 1900

WB:241-L11 “They [mosquitoes] chewed us clear through our underwear and socks. Lumps began swelling up all over my body like hen’s eggs. . . . Misery! Misery!” Orville Wright July 1901

WB:241-L12-P12 Vacations Nonetheless Despite the hardships, Wilbur and Orville viewed their trips to Kitty Hawk as vacations. They enjoyed escaping the tedium of city life, grew fond of the Tates and other local folk they came to know, and found the chance to test their ideas in the field exhilarating. The brothers always returned to Dayton feeling rejuvenated. Years later they would look back on their times at Kitty Hawk as some of the happiest of their lives. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

March 29, 2006, page 61

WB:242-L1 Flight Testing the 1900 Glider The Wright brothers’ flight-testing program was a key to their success. Extensive trials of their gliders not only provided valuable performance data, which was folded back into the evolving design, but also helped Wilbur and Orville develop piloting skills.

WB:242-L2-P2 “Kiting” the Glider Before making free glides, the Wrights always tested their gliders by flying them as kites. Kiting provided valuable information on lift and drag and enabled them to get a feel for the controls. The first year they built a tower with a rope-and- pulley suspension device to test the glider, but it didn’t prove useful and they soon returned to kiting.

WB:242-L3-P3a,b Rare Photos of the 1900 Glider Only three photos of the 1900 Wright glider survive: the picture of it in flight and these two. In one the glider appears behind William Tate’s nephew Tom, who proudly displays his catch. The other shows the glider after a gust of wind had picked up the unattended craft and smashed it into the sand. The brothers repaired it and continued their flight testing. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 62 WB:242-L4-S4 Richard Anemometer Cat. # A19540019 The Wrights borrowed this French-made, hand-held anemometer from Octave Chanute and used it to measure wind speeds during their flight tests at Kitty Hawk. Transferred from the Library of Congress

WB:242-L5a 1900 Wright Glider

WB:242-L5-S5 1900 Wright Glider (reproduction hanging overhead) The 1900 glider was the Wrights’ first piloted aircraft. First flight tested at Kitty Hawk in the fall of that year, it incorporated the wire-braced biplane structure and wing- warping control system they developed with their 1899 kite. The glider generated far less lift than the brothers’ calculations had predicted. However, the control systems— wing warping for lateral control and forward elevator for pitch control—worked beautifully. While the Wrights managed only two minutes of free gliding in 1900, those precious seconds airborne proved their innovative control ideas were sound. Lent by Ken Hyde, The Wright Experience, Warrenton, Va. Wingspan: 5.2 m (17 ft) Wing area: 15 sq m (165 sq ft) Length: 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) Height: 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) Weight: 24 kg (52 lb)

WB:242-L6 The Framework The Wrights had to reduce the glider’s planned 200- square-foot wing area to 165 square feet because of a problem with finding the right wood for the wing spars. Unable to locate 18-foot lengths of spruce in Norfolk, where he intended to buy the wood on his way to Kitty Hawk, Wilbur had to settle for 16-foot pieces of pine. This change resulted in both a smaller lifting surface and a slightly weaker structure, because pine is less resilient than spruce. The wing ribs were cut from ash strips and steam-bent to a camber of 1 in 23 (the height of the airfoil’s curve was 1/23rd the width of the wing).

March 29, 2006, page 63 WB:242-L7 The Fabric A single layer of French sateen fabric covered the framework. The wing ribs and spars slipped into pockets sewn to the underside of the covering. The wooden structure was not rigidly fastened together; it simply “floated” inside the pockets. Equally ingenious, the Wrights applied the fabric to the framework with the direction of the weave on the bias (at a 45-degree angle). This enhanced the ability of the wing to warp while still adding stiffness to the structure. Making the fabric an integral part of the structure eliminated the need for internal bracing, which saved weight and made the glider more resilient in a hard landing. Also to save weight, the fabric was left unsealed.

WB:242-L8-MI8a (touchable) Fabric Bias

WB:242-L8-MI8b-G18b (touchable) 1900 Wright Glider Touchable Wing

WB:242-L9-G9 Flying the Glider The pilot lay prone on the lower wing to limit drag. The foot-operated crossbar mounted behind him warped the wings for lateral balance, turning the glider. The horizontal hand levers in front of him flexed the forward elevator up and down, controlling pitch.

WB:242-L10 Results of the 1900 Glider Trials The 1900 glider produced only about half the lift the Wrights had predicted. For all their careful planning, something was obviously very wrong. Still, they were pleased with their first visit to Kitty Hawk. Their testing had validated many of their design concepts, the control method in particular. They had enjoyed their stay at the little fishing village and spent only $15 to build the glider. Wilbur and Orville planned to return the next year with an improved aircraft.

WB:242-L11 Dresses for the Tate Girls The 1900 glider was quite tattered after all the testing and repairs, so the Wrights simply discarded it at Kitty Hawk. William Tate asked if he could salvage it for materials, and his wife used the French sateen covering to make dresses for their two little girls.

March 29, 2006, page 64

WB:250-L1-P1 Return to Kitty Hawk The 1901 Wright Glider The poor lift performance of their 1900 glider made the Wright brothers question, but not abandon, the aerodynamic data and equations they had relied upon. To increase lift on their next glider, they simply increased the size of the wings and the curvature of the airfoil. They returned to Kitty Hawk in 1901 to test the new glider. The results were discouraging. Although more and longer free glides were made than in the previous year, the new glider performed worse than the 1900 craft. It still suffered from lack of lift and now had control problems as well.

WB:250-L2-P2 The Biggest Glider Yet The 1901 glider was by far the largest ever built up to that time. Here, Orville stands with the new glider at Kitty Hawk. Aircraft Wing Area 1901 Wright glider 26.9 sq. m (290 sq. ft.) 1900 Wright glider 15.3 sq. m (165 sq. ft.) Lilienthal monoplane glider 14 sq. m (151 sq. ft.) 1896 Chanute-Herring glider 12.4 sq. m (134 sq. ft.) Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 65

WB:251-L1 Flight Testing the 1901 Glider The Wrights continued with their gradual method of flight testing. Launched by assistants on either wingtip, their initial glides were just a few inches off the ground. William Tate and his half-brother Dan came by often to help. The testing began to reveal unexpected problems.

WB:251-L2-P2 William and Dan Tate assist Wilbur into the air, while Orville mans the camera.

WB:251-L3-G3 Problems with Control Arise . . . Wilbur and Orville’s proven control system had developed problems. Previously smooth and sure, the elevator control was now overly sensitive and erratic. When they warped the wings, the glider initially turned in the intended direction, then suddenly reversed itself. The Wrights were utterly baffled.

WB:251-L4-P4 . . . While Problems with Lift Persist The glider produced only one-third the lift that their calculations had predicted. The Wrights suspected the large increase they had made in wing curvature (from 1 in 23 to 1 in 12) was causing both the lift and pitch control problems. They re-rigged the wings to a shallower curvature (1 in 19) by altering the tension on the wires running over the vertical wing posts. The responsive pitch control returned, but lift remained poor. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

March 29, 2006, page 66 WB:251-L5-P5 The Wrights’ kite the 1901 glider. Note the high angle to the wind needed to keep the glider aloft, indicating that the wings are not providing enough lift.

WB:251-L6-M6 1901 Wright Glider Cat. # A19540086 Scale: 1/16 The 1901 glider was the Wright brothers’ second, and most problematic, in a series of three gliders leading up to their powered airplane. While larger than its predecessor—it had a 22-foot wingspan and weighed 98 pounds—and capable of longer flights, it experienced puzzling problems with lift and control. In keeping with their approach of maintaining continuity of design, the Wrights’ 1901 glider was similar in structural design and layout to their 1900 craft. The wire-braced biplane structure again featured a canard (forward) elevator and wing- warping for lateral control. Rather than the French sateen fabric of the 1900 craft, they used an unbleached muslin called “Pride of the West,” the fabric they would use on the rest of their experimental aircraft. Model made by Charles H. Hubbell

WB:251-L7-P7 Results of the 1901 Glider Trials The Wrights left Kitty Hawk discouraged. They had achieved glides of more than 90 meters (300 feet) in the largest glider ever built, but major problems with lift still plagued the aircraft, and new troubles with control appeared. Their goal of a practical airplane seemed more elusive than ever. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

March 29, 2006, page 67

WB:252-L1 “Some Aeronautical Experiments” The disheartened mood that overtook Wilbur and Orville as they departed Kitty Hawk did not last long. Shortly after they returned to Dayton, Octave Chanute invited them to speak before the prestigious Western Society of Engineers on their recent gliding experiments. At the society’s meeting in September 1901, Wilbur presented a paper modestly titled, “Some Aeronautical Experiments.” He discussed the design concepts he and Orville had developed and the lessons they had learned through flight testing. The speech was a remarkably concise and insightful statement of the problem of flight as it stood in the fall of 1901. The presentation was well received, and it bolstered the Wrights’ confidence.

WB:252-L2-S2 Wilbur’s Speech Publication After a transcript of Wilbur’s speech appeared in the Western Society of Engineers proceedings, it became one of the most sought-after pieces of aeronautical thinking yet published. It was reprinted in many journals in the United States and Europe and quickly became the benchmark for research in the field.

March 29, 2006, page 68

WB:260-L1 The Wright Wind Tunnel In addition to building and flying the world’s first airplane, the Wright brothers pioneered modern aeronautical engineering practice. Central to this was the design and use of their wind tunnel. Their 1903 powered airplane and their wind tunnel should be viewed together as the product of the Wrights’ invention of flight technology. Other aeronautical experimenters had used wind tunnels, devices for studying the forces on objects in a flow of air. However, Wilbur and Orville were the first to use one to generate specific aerodynamic data that were directly incorporated into an aircraft design. The ingenious instruments they constructed for use in the wind tunnel provided accurate lift and drag data for many potential wing profiles. This research, carried out in late 1901 and early 1902, proved critical to the success of their 1903 airplane, and their techniques in basic form are still the heart of modern aeronautical engineering.

March 29, 2006, page 69

WB:261-L1 Doubts About Data The Wright brothers had designed two gliders using the accepted lift and drag equations, Otto Lilienthal’s aerodynamic data, and Smeaton’s coefficient. Neither glider produced the lift those calculations predicted. Wilbur and Orville felt it was time to perform their own aerodynamic research. The Wrights examined all the terms in the lift and drag equations. Some values—weight of the craft, wind speed, and wing surface area—could be directly measured, so the Wrights were confident of their accuracy. But the coefficients of lift and drag and Smeaton’s coefficient were drawn from the work of others. The brothers focused on these as the possible source of their gliders’ poor lift performance.

WB:261-L2 The Wrights’ Bicycle Apparatus In the fall of 1901, the Wrights began to test the accuracy of the equations they had been using. Tapping their familiarity with bicycles, they created a device to compare the forces acting on two objects with different shapes. This is how it worked: • They mounted a free-spinning bicycle wheel horizontally on the front fork of a bicycle. • To the wheel they attached two objects, as shown here: a flat plate (left) and a model wing (right) patterned after Lilienthal’s. • When they rode the bicycle, the air flowing past the two objects caused the wheel to rotate into an equilibrium position that depended on where the forces on the two objects balanced. Then, data recording and calculations: • They recorded the angle of the wing to the airflow at which the air pressure on the wing shape balanced the air pressure on the plate. This is called the angle of attack. • Then they calculated what Lilienthal’s data indicated the angle should have been.

March 29, 2006, page 70 WB:261-L2a The Results The model wing required more than three times the angle of attack than Lilienthal’s data predicted. The Wrights concluded that either Lilienthal’s data or Smeaton’s coefficient—or both—were in error.

WB:261-L2b-P2b Courtesy of The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

WB:261-L3-MI3 Balancing Forces Mechanical interactive on balancing forces Instructions changed 10-31-03 This device simulates the Wright brothers’ bicycle apparatus, which they used to research the aerodynamic

properties of wing shapes.

1. Twist the handle to change the angle of attack (angle to the airflow) of the curved wing shape.

2. Release the handle and notice how the wheel rotates. Try another angle and notice what happens.

The force of the air flowing over the curved wing shape is balanced by the force of the airflow on the flat plate. The wheel rotates until it reaches an equilibrium position.

The Wright brothers measured the aerodynamic forces acting on the curved wing shape and used this data to design their airplane wings.

WB:261-L3a-P3a A reproduction of the Wright wind tunnel set up in the Temporary photo and label to replace original Wright brothers’ bicycle shop located at The Henry interactive when it is being repaired. Ford, Dearborn, Mich.

March 29, 2006, page 71

WB:262-L1 The Wrights Build a Wind Tunnel The tests Wilbur and Orville performed with their bicycle apparatus confirmed their suspicions that the coefficients they had relied on were inaccurate. However, the device was too crude to collect precise data, so the Wrights decided to build a wind tunnel.

WB: 262-L2-P2a,b The Wrights’ First Wind Tunnel Orville built a makeshift wind tunnel from a box about 18 inches long. A small fan supplied the flow of air. Adopting the force-balancing concept from their bicycle device, the Wrights mounted what they called a balancing vane in the tunnel, which again used a wing shape and flat plate to measure lift. Wilbur sent this sketch of the wind tunnel to Octave Chanute in 1901. The photograph shows a reproduction of the balancing vane. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:262-L3-S3 Scraps of Wallpaper from the Wind Tunnel Two pieces, about 10 inches square Wilbur and Orville recorded the measurements they made with their first wind tunnel on scraps of wallpaper they laid in the bottom of the tunnel, including these pieces. The brothers used the tunnel only for a day, but their results again showed clear discrepancies with Lilienthal’s data. Lent by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

WB:262-L4-P4a,b The Wrights’ Large Wind Tunnel After building and testing a small wind tunnel, the Wright brothers completed a larger, more sophisticated one in October 1901. They used it extensively to carry out aerodynamic research that proved essential in designing their 1903 airplane. The original wind tunnel no longer exists. This accurate reproduction was built by the National Cash Register Company of Dayton in 1952. It is on display in the Museum’s Early Flight gallery. A wind tunnel interactive exhibit is located in the How Things Fly gallery. The wind tunnel consisted of a simple wooden box with a square glass window on top for viewing the interior during testing. A fan belted to a one-horsepower engine, which ran the machinery in their bicycle shop, provided an airflow of about 30 miles per hour.

March 29, 2006, page 72 WB:262-L4a-G4a How the Wind Tunnel Worked With the fan turned on, the airflow generated an aerodynamic force on the model wing surface. The amount of force was indicated on the scale at the bottom of the balance. After calculation, the readings gave coefficients of lift and drag for the different model wing shapes tested.

WB:262-L5 Wright Wind Tunnel Balances What made the Wrights’ wind tunnel unique were the instruments they designed and built to measure lift and drag. Called balances, after the force-balancing concept, these instruments measured the forces of lift and drag acting on a wing in terms that could be used in the equations. The balances are made from old hacksaw blades and bicycle spokes. Their crude appearance belies their sophisticated design. Largely the work of Orville, they represent a solid understanding of geometry, mathematics, and aerodynamic forces, and illustrate the Wrights’ engineering talents at their finest.

WB:262-L6-S6 The balance for measuring lift. Lent by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

WB:262-L7-S7 The balance for measuring drag (reproduction).

WB:262-L8-P8 This diagram drawn by the Wrights illustrates the aerodynamic forces acting on the lift balance. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 73 WB:262-L9-P9 Model Wing Shapes Wilbur and Orville conducted preliminary tests on as many as 200 different model wing shapes as they perfected the operation of their wind tunnel. They made formal tests and recorded data on nearly 50 of these.

WB:262-L10-S10 Model Wings Used in the Tunnel Three models wings These are examples of the model wings the Wright brothers tested in their wind tunnel. They made them from sheet steel using tin shears, a hammer, and a file. The Wrights tested a broad ranges of model wings: • Size: averaged 6 to 8 square inches in area. • Curvature: ranged from 1 in 6 to 1 in 20. • Profile: airfoils varied from perfect arcs to curves whose high point was far forward. • Shape: included perfect squares, rectangles, ellipses, half- circles, and multiwing forms. Lent by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

March 29, 2006, page 74

WB:263-L1 Collecting New Data The wind tunnel and instruments the Wright brothers designed worked accurately and efficiently. They designed their wind tunnel balances to determine two specific values in the lift and drag equations: the coefficients of lift and drag. Not only were they able to check the accuracy of Otto Lilienthal’s table of coefficients for his single wing shape, but they also collected data for dozens of other shapes. This allowed them to select the most efficient wing for the aircraft they wanted to build.

WB:263-L2-P2a,b Recording the Wind Tunnel Data Wilbur and Orville carefully recorded and graphed the aerodynamic data they collected with their wind tunnel. The originals of the tables and graphs shown here are in the collection of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

WB:263-L3 Correcting Smeaton’s Coefficient A key term in the lift and drag equations was Smeaton’s coefficient, which accounted for the density of air. A value for the coefficient of 0.005 had been widely used since the 18th century. Using measurements obtained from their glider tests at Kitty Hawk and the lift equation, the Wright brothers calculated a new average value of 0.0033. Modern aerodynamicists have confirmed this figure to be accurate within a few percent.

March 29, 2006, page 75

WB:270-L1 The First True Airplane The 1902 Wright Glider By December 1901, the Wright brothers had accumulated all the aerodynamic data they needed to build a successful flying machine. However, they did not immediately try to build a powered airplane. They could not be sure that data obtained from tiny model wings would translate to a full-size aircraft. And they still had to solve the mysterious control problems that surfaced during the 1901 glider trials. Rather than risk life and limb on a large, heavy, untried powered flying machine, Wilbur and Orville decided to build one more glider. While the Wrights still needed a propulsion system to realize their goal of powered flight, their latest aircraft embodied the basic aerodynamic, control, and structural requirements for human mechanical flight. To a great extent, the flights of the 1902 glider in its final form marked the invention of the airplane.

March 29, 2006, page 76

WB:271-L1 Flight Testing the 1902 Glider Compared to their previous gliders, the Wrights’ 1902 glider had a much thinner airfoil and longer and narrower wings, which their wind tunnel tests had shown to be more efficient. To improve lateral control, they added a fixed vertical rudder to the rear of the glider. They retained the reliable forward elevator for pitch control but made it elliptical in shape. The improvement in performance from all these changes was dramatic.

WB:271-L2-P2 Kiting the 1902 Glider As always, the Wrights first flew their new glider as a kite. Its vastly improved lift performance was immediately evident, and it could sustain nearly level flight. Compare these photos of the three different gliders. The 1902 glider has a low angle of attack and nearly vertical kite lines, indications of a better ratio of lift to drag. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:271-L3-P3 The 1900 glider.

March 29, 2006, page 77 WB:271-L4-P4 The 1901 glider.

WB:271-L5-P5 “Well Digging” After the kiting tests, Wilbur and Orville began to fly the aircraft as a glider. The new fixed vertical rudder seemed to cure the control reversal problem they experienced in 1901— at least most of the time. Sometimes the reversal of the turn was even more sudden and violent. The Wrights called these episodes “well digging,” referring to the small crater left in the sand when the glider uncontrollably hit the ground. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:271-L6-P6 Changes to the Rudder To solve the control reversal problem, the Wrights made the rudder movable, so its position could be coordinated with the wing-warping. They connected the rudder control cables to the wing-warping hip cradle, so a single motion by the pilot operated both controls. They also changed the original double rudder to a single rudder, as shown here.

March 29, 2006, page 78

WB:272-L1-P1 The First Fully Controllable Aircraft After modifying the glider’s rudder, the Wrights now had a true three-dimensional system of control. This three-axis control system was their single most important design breakthrough, and was the central aspect of the flying machine patent they later obtained. In its final form, the 1902 Wright glider was the world’s first fully controllable aircraft. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:272-L2 “Our new machine is a very great improvement over anything…anyone has built. Everything is so much more satisfactory that we now believe that the flying problem is really nearing its solution.” Wilbur Wright October 2, 1902

WB:272-L3-P3 Orville at the Controls Wilbur had made all the free glides with the glider since the beginning in 1900. On September 23, 1902, Orville finally got his first opportunity to pilot an aircraft. Here Wilbur and Dan Tate launch Orville in the 1902 glider.

WB:272-L4-P4 “We now hold all records!” The improved performance of the 1902 glider finally enabled the Wright brothers to gain extensive practice in the air. During September and October, they made between 700 and 1,000 glides. Flights of 500 feet were common, and a few topped 600 feet. Orville enthusiastically wrote home of their success, “we now hold all records!”

March 29, 2006, page 79 WB:272-L5-P5 A Picture of Success The Wrights and friends pose with the perfected 1902 glider. From the left: Octave Chanute, Orville, Wilbur, A. M. Herring, George Spratt, and Dan Tate. The Wrights’ older brother, Lorin, who was visiting Kitty Hawk, took most of the photographs in 1902, including this one on October 10. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:272-L6-S6 1902 Wright Glider (reproduction hanging overhead) The third in a series of gliders leading up to their powered airplane, the 1902 glider was the Wright brothers’ most advanced yet. Reflecting their single, evolving design, it was again a biplane with a canard (forward) surface for pitch control and wing-warping for lateral control. But its longer, narrower wings, elliptical elevator, and vertical tail gave it a much more graceful, elegant appearance. Like the 1901 glider, this one also had a spruce and ash framework supported within pockets sewn into its muslin fabric covering. The fabric was again applied on the bias (the direction of the weave at a 45-degree angle). The wings were rigged with a slight downward droop to counteract side- slipping due to crosswinds. Lent by Rick Young Wingspan: 9.8 m (32 ft) Wing area: 28.3 sq m (305 sq ft) Length: 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) Height: 2.4 m (8 ft) Weight: 53 kg (117 lb)

WB:272-L7-S7 1902 Glider Wingtip This wingtip is the only surviving piece from any of the three Wright gliders. The brothers viewed the gliders simply as research tools. Because the aircraft were so beat up from flight testing and repair, Wilbur and Orville simply left them behind at Kitty Hawk when they departed. This wingtip was scavenged years later. Gift of Frederick B. Drane

Approx. 41 in x 15 in Cat. # A19340032

March 29, 2006, page 80

WB:280-L1 The Dream Fulfilled The 1903 Wright Flyer Buoyant over the success of their 1902 glider, the Wright brothers were no longer content to merely add to the growing body of aeronautical knowledge; they were going to invent the airplane. Still, they recognized that much hard work lay ahead, especially the creation of a propulsion system. During the spring and summer of 1903, they were consumed with leaping that final hurdle into history. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk with their first powered aircraft. The Wright brothers had invented the first successful airplane.

WB:280-L2 “Isn’t it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many just so that we could discover them!!” Orville Wright June 7, 1903

WB:280-L3 Obtaining a Patent By the time they returned from Kitty Hawk in 1902, the Wright brothers knew they had solved the crucial problems of mechanical flight. They immediately began the process of obtaining their basic flying machine patent, which they first filed in March 1903. It took more than three years for the patent to be granted.

March 29, 2006, page 81 WB:280-L4-S4-P4a,b,c Wright Patent (facsimile) U.S. Patent 821,393, was granted on May 22, 1906, to Wilbur and Orville Wright for “new and useful improvement in Flying Machines.” Note that these drawings that appeared in the patent are of a glider, not a powered airplane. The Wright airplane patent—the basis for their many later patent infringement suits—was for the 1902 glider, not the more famous airplane of 1903.

12 in x 8 in

March 29, 2006, page 82

WB:281-L1 Designing the Flyer To design their first powered airplane, which they simply called the Flyer, the Wrights returned to their wind tunnel data and the lift and drag equations. To carry the weight of an engine, propellers, and added structural reinforcement, they had to increase the wing area to more than 500 square feet. Allowing 200 pounds for the propulsion system, they estimated that the aircraft with pilot would weigh 625 pounds. Based on this estimate, they calculated power, thrust, and speed requirements and concluded they needed an 8-horsepower engine generating 90 pounds of thrust to achieve a minimum airspeed of 23 miles per hour.

WB:281-L2-P2 A reproduction of the Wright brothers’ preliminary sketch of the 1903 Wright Flyer, drawn in pencil on brown wrapping paper. The notations are in Wilbur’s handwriting. The original is at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

24 in x 22 in

March 29, 2006, page 83 WB:281-L3-S3 Wing Rib Construction Unlike the solid, steam-bent wing ribs of the earlier gliders, the ribs of the 1903 Flyer were built up from two thin strips of ash with small blocks in between. The curvature of the airfoil was 1 in 20, slightly greater than on the 1902 glider. This original Wright wing rib is from an airplane the Wright brothers built in 1908, but it illustrates the built-up construction they first used in 1903. Gift of Col. Henry Berliner

Cat. # A19571012 Approx. 6 ft x 4 in

WB:281-L4-P4 Double Layer Fabric Covering The Wrights further refined the wings by covering the bottom surfaces with fabric. This resulted in a smoother overall wing surface, which enhanced its aerodynamic efficiency. The wooden structure once again “floated” inside fabric pockets, now sewn to the inside of the lower fabric layer. The brothers continued to apply the fabric on the bias (the direction of the weave at a 45-degree angle) to enhance the ability of the wings to warp, while still adding stiffness to the structure.

All these features can be seen in this photo of a wing with the fabric pulled back, taken during the Museum’s 1985 refurbishment of the Wright Flyer.

WB:281-L5-S5 Original 1903 Fabric from the Wright Flyer Cat. # A19810147 This wing panel is the largest surviving piece of original 12 ft x 6.5 ft, but can be folded to smaller size fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer. It was on the airplane during its historic flights of December 17, 1903. The Flyer was completely re-covered in 1927 under Orville Wright’s supervision, and again in 1985 by the National Air and Space Museum. This fabric is the same “Pride of the West” unbleached muslin used on the 1901 and 1902 gliders. Once again, it was left unsealed to save weight. Gift of Ivonette Wright Miller and Harold S. Miller

March 29, 2006, page 84 WB:281-L6a Wing Struts The Wrights cleverly supported the middle of the wing struts with a fine wire, secured on both sides so the struts would not flex under flight loads. To achieve the same strength without the wire would have required thicker, heavier struts. Compare the difference in force required to flex the strut with the wire and without.

WB:281-L6-MI6 The Wright brothers added a bracing wire through the Mechanical interactive on bracing wires struts (vertical posts) between the two wings and secured it to the center of each strut.

3. Press the left lever forward, then the right lever.

4. What difference can you see?

The struts on the left bend. The ones on the right do not.

The bracing wire prevents the struts from bowing that occurs during flight, so they could be made thinner and therefore lighter.

WB:242-L6a-MI6a,b [moved]

WB:281-L7-MI7 Touch the structural components and the different materials Touchable materials from which the Wright Flyer was built. Gift of Mark Kaindl and Rick Young, Flughmaschine Wright

Spruce leading edge Metal leading edge strap Built-up ash wing rib structure Fabric covering with stitching on the bias Spruce rear spar Glued paper reinforcement Bracing wire Wing strut fitting and spruce strut String for securing trailing edge wire

March 29, 2006, page 85 WB:281-L8-S8 1903 Wright Flyer Cat. # A19610048 The 1903 Wright Flyer made four flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, the best covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. It was the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight with a pilot aboard. The Wrights used their proven canard biplane configuration, which was rooted in their initial 1899 kite design. Key to the Flyer’s success was its three-axis control system, which featured wing-warping for lateral balance, a moveable rudder, and an elevator for pitch control. The right wing was four inches longer than the left to compensate for the engine being heavier than and mounted to the right of the pilot. The wings were rigged with a slight droop to reduce the effects of crosswinds. Gift of the Estate of Orville Wright

Wingspan: 12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) Wing area: 47.4 sq m (510 sq ft) Length: 6.4 m (21 ft 1 in) Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 4 in) Weight: 341 kg (750 lb), with pilot Engine: Horizontal 4-cylinder, water-cooled, 12 hp

WB:281-L9 Historical Label for the 1903 Wright Flyer The Wright Flyer was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution after Orville’s death in 1948. It has been on display with this label, prepared by the executors of his estate, ever since.

The Original Wright Brothers’ Aeroplane The World’s First Power-Driven Heavier-than-Air Machine in Which Man Made Free, Controlled, and Sustained Flight Invented and Built by Wilbur and Orville Wright Flown by Them at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina December 17, 1903 By Original Scientific Research the Wright Brothers Discovered the Principles of Human Flight As Inventors, Builders and Flyers They Further Developed the Aeroplane Taught Man to Fly and Opened the Era of Aviation

Deposited by the Estate of Orville Wright

March 29, 2006, page 86

WB:282-L1 The Propulsion System The last obstacle to powered flight was the propulsion system. The term propulsion system is important. Wilbur and Orville recognized that developing an effective propeller, and an efficient transmission linkage to the power plant, was just as crucial as building a suitable engine. Seeking a power plant for their airplane, the Wrights contacted many of the dozens of firms that by then were manufacturing gasoline engines. Ten responded, but none could meet power and weight requirements the Wrights specified, or could do so at a reasonable price. Undeterred, the brothers decided to build their own.

WB:282-L2-P2 Charlie Taylor The Wrights’ Assistant Charlie Taylor, a mechanic the Wrights hired in 1901 to work in their bicycle shop, helped design the engine and did virtually all the machine work to build it. He completed the engine in only six weeks and tested it for the first time on February 12, 1903. The engine was the only aspect of the Wrights’ invention of the airplane that someone else had a significant hand in creating.

WB:282-L3-S3 Charlie Taylor’s Tools 20 in x 8 in x 7 in box Whether Taylor used any of these to make the Wright Revised 3-06 engine is not known, but he did own them at the time he worked on it. Lent by Reuben W. Taylor Jr., Charles Edward Taylor II, and Charles Edward Taylor III

March 29, 2006, page 87 WB:282-L4-P4 The Engine: Crude but Clever The Wright engine was a bit crude, even by the standards of the day. It had four horizontal inline cylinders. The 4-inch bore, 4-inch stroke, cast-iron cylinders fit into a cast aluminum crankcase that extended outward to form a water jacket around the cylinder barrels. The engine was cooled by water from a narrow vertical water reservoir mounted on a forward strut. The system was not a radiator in the typical sense, for the water did not circulate. The reservoir simply replenished the water jacket as the water evaporated from it.

WB:282-L5-P5 The Aluminum Crankcase: A First The Wright engine, with its aluminum crankcase, marked the first time this breakthrough material was used in aircraft construction. Lightweight aluminum became essential in aircraft design development and remains a primary construction material for all types of aircraft. The Wrights contracted a local Dayton foundry, the Buckeye Iron and Brass Works, to cast the crankcase. Buckeye acquired their raw aluminum from the nearby Pittsburgh Reduction Company, renamed Alcoa in 1907, the world’s leading producer of aluminum.

March 29, 2006, page 88 WB:282-L6 How the Wright Engine Worked The engine had no fuel pump, carburetor, or spark plugs. Nor did it have a throttle. Yet the simple motor produced 12 horsepower, an acceptable margin above the Wrights’ minimum requirement of 8 horsepower. 1. Gasoline was gravity fed from a small quart-and-a-half tank mounted on a strut below the upper wing. 2. The gasoline entered a shallow chamber next to the cylinders and mixed with the incoming air. 3. Heat from the crankcase vaporized the fuel-air mixture, causing it to pass through the intake manifold into the cylinders. 4. Ignition was produced by opening and closing two contact breaker points in the combustion chamber of each cylinder via a camshaft. 5. The initial spark for starting the engine was generated with a coil and four dry-cell batteries, not carried on the airplane. 6. A low-tension magneto driven by a 20-pound flywheel supplied electric current while the engine was running.

WB:282-L6a The 1903 Wright engine was somewhat crude even by the Engine audio standards of its time, but it supplied the power the Wrights needed. Push the button to hear the unusual sound of this

early gasoline engine. The recording is of an accurate modern reproduction of the Wright engine.

March 29, 2006, page 89

WB:282-L7-G7 The Propellers: Rotary Wings One of the most innovative aspects of the 1903 Flyer was its propellers. The Wrights decided to treat the propeller as if it were a rotary wing. They reasoned that the same physics that generated an upward force (lift) on a curved surface in a flow of air would also produce a horizontal force (thrust) when such a surface was positioned vertically and rotated to create the airflow.

WB:282-L8-M8 Making the Propellers Conceiving the aerodynamic propeller was another example of the Wrights’ great ability to think visually and turn abstract ideas into working hardware. The Wrights decided to use two, slow-turning, large propellers, because this arrangement offered great efficiency, and the propellers could be spun in opposite directions to neutralize the gyroscopic effects of the whirling blades. Each propeller was 8½ feet in diameter and made from two laminations of 1¾-inch spruce. The blades were shaped with a hatchet and a drawknife and the tips covered with fabric and varnished to prevent splitting. See and touch the sample propeller to your left (not a Wright propeller).

WB:282-L9-S9 Original Propeller from the Wright Flyer Cat. # A19830381 This is one of the propellers used on the Wright Flyer 8.5 ft x 7.5 in during its historic flights on December 17, 1903. The propeller and airplane were damaged after the final flight that day. The propellers now on the Flyer are original Wright propellers made at a later time. Gift of Ivonette Wright Miller and Harold S. Miller

March 29, 2006, page 90 WB:282-L10-P10 Chain-and-Sprocket Transmission System Wilbur and Orville again drew upon their familiarity with bicycles in creating the transmission linkage. To transfer power from the engine to the propellers, they devised a simple chain-and-sprocket arrangement running from the engine crankshaft to a pair of steel propeller shafts. To make the propellers rotate in opposite directions, they simply twisted one of the two chains in a figure eight.

WB:282-L11-P11 Flight Controls and Instruments On “Designing the Flyer” panel The controls on the Wright Flyer were essentially the same as those on the 1902 glider. A hip cradle, now padded, worked the wing-warping and coupled rudder. A simple wooden lever held in the left hand controlled the elevator. A small complement of instruments recorded flight data. A Richard anemometer and a stopwatch were mounted on the front strut to the pilot’s right. They recorded distance through the air in meters and the duration of the flight, readings from which airspeed could be calculated. A Veedor revolution counter was mounted at the base of the engine to record engine revolution. The instruments were arranged so all could be turned off, along with the engine, the instant the flight was over by a single movement of a wooden lever mounted on the lower wing.

March 29, 2006, page 91

WB:284-L1 The Wright Flyer Takes to the Air In September 1903, the Wright brothers again departed for Kitty Hawk. They had approached each previous trip as a stimulating opportunity to conduct their aeronautical experiments and contribute something to this exciting new field. This year things were different. They were going to fly an airplane. The Wrights’ initial confidence waned, however, as they began to confront an unsettling pattern of setbacks. Between technical problems and bad weather, they at times wondered if their self-assured intention to fly the airplane in 1903 was premature.

WB:284-L2 Engine Trouble Because of the Flyer’s size, the Wrights had not been able to assemble the entire airplane in their shop in Dayton and run the engine with the propellers. So the first several weeks at Kitty Hawk were spent putting the airplane together and trouble-shooting the propulsion system. The transmission system in particular gave them trouble. The jerking motion of the engine caused the sprockets to loosen and damage the propeller shafts. Orville returned to Dayton to make new ones and arrived back at Kitty Hawk on December 11. By then, harsh winter weather was closing in fast.

WB:284-L3-P3 Too Heavy? The completed Flyer sits outside the Wrights’ Kitty Hawk hangar, with Wilbur looking on. The Flyer ended up 125 pounds heavier than the Wrights initially estimated. Fortunately, their propellers provided 50 percent more thrust than expected, which the brothers hoped would compensate for the extra weight.

March 29, 2006, page 92 WB:284-L4-P4 The “Grand Junction Railroad” Because of its size and weight, the Flyer could not be hand launched like the Wright gliders. The brothers built a 60-foot launching rail from four 15-foot two-by-fours laid end to end. To take off, the airplane rode down this track on a small, wheeled dolly or “truck,” as the Wrights called it. The brothers referred to their launching track as the “Grand Junction Railroad.” Here, the Flyer rests atop the track, ready for flight, with several Kitty Hawk locals standing by.

WB:284-L5-S5 Wright Launching Dolly This original Wright launching dolly dates from 1909, but it is similar to the one used in 1903, which does not survive. Gift of the Estate of Orville Wright

Cat. # A19610049 7 ft x 1.5 ft

WB:284-L6-P6 A Toss of a Coin On December 14, three months after arriving at Kitty Hawk, the Wrights were finally ready to give their creation a try. They tossed a coin to determine which brother would make the first attempt. Wilbur won and climbed into the pilot’s position. Forty feet down the rail, the Flyer lurched up, stalled, and smashed into the sand, slightly damaging the forward elevator. The Flyer was airborne for only 3½ seconds, but the power of the engine and the responsiveness of the controls bolstered Wilbur’s confidence. He wrote home, “There is now no question of final success.”

March 29, 2006, page 93

WB:285-L1 Triumph With damage from its first brief trial three days before repaired, the Flyer was again ready for flight on December 17. The Wrights arose that morning to freezing temperatures and a 27- mile-per-hour wind. At 10:35 a.m., the Flyer lifted off the launching rail with Orville at the controls. The overly sensitive elevator control caused the Flyer to dart up and down as it sailed slowly over the sand, coming to rest with a thud 120 feet from where it had taken off. The flight was short—only 12 seconds—but it was a true flight nevertheless. A human had flown.

WB:285-L2-P2a “After a while they shook hands, and we couldn’t help notice how they held on to each other’s hand, sort o’like they hated to let go; like two folks parting who weren’t sure they’d ever see each other again.” John T. Daniels, Kitty Hawk lifesaving crewman, recalling the moments before the first flight

WB:285-L3 Back in the Air The Wright brothers made three more flights that day. On the second, Wilbur traveled 175 feet in a similar up-and-down course. On the third, Orville covered a little more than 200 feet in 15 seconds. With Wilbur back at the controls, the Flyer made its final and most significant flight. After another erratic start, Wilbur steadied the airplane for an impressive 852-foot trip in 59 seconds, definitively demonstrating that the Wright Flyer was capable of sustained, controlled flight.

March 29, 2006, page 94 WB:285-L4-P4 This is the only other picture of the Wright Flyer in the air. It captures Orville landing at the end of the third flight.

WB:285-L5-P5 The Wright Flyer after Wilbur’s long fourth flight. Notice the launching rail to the right of the picture.

WB:285-L6-P6 The Flyer After Its Final Flight Just after this picture was taken, as the brothers and the local observers discussed the fourth flight, a gust of wind overturned the airplane and sent it tumbling across the sand. Severely damaged, the 1903 Wright Flyer never flew again. The experiments for that year were over, but the Wrights had accomplished what they had set out to do.

March 29, 2006, page 95 WB:285-L7-S7 The Wrights used this stopwatch to time the Kitty Hawk flights. Gift of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences

Cat. # A19640054

WB:285-L8-S8 Orville carried this pocket watch while making the first flight. Gift of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences

Cat. # A19640055

WB:285-L9-P9 Message Home After the flights, the Wrights sent home this telegram to their father confirming their success. It mistakenly states the longest flight as 57 seconds and misspells Orville’s name. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

March 29, 2006, page 96 WB:285-L10-S10 The famous telegram from the Wright brothers to their father was sent from Kitty Hawk with this telegraph key. Gift of the Estate of Beverly Griffith

Cat. # A19710854

WB:285-L11-CI11 [Inside the Invention computer interactive]

WB:285-L12-CI12 [Flight simulation computer interactive]

March 29, 2006, page 97

WB:286-L1 The Wrights as Photographers The world is fortunate that the Wright brothers also had an interest in the relatively new practice of amateur photography. The pictures they took at Kitty Hawk dramatically document their invention of the airplane. A century later, their wonderfully composed images still convey the excitement of the first human steps into the air. Wilbur and Orville had a home darkroom in a shed behind their Dayton home. As they developed the glass plate negatives exposed at Kitty Hawk, they were able to relive the exhilaration of skimming over the sand aboard their manmade wings. “The excitement of gliding experiments does not entirely cease with the breaking of camp,” Wilbur noted in 1901. “In the photographic darkroom at home we pass moments of as thrilling interest as any in the field.”

WB:286-L2-P2 The Moment of Invention This enduring image of the first flight, taken the instant Orville lifted the Flyer into the air for the first time, with Wilbur looking on, captured the “moment of invention” for all time. It is among the most famous photographs ever taken. Orville positioned his camera so it was aimed toward the end of the launching rail. He instructed local lifesaving crewmen John T. Daniels to snap the shutter as the airplane left the rail. It was the first time Daniels had ever operated a camera.

WB:286-L3-S3 Korona Camera This Korona 5 × 7 camera is similar to the one used by Wilbur and Orville at Kitty Hawk. The Wrights’ camera is in the collection of Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio. Lent by Peter L. Jakab

March 29, 2006, page 98

WB:290-L1 Creating a Practical Flying Machine The 1904 and 1905 Wright Flyers On January 5, 1904, the Wright brothers made a statement to the Associated Press regarding their Kitty Hawk flights. They gave an account of the events, and then in closing affirmed that they had achieved their goal: “We packed our goods and returned home, knowing that the age of the flying machine had come at last.” While the Wrights had achieved powered flight, they had not yet created a practical airplane. The 1903 Flyer had only performed short, straight-line flights. To successfully market their invention, they had to demonstrate that it could turn and fly over more commonplace terrain than the sandy open spaces of Kitty Hawk. With this goal in mind, Wilbur and Orville refined their design with two more powered aircraft in 1904 and 1905. Photos courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:290-L2-P2 The Move to Huffman Prairie To enhance their opportunities to experiment and practice, and to avoid the tedious journey to Kitty Hawk, the Wrights obtained permission to fly off a local cow pasture known as Huffman Prairie, a few miles outside Dayton. The owner did not charge them; he only requested that they lead the livestock out of the way before taking off. They built a hangar on the field and began experimenting with their second powered airplane in May 1904. They began using a tower-and-drop-weight catapult launching device to assist takeoff in lighter winds.

March 29, 2006, page 99 WB:290-L3-P3 Increasing Stability The 1903 airplane’s main problems were pitch instability and an overly sensitive elevator. To deal with the instability, the Wrights added weight to the front of their 1904 Flyer to shift the center of gravity forward. They also moved the elevator farther ahead of the wings, which dampened the control response and made the aircraft easier to fly.

WB:290-L4-P4 The 1904 Flyer: The First Circular Flight Improvement came slowly. The Wrights did not match their 59-second flight of 1903 until the 49th flight of their 1904 airplane. On October 20, 1904, the Wrights finally flew their first complete circle. The flight lasted 1 minute, 36 seconds and covered 4,080 feet.

WB:290-L5-P5 The First Published Eyewitness Account Amos I. Root, a beekeeping enthusiast from Medina, Ohio, traveled 175 miles to see the Wright brothers fly and witnessed their first circular flight. He published an account of that historic event in his journal, Gleanings in Bee Culture. It was the first eyewitness account of a Wright brothers airplane flight to appear in print.

March 29, 2006, page 100 WB:290-L6-P6 The 1905 Flyer: The First Practical Airplane By the fall of 1905, the Wright brothers’ experimental period ended. With their third powered airplane, they now routinely made flights of several minutes. On October 5, Wilbur made a spectacular flight in which he circled the field 30 times in 39 minutes for a total distance of 24½ miles. In every sense, the Wrights now had a practical airplane. They turned their attention to securing their patent and seeking a customer for their invention. They would not fly again for 2½ years.

The 1905 Wright Flyer is on display at Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio. The 1904 Flyer no longer exists.

WB:290-L7-S7 This American flag was flown on the 1904 Flyer at Huffman Prairie and was preserved by the Wrights’ assistant, Charlie Taylor. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben W. Taylor Sr.

Cat. # A19600031 12 in x 7.5 in

March 29, 2006, page 101 WB:300-L1 The Aerial Age Begins The decade after the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903 witnessed a wide range of reactions to the new technology. Human flight was so significant and revolutionary a breakthrough that its influence went well beyond the aeronautical community. The airplane had meaning for everyone—from popular enthusiasm for the pilots and their aerial exhibitions, to the commercial and military potential of aviation, to the broad cultural implications of flight, to the artistic expression it inspired. The impact of the airplane on the 20th century is beyond measure. The Wrights not only solved a long-studied technical problem, but also helped create an entirely new world. Speculation on what that world would be like began with our first tentative leaps into the air.

October 11, 2003, page 102

WB:310-L1-P1 Aviation: 1902–1908 After perfecting their aircraft in 1905, the Wright brothers did not fly at all in 1906 and 1907, as they turned their attention to securing their patent and finding customers for their invention. Even before their success at Kitty Hawk in 1903, information about the Wrights’ developments began to circulate among the aeronautical community and filter to Europe. In 1906 and 1907, several Europeans made short, straight-line flights of comparable length to the Wrights’ first powered flights. In North America, some notable successes were achieved by the Aerial Experiment Association. Formed by famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1907, the A.E.A. built several powered aircraft, including the first airplane to fly in Canada, in 1909. The group included Glenn H. Curtiss, who went on to become the leading producer of aircraft in the United States before World War I.

October 11, 2003, page 103

WB:311-L1 The Wrights’ Influence in Europe French experimenter Ferdinand Ferber had learned vague details of the Wrights’ work as early as 1901 and built a crude copy of their initial glider in 1902. In February 1903, he published an article calling on his countrymen to recapture the lead in flight research. Two months later, Octave Chanute gave an address to the Aéro-Club de France in which he detailed the 1900–02 Wright experiments. However, his technical descriptions of the gliders were inaccurate.

WB:311-L2 “Type de Wright” Several leading French experimenters built “type de Wright” gliders based on Chanute’s sketchy details. The performance of these copies was poor, however, and planted seeds of doubt among Europeans about the advances the Wrights had achieved. Photos courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:311-L3-P3 Ferber Wright-type glider, 1902.

WB:311-L4-P4 Wright glider built by Robert Esnault-Pelterie, 1904.

WB:311-L5-P5 Archdeacon-Voisin Wright-type glider, 1904.

October 11, 2003, page 104

WB:312-L1 Chasing the Wrights Aeronautical activity picked up significantly during the Wrights’ flying hiatus of 1906–07, but no one came close to matching the brothers’ flight performance of 24½ miles at Huffman Prairie in October 1905.

WB:312-L2-P2 Voisin-Blériot float glider, 1905. Note the significant Wright influence.

WB:312-L3-P3 Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont made the first public flight of a powered airplane in Europe with his 14-bis on October 23, 1906, covering 60 meters (197 feet). On November 12, 1906, he traveled 220 meters (722 feet), still short of the Wrights’ best flight of 1903. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:312-L4-P4 Robert Esnault-Pelterie’s modern-looking monoplane had no rudder, but it made a hop of 600 meters (1,970 feet) in November 1907.

October 11, 2003, page 105 WB:312-L5-P5 The Red Wing was the first powered aircraft built by the A.E.A. It made two brief hops in March 1908.

WB:312-L6-P6 The A.E.A.’s second airplane, the White Wing, flew 310 meters (1,017 feet) in May 1908.

October 11, 2003, page 106

WB:313-L1 Closing the Gap By 1908, while the Wright brothers quietly negotiated behind the scenes, other flyers were capturing the public’s attention. Although their flight performance paled in comparison to the Wrights’, they received much publicity and won large financial prizes established in Europe and the United States.

WB:313-L2-P2 On January 13, 1908, Frenchman Henri Farman in a Voisin biplane won the 50,000-franc Deutch-Archdeacon prize for the first 1-kilometer circular flight in Europe.

WB:313-L3-P3 On July 4, 1908, Glenn Curtiss won the Scientific American Trophy for the first 1-kilometer, straight-line flight in the United States in his June Bug, the third airplane designed by the A.E.A. The trophy is on display in the Early Flight gallery.

WB:314-L4-S4 Seeking Their Due Issue of Century Magazine There was little press coverage of the Wrights’ breakthrough flights in 1903, and they made no effort to publicize their flights at Huffman Prairie in 1904 and 1905. Now, facing what they perceived as a growing public relations crisis in light of the acclaim being showered upon other aviators, the Wrights began a campaign to set the public straight on what they had accomplished. They published several articles in major periodicals detailing their aeronautical experiments. The most significant, entitled “The Wright Brothers’ Aëroplane,” appeared in Century Magazine. Lent by Peter L. Jakab October 11, 2003, page 107

WB:320-L1 “Fliers or Liars” While the Wright brothers were negotiating the sale of their aircraft, they let no one witness a flight or even see their airplane until they had a signed contract in hand. They refused to provide photographs, drawings, or technical descriptions. Their word, they felt, should be sufficient. The Wrights’ claims drew increasing skepticism, at home and abroad. By the spring of 1908, the Wright brothers had received their patent in America and in several European countries. They had contracts with the U.S. government and a French syndicate of financiers. They were finally ready to share their invention with the world. In August Wilbur made the first public flights of the Wright airplane in France and instantly dispelled all doubt. The Wrights became world celebrities overnight. French aviator Léon Delagrange summed up the matter succinctly: “Nous sommes battus.” (We are beaten.)

WB:320-L2 “The Wrights have flown or they have not flown. They possess a machine or they do not possess one. They are in fact either fliers or liars. It is difficult to fly. It is easy to say, ‘We have flown.’” New York Herald February 10, 1906

October 11, 2003, page 108

WB:321-L1 The Wrights in Europe Wilbur Wright arrived in France in May 1908. Over the next year, he made more than 200 flights in Europe, dazzling crowds whenever he took to the air and turning critics into admirers. He became a hero lavished with praise, honored at ceremonial dinners with political leaders and the aeronautical elite, and the recipient of numerous prizes and medals, including the Legion of Honor.

WB:321-L2 SUBSECTION Le Mans

The airplane, shipped to France before Wilbur’s arrival, was damaged as a result of careless customs inspection. Wilbur spent two stressful months preparing it for flight. Hunaudières racecourse at Le Mans, southwest of Paris, was selected as the flying site. Wilbur made his first flight in Europe on August 8, instantly confirming the Wrights’ claims.

WB:321-L2a-P2a Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L3-P3 [moved]

WB:321-L4-P4 [moved]

October 11, 2003, page 109 WB:321-L5 “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 in counting myself among the first to make amends for that flagrant injustice.” Ernest Archdeacon French aeronautical experimenter and promoter

WB:321-L6-P6 Seeking more room and a better flying site, Wilbur moved to a nearby military testing ground, Camp d’Auvours, where he flew continually until the end of the year. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L7-P7 At Camp d’Auvours, Wilbur made flights of increasing duration and altitude, carried passengers, trained pilots, and set numerous records. Among the many prizes he won was

the 20,000-franc Michelin Prize for a flight of nearly 2½ hours on December 31, 1908. The performance of the Wright airplane was dramatically better than anything the French had seen before. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L8-P8 Mrs. Hart O. Berg, wife of the Wrights’ agent in France, made the first true flight by a woman when she flew with Wilbur on October 7, 1908. The cord securing her skirts inspired the “Hobble Skirt” fad. (Technically, the first woman to fly was Thérèse Peltier, who was taken up on a brief, straight-line hop of a few hundred feet by Léon Delagrange on July 8, 1908.)

October 11, 2003, page 110

WB:321-L9-P9 SUBSECTION Pau

Seeking warmer weather, Wilbur moved his flight demonstrations to Pau, a resort town in the south of France, in January 1909. In February and March, he continued to make one spectacular flight after another and trained several students as well. Orville and Katharine joined Wilbur in France after he arrived at Pau. Photos courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L10 “Mr. Wright has us all in his hands. What he does not know is not worth knowing.” Paul Zens French aviator

WB:321-L11-P11 Wilbur makes an adjustment to the airplane, with Orville looking on.

WB:321-L12-P12 [moved]

October 11, 2003, page 111 WB:321-L13-P13 Wilbur took Katharine up for her first flight on February 15, 1909.

WB:321-L-14-P14 The siblings Wright tour Pau.

October 11, 2003, page 112

WB:321-L15-P15 SUBSECTION Italy and Germany The Wrights’ European tour continued in Italy. Wilbur trained Italian military pilots, and the first motion picture footage taken from an airplane in flight was filmed there. After completing flight trials for a U.S. Army contract in America in July 1909, Orville briefly returned with Katharine to Europe to demonstrate the airplane and to train pilots in connection with a contract for license-built Wright aircraft in Germany.

WB:321-L16-P16 Wilbur flying at Centocelle Field, near Rome, April 18, 1909. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L17-TV17 [deleted]

WB:321-L18-P18 Orville flying before the German royal family at Tempelhof Field, near Berlin, September 17, 1909.

WB:321-L19-S19a-h City maps, passenger lists, and postcards from the Wrights’ European tour. Lent by Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

October 11, 2003, page 113 WB:321-L20-M20 Wright Model A Cat. # A19540111 Scale 1:16 During their European tour, the Wrights flew what became known as the Wright Model A, a refinement of their 1905 Flyer flown at Huffman Prairie. Model made by Charles Newcomb

WB:321-L21-P21a,b,c,d Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

October 11, 2003, page 114

WB:322-L1 The Century’s First Celebrities In a century that would be dominated by the cult of celebrity, Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first of this new-age type of hero. Instantly famous because of a dramatic public act, the subject of sensational press accounts and broad popular adulation, their image everywhere, courted by the world’s most wealthy and influential people, the Wrights became the archetype of the 20th century’s familiar “overnight success.”

WB:322-L2 SUBSECTION Flying Before Royalty

Wherever the Wright brothers appeared, royal families and heads of state came to see them fly and to meet these seemingly ordinary gentlemen who had set the world astir.

WB:322-L3 “Princes & millionaires are thick as fleas.” Wilbur Wright Le Mans, October 9, 1908

WB:322-L4-P4 The brothers with King Edward VII of England.

October 11, 2003, page 115 WB:322-L5-P5 Wilbur discussing the finer points of flying with King Alfonso XIII of Spain.

WB 322-L6-P6 Victor Emanuel III, King of Italy, brought his camera along to capture the moment.

WB 322-L7-P7 Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Germany went up with Orville at Tempelhof on October 2, 1909, the first member of a royal family to fly. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB 322-L8-P8 After his flight, the Crown Prince gave Orville this ruby and diamond “W” stick-pin as a token of his appreciation. The pin remains in the possession of the Wright family. Courtesy of Dan Patterson

October 11, 2003, page 116

WB:322-L9 SUBSECTION Capturing the Public’s Imagination

The Wrights’ stunning flights not only impressed the thousands who came to see them, but also were front-page news everywhere. The public had an insatiable appetite for information about them—what their personalities were like, who they met, what they ate, where they slept, where they were going next. The Wrights disliked the attention and bristled at the widely inaccurate characterizations of themselves.

WB:322-L10-S10 May I Introduce Myself…. Everyone was clamoring to meet the Wrights: other prominent aviators, people with business deals, reporters, adoring women seeking their attention. These are a few of the hundreds of calling cards the Wrights received from notable figures of the day during their European tour. Lent by Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:322-L11-P11a-f The Many Faces of the Wrights In the age of mass media, caricature became a hallmark of celebrity. The brothers’ likenesses were captured in a range of interpretations, not always flattering. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:322-L11g-P11g Courtesy of Mary Evans Picture Library

October 11, 2003, page 117 WB:322-L11h-S11h Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:322-L11i-S11i Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

WB:322-L12-P12a and b The “Vilbour” The green wool cap Wilbur wore while making all his flights became a fashion fad. Known as a “Vilbour,” copies of it appeared on heads all over France. Cartoon courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:322-L13-S13 Wilbur Wright Jules Alfred Hervé-Mathé Oil on canvas 1908 Wilbur sat for a French portrait painter in the fall of 1908. This is believed to be the only painting of him from life. Gift of Mrs. Robert E. McMahon and Col. Lawrence Lahm

Cat. # 19510001 35 x 27.75 inches

October 11, 2003, page 118

WB:322-L14 SUBSECTION Homecoming Celebration

When the Wrights returned to America in May 1909, they were greeted with the same attention and adulation that had followed them across Europe. They considered all the public appearances, awards, and celebrations a distraction and made it known that they preferred to quietly get back to work. They would have no say in the matter, however. America would not be denied honoring the nation’s new favorite sons.

WB:322-L15-P15a and b President William Howard Taft welcomes Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine to the White House on June 10, 1909.

WB:322-L16 “You made this discovery by a course that we of America like to feel is distinctly American—by keeping your nose right at the job until you had accomplished what you had determined to do.” President William Howard Taft

October 11, 2003, page 119 WB:322-L17-P17a and b Dayton Welcomes the Wrights Home The grandest welcome for the brothers was the Wright Brothers’ Home Days Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, on June 17–18, 1909. There were receptions, parades, concerts, and fireworks. Wilbur and Orville accepted medals from the U.S. Congress, the state, and the city. Scores of elementary school children clad in red, white, and blue made up a “living flag” chorus that closed the ceremony with a song.

October 11, 2003, page 120

WB:322-L18-S18a-e Medals worn by participants in the Wright Brothers’ Home Days Celebration. Gift of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences

Cat. # A19640300-304

WB:322-L19-S19 Reproduction of the medal presented to the Wright brothers by the U.S. Congress. Gift of Paul E. Garber

Cat. # A19791396

October 11, 2003, page 121

WB:323-L1 The Hudson-Fulton Celebration Wilbur made headlines again in the fall of 1909 with several spectacular flights at New York’s Hudson-Fulton Celebration, a lavish event honoring the centennial of Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat and the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s entry into New York Harbor. Both Wilbur and rising American aviation star Glenn Curtiss were contracted to fly during the event.

WB:323-L2-P2 On October 4, 1909, Wilbur made a 20-mile flight up the Hudson River from Governors Island to Grant’s Tomb and back in 33½ minutes. He lashed a canoe to the bottom of his airplane in case of an emergency landing in the water.

WB:323-L3-S3 Wilbur Wright drew this sketch of his flight on an envelope for Hudson-Fulton Celebration official William J. Hammer.

WB:323-L4-P4 Wilbur passes the New York skyline. More than one million New Yorkers witnessed the flight.

October 11, 2003, page 122 WB:323-L5-S5 The popular journal Harper’s Weekly covered Wilbur’s circling of the Statue of Liberty.

WB:323-L6-S6a,b,c Tickets to the Hudson-Fulton Celebration. The back of the red one is autographed by Wilbur. REVISION, 11-06: Ticket to the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

2 tickets, 2 inches in diameter Also, booklet

WB:323-L7-S7 Key to Wilbur’s hangar at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

October 11, 2003, page 123

WB:330-L1 Marketing the Airplane The Wright brothers saw the military as an obvious customer for their invention. Balloons had been used for observation during the American Civil War and in several late 19th-century European conflicts. The airplane offered a natural extension of these reconnaissance capabilities. During the 20th century, the military proved to be the largest market for aeronautical technology. Commercial interests are always quick to seize upon important new technologies. However, the aircraft industry began small because the airplane was complex to manufacture and not adaptable to a broad individual consumer market. World War I was the first great impetus to manufacture aircraft, and the later development of commercial cargo and passenger air transport provided the other principal customer for aircraft builders. The aerospace industry ultimately became a pillar of the world economy.

October 11, 2003, page 124

WB:331-L1 War from the Air The concept of aerial military operations had been considered long before a practical airplane existed. The Wright brothers’ invention helped begin to realize that potential. Beyond reconnaissance, direct aerial attack of troops on the ground and strategic bombing of cities began to occupy the thinking of military planners. The first crossing of the English Channel by airplane by Frenchman Louis Blériot on July 25, 1909, had tremendous psychological impact regarding war from the air.

WB:331-L2-S2 The Channel Flight: Blériot—July 25, 1909 H. Delaspre, Chromolithograph Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

13.25 x 17.5 inches

October 11, 2003, page 125

WB:331-L3 SUBSECTION Seeking a Military Contract

When the Wrights were ready to seek a customer for their invention in 1905, their first move was to contact the U.S. government. Because they were reluctant to share any details of their airplane, and because the government had had bad experiences with earlier would-be aircraft inventors, initial discussions went nowhere.

WB:331-L4-S4 a and b Signal Corps Specification, No. 486 By late 1907, with negotiations in Europe going well, the U.S. Army showed renewed interest in the Wright brothers. Rather than directly offering them a contract, the Board of Ordnance and Fortification and the U.S. Signal Corps announced an advertisement for bids to construct an airplane. However, the design and performance specifications were such that the Wrights were the only viable bidder. A price of $25,000 was set for the brothers’ airplane if they could meet the performance criteria in actual flight trials.

WB:331-L5-P5 Fort Myer The flight trials were scheduled for late summer 1908 at Fort Myer, Virginia, a military post just outside Washington, D.C. With the commitments in Europe, the brothers had to separate for the first time. With Wilbur off to France, Orville did the flying for the Army.

October 11, 2003, page 126 WB:331-L6-S6-P6 American flag flown on the Fort Myer airplane in 1908. It was mounted on the forward elevator (right). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Winfield Scott Clime

Cat. # A19510010 Approx. 16 x 20 inches

October 11, 2003, page 127

WB:331-L7 SUBSECTION A Tragic Accident Halts the Trials

On September 17, 1908, with Army observer Lt. Thomas O. Selfridge on board, the airplane experienced a mechanical malfunction involving one of the propellers and crashed. Orville was severely injured and Selfridge died, the first fatality in a powered airplane. Orville would resume the flight trials after his recovery.

WB:331-L8-P8 Moments before the fatal flight…

WB:331-L9-P9 …and the aftermath.

WB:331-L10-S10 Propeller fragment from the 1908 Fort Myer crash. Gift of Sue Hersman

Cat. # A19990071 4.5 x 0.5 inches

October 11, 2003, page 128

WB:331-L11 SUBSECTION Successful Return to Fort Myer

Shortly after the triumphal European tour and the homecoming celebrations in June 1909, the Wrights headed back to Fort Myer to complete the Army trials interrupted by the crash in 1908. Wilbur was there this time, but as a point of honor Orville did all the flying to fulfill the contract.

WB:331-L12-P12 No Problems in 1909 Over several weeks, the Wrights fulfilled each requirement in Signal Corps Specification No. 486. The final one was a cross-country flight of 10 miles with a passenger. This flight also served as the official speed trial. The contract stipulated that they would receive a 10 percent bonus for every full mile per hour above 40. Their average speed was 42.5 miles per hour, which rewarded them with a $5,000 bonus and brought the final purchase price of the airplane to $30,000.

WB:331-L13-TV13 U.S. Army Signal Corps Flight Trials Fort Myer, Va., July 1909 The Wright Military Flyer shown in this film is on display in the Early Flight gallery. Running time: 3 minutes, 30 seconds. This film has no sound.

WB:331-L14-S14a-d Passes to the Fort Myer flight trials.

4 items, each approx. 2 x 2 inches

October 11, 2003, page 129 WB:331-L15 Wright Military Flyer, 1909 The Wrights returned to Fort Myer in 1909 with an entirely new airplane. After purchasing it, the Army used it to train pilots in the fall of 1909 and in 1910, then donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1911 after acquiring other aircraft. Designated Signal Corps No. 1 by the Army, it is generally referred to as the Wright Military Flyer and was the world’s first military airplane. It is on display in the Early Flight gallery.

WB:331-L16-P16 Training of Army pilots on the Wright Military Flyer at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, 1910.

WB:331-L17-P17 Army training center at College Park, Maryland, with two Wright aircraft (left) and two Curtiss, 1911.

October 11, 2003, page 130

WB:331-L18-P18 SUBSECTION The Wrights and the U.S. Navy Also interested in aviation, the U.S. Navy purchased a Wright Model B airplane in 1911 and modified it for water takeoff. However, the Navy preferred the aircraft produced by Glenn Curtiss, who had designed airplanes specifically for operating off water.

WB:331-L19-S19 Specifications order form from the Wright factory for the U.S. Navy’s Wright airplane, which was designated the B-1.

WB:331-L20-M20 Curtiss A-1 Triad A19610146000 Scale 1:16 The U.S. Navy’s first airplane was the Curtiss A-1 Triad, a hydroaeroplane purchased in 1911. The Navy conducted its initial aviation trials at Annapolis, Maryland, and North Island, San Diego. Model made by Robert Nevin

October 11, 2003, page 131

WB:332-L1 Selling Aviation Any invention remains a mere curiosity unless it can be marketed. The market potential for the airplane was obvious. But the development of an aircraft industry was slow, because of the complexity of the product and the large investment required to build a viable market. Nevertheless, by the beginning of World War I in 1914, dozens of small firms were producing aircraft in Europe and the United States.

WB:332-L2-S2 SUBSECTION Fledgling Firms Gabriel Voisin and Louis Blériot began the first commercial aircraft manufacturing company in France in 1905. In 1906 Voisin’s brother Charles replaced Blériot as his partner. They established Les Frères Voisin and introduced for sale the firm’s first truly successful aircraft in 1907.

WB:332-L2a-P2a Les Frères Voisin factory floor.

WB:332-L3-P3 The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company Glenn Curtiss and A. M. Herring formed the first aircraft manufacturing company in America in February 1909. Curtiss re-established the company on his own in 1911 and became the leading aircraft producer in the United States before World War I.

October 11, 2003, page 132 WB:332-L4-P4 Blériot Aéronautique Louis Blériot’s epic crossing of the English Channel on July 25, 1909, in his Type XI monoplane stimulated a flood of requests for copies of the airplane. Blériot Aéronautique manufactured about 800 Type XIs in numerous versions between 1909 and 1914, more than any other single aircraft type of the prewar period. Here, Blériots leave the factory for shipment. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:332-L5-S5 The Queen Aeroplane Company produced an American-built copy of the Blériot.

WB:332-L6 Early Aircraft Manufacturing Brochures

WB:332-L6a-S6a Gift of Jacques Perier WB:332-S6b,c—no credit

WB:332-L7-P7 Drawings from Flight Magazine Aviation journals appeared in support of the burgeoning manufacturing community. Flight magazine, one of the earliest, featured detailed drawings of the latest designs. This drawing of the Wrights’ airplane was published in Flight in 1910. Courtesy of Flight and the Science Museum, London

Revised 3-06 October 11, 2003, page 133

WB:332-L8-P8-S8 SUBSECTION The Wright Company The Wright brothers formed their manufacturing company in December 1909 and offered their first airplane type, the Wright Model B, in 1910. The Wright Company produced a variety of designs until Orville sold the firm and retired from aviation in 1915, three years after Wilbur’s premature death.

WB:332-L9-S9 License-built Wright aircraft were produced in France and Germany. This creatively designed catalog (a reproduction) is from the German Wright company, Flugmaschine-Wright Gesellschaft. Gift of Peter M. Grosz

7 x 10 inches

WB:332-L10a-S10a Wright Vertical Four-Cylinder Engine Engine The standard equipment on Wright Company aircraft from Cat. # A19620037 35 x 14 x 25 inches 1910 to 1912 was the 35-horsepower Wright vertical four- cylinder engine and the so-called “bent-end” propeller.

Gift of the Family of James M. H. Jacobs

WB:332-L10b-S10b “Bent-End” Propeller Propeller Gift of American Propeller and Manufacturing Co. Cat. # A19300031 102 x 11 inches

October 11, 2003, page 134 WB:332-L11-M11 Wright Model B, 1910 Scale 1:16 The first type offered by the Wright Company, the Wright Model B was the first Wright design that had wheels and dispensed with the tower-and-drop-weight launching system. It was also the first Wright airplane with the horizontal elevator in the rear only, which eliminated the hallmark Wright canard. Model made by Roderic F. Davis

WB:332-L12 Later Wright Types The Wright Company offered several versions of the standard Model B, some with a larger 60–75 horsepower, six- cylinder engine. Later they also produced more modern- looking aircraft with enclosed fuselages as well as seaplanes. Other models of Wright Company aircraft are displayed in the Early Flight gallery.

WB:332-L13-M13 [moved]

WB:332-L14-M14 [moved]

WB:332-L15 Patent Wars The Wright brothers’ general airplane patent was granted not only in the United States, but also in France, England, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Belgium, and Spain. When other aviators or manufacturers tried to profit from flying exhibitions or the sale of aircraft, the Wrights vigorously invoked their patent and filed many infringement suits at home and abroad. Typically the individuals and firms brought to court were permitted to continue operations while the cases were processed, which exasperated the Wrights. In the end, nearly all the cases were ruled in the Wrights’ favor. But it mattered little, as all aeronautical patents were pooled with the approval of the government when the United States entered World War I.

October 11, 2003, page 135 WB:332-L16-S16a,b Court rulings in the Wright patent infringement suits. (S16b no credit) Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

WB:332-L17-P17 Wright v. Glenn H. Curtiss Glenn Curtiss was the Wrights’ principal target in the American patent infringement suits. Although frustrated by the Wrights’ litigiousness, Curtiss succeeded in becoming the leading aircraft manufacturer in the United States before World War I. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

October 11, 2003, page 136

WB:332-L18 SUBSECTION Air Transport

Commercial air transport would become the other major market for aircraft technology along with military aviation. It would not become economically viable until the 1920s and 1930s, when long-distance travel became reasonably reliable, but efforts began in the prewar period.

WB:332-L19-P19 First Commercial Airplane Flight The first commercial transport flight with an airplane took place on November 7, 1910, when Phil O. Parmalee carried two bolts of silk on his Wright Model B from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. The world’s first air freight shipment was sponsored by the Morehouse-Martens Department Store as a publicity event. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

WB:332-L20-P20-S20 The First Airline The first regularly scheduled passenger air transport service was the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, operated by Thomas Benoist and Paul E. Fansler. Service began on New Year’s Day 1914 with one airplane, a Benoist Type XIV Flying Boat piloted by Tony Janus. The 18-mile trip took about 20 minutes, and the fare was $5. The airline carried 1,204 passengers without mishap during the three months it operated.

Cat. # A19900420 13 x 10 inches

October 11, 2003, page 137 WB:332-L21-M21 Benoist Type XIV Flying Boat Scale 1:16 Model made by Paul R. Robertson

WB:332-L22-P22 Airport of the Future: a 1904 conception of how Paris might be transformed by future air transport.

October 11, 2003, page 138

WB:332-L23 SUBSECTION Advertising and the Airplane

Advertisers were quick to capitalize on the aerial age to bring excitement to their products.

WB:332-L24-P24 Italian trade card featuring a Wright airplane and endorsing a canned meat product, 1909.

WB:332-L25-S25 Advertisement for Lash’s Bitters laxative, 1911. Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

3.5 x 5.5 inches

WB:332-L26-P26 The Vin Fiz In 1911 Calbraith Perry Rodgers made the first crossing of the United States by airplane in his Wright EX Vin Fiz. The flight was sponsored by the Armour Company, which marketed a grape soft drink called Vin Fiz. The Vin Fiz logo was emblazoned on Rodgers’ airplane and on the support train that followed him across the country during his 49-day journey. It was the first use of an airplane for commercial advertising. The Wright EX Vin Fiz is on display in the Pioneers of Flight gallery.

October 11, 2003, page 139 WB:332-L27-S27 Original fabric from Rodgers’ historic airplane bearing the Vin Fiz logo. Gift of the Family of Jesse Brabazon

Cat. # A19960001 56 x 59 inches

WB:332-L28-S28 Vin Fiz advertising leaflets were distributed during the transcontinental flight. Gift of Paul E. Garber

Cat. # A19910449 Approx. 4 x 2 inches

WB:332-L29-M29 Wright EX Vin Fiz Scale 1:16 Model made by Charles H. Hubbell

WB:332-S30-S30 Original Fabric from the Wright EX Vin Fiz The fabric is signed by Charlie Taylor, builder of the Wright’s 1903 aircraft engine. He also served as mechanic for Cal Rodgers on his 1911 transcontinental flight in the Vin Fiz. Gift of Charles E. Taylor

October 11, 2003, page 140

WB:340-L1 Aviation on Display It did not take long for the rest of the aviation community to catch up to the Wright brothers once they publicly demonstrated their aircraft. By 1910 the skies were increasingly filled with a range of airplane designs, and the headlines featured many new names as pilots put their aerial skill on view. Flying exhibitions and competitions were capturing broad popular attention on both sides of the Atlantic. The aerial age was becoming a reality.

October 11, 2003, page 141

WB:341-L1 Aeronautical Trade Shows Even as the Wright brothers were still unveiling their creation in 1908, the emerging aeronautical industry began to publicly display its wares at what today we would call trade shows. The first great one, the Salon l’Aéronautique, was mounted in Paris in December 1908 and became an annual event. Experimenters, producers of aircraft and engines, and manufacturers of aeronautical accessories gathered in a lavish setting not only to sell, but also to introduce the public to the wonders of the new technology of flight.

WB:341-L1a-P1a Poster from the first Salon l’Aéronautique in 1908.

WB:341-L2-P2 Salon l’Aéronautique in 1909. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:341-L3-P3 Salon l’Aéronautique in 1910. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

October 11, 2003, page 142

WB:342-L1 Flying Competitions The Wright brothers’ demonstrations in 1908 and 1909 only whet the public’s appetite for what was shortly to come. Beginning in the summer of 1909, exhibitions, races, long-distance flights, and other forms of aerial competition were becoming a regular attraction across Europe and in the United States. Spectators came to the airfields by the thousands to catch the excitement. These early aviators risked life and limb for the adoration of the crowds and large financial prizes. Similar to today’s sports figures, they were the great heroes of their day.

WB:342-L2-P2a,b,c Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

October 11, 2003, page 143 WB:342-L3-S3 Gift of Leonard Fries

Cat. # A19490052 Poster, 83 x 39 inches

WB:342-S4 [no credit]

Cat. # A19900392 Poster, 20.5 x 14 inches

WB:342-P5 [no credit]

October 11, 2003, page 144

WB:342-L11 SUBSECTION Reims

The world’s first major international flying meeting was held in the champagne-growing region of France, near the historic cathedral city of Reims, from August 22 to 29, 1909. La Grand Semaine de l’Aviation de la Champagne, as it was formally called, drew 38 airplanes, 23 of which flew in various speed, distance, altitude, and passenger- carrying events. The event was a great success, and many of the pilots became celebrities by the end of Reims week. Much to the disappointment of the organizers, the Wrights did not participate. The only American in the field was Glenn Curtiss. Total prize money was 200,000 francs. Upwards of a half-million spectators attended, from the wealthy elite to the average enthusiast. Photos courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:342-L12-P12 The huge, lavish grandstand constructed specially for the Reims meet.

October 11, 2003, page 145 WB:342-L13-P13 One of the stars of Reims, Frenchman Louis Paulhan rounds the pylon, with officials and photographers below.

WB:342-L14-P14 American Glenn Curtiss won the premier speed event at Reims, the Gordon Bennett Race, in his specially constructed Reims Racer.

October 11, 2003, page 146

WB:342-L15 SUBSECTION Air Meet Memorabilia

WB:342-L16-S16 Reims ticket in the shape of a champagne cork, 1909. Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

WB:342-L17-S17 [moved]

WB:342-L18-S18 Program for the Belmont Park, New York, air meet, the first international competition held in the United States, 1910.

WB:342-L19-S19a,b Belmont Park air meet tickets, 1910.

WB:342-L20-S20 Belmont Park air meet pennant, 1910. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat. # A19820214 Pennant, 22 x 11 inches

October 11, 2003, page 147 WB:342-L21-S21 Harvard-Boston Aero Meet program, 1910.

WB:342-L22-S22a-d Harvard-Boston Aero Meet tickets.

WB:342-L23-S23a,b Harvard-Boston Aero Meet aviator’s and mechanic’s armbands, 1911.

WB:342-L24-S24-P24 Harvard-Boston Aero Meet Bombing Ball Cat. # A20010151 One of the events at the 1910 Harvard-Boston Aero Meet 3.25 inches in diameter was a mock precision bombing competition of a model ship using rubber balls. This one was signed by Wilbur Wright and several other aviators at the meet. Gift of Francis M. Becker Jr.

October 11, 2003, page 148

WB:342-L25-S25 Grant Park air meet program, Chicago, 1911.

WB:342-L26-S26 Grant Park air meet pennant, 1911. Gift of V. D. Smith

Cat. # A19810016 8.5 x 23 inches

WB:342-L27-S27 Large panoramic postcard, Grant Park air meet, 1911.

October 11, 2003, page 149

WB:343-L1 Exhibition Flying With the growing number of meets and competitions organized after Reims, exhibition flying became quite profitable. Aerobatic displays by daredevil pilots began to supplement the races and other competitive events. Aircraft manufacturers were also drawn to exhibition flying to supplement meager aircraft sales resulting from the small market.

WB:343-L2-P2 Aerobatic daredevil Adolphe Pégoud looping-the-loop at an exhibition near Vienna, 1913.

WB:343-L3-P3 The Wright Fliers Seeing the money that could be made in the exhibition flying business, the Wright brothers formed the Wright Fliers exhibition team in January 1910. Glenn Curtiss formed his own team, intending to take on the Wrights at any opportunity. The regular appearance of both groups at meets around the country grew into a popular rivalry. Spectators thrilled as the pilots pushed each other to ever more spectacular aerial feats. Inevitably, accidents occurred. Six of the nine members of the Wright exhibition team died in crashes. The brothers dissolved the team in December 1911.

October 11, 2003, page 150 WB:343-L4-P4 Orville (with goggles) with exhibition team members (from left) A. L. Welsh, Spencer Crane, Walter Brookins, James Davis, and Arch Hoxey.

WB:343-L5-P5 Wright Flight School Initially set up to train pilots for the Wright Fliers exhibition team, the brothers opened a flight school in 1910. They built a new and larger hangar on their old flying site at Huffman Prairie. After the exhibition team disbanded, Orville made hundreds of flights there testing new aircraft. The 115 pilots who learned to fly at the school included a young lieutenant, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who later commanded the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II.

WB:343-L5a-S5a Lent by Wright State University, Special Collections and brochure Archives

WB:343-L6-S6 The Wrights’ Only Flight Together May 25, 1910, was a special day at the Wright flight school. To avoid the risk of both being killed in a crash, the brothers never flew together. Just this once, they threw caution to the wind and shared a six-minute flight—the only time they were in the air together. Later that day, Orville took up their 81-year-old father, Bishop Milton Wright. His only comment during the flight was, “Higher, Orville. Higher.” This Huffman Prairie flight log shows Orville as pilot and Wilbur and Bishop Wright as his passengers.

Approx. 8 x12 inches

October 11, 2003, page 151

WB:344-L1-P1a-d Aeronautics Education As early as 1910, formal courses and lectures were being offered to the public on aeronautics and the science of flight. These examples were part of a program in the School of Engineering at the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster). The Polytechnic had an early association with flight. It was founded by 19th-century aeronautical pioneer Sir George Cayley. Courtesy of the University of Westminster, London

October 11, 2003, page 152

WB:350-L1 Embracing the Impossible Flight was one of the oldest human desires, yet even on the eve of achieving it, most considered it a physical impossibility. Even as experimenters were making their first tentative leaps into the air, few believed practical flight was at hand. But with the Wright brothers’ public flights in 1908, and the rapid development of aeronautical technology in the years before World War I, no one could deny that the aerial age had begun. In those exciting years between 1908 and 1914, the world embraced the airplane for the modern marvel that it was. It was clear that a new era had opened.

October 11, 2003, page 153

WB:351-L1 The Airplane and Popular Culture With the growing public fascination with aeronautical exhibitions and competitions and the daring pilots of the day, it did not take long for the airplane to become part of popular culture. Flight motifs began to appear on jewelry, clocks, games, decorative boxes, postcards, and the like. The proliferation of aviation keepsakes was another sign that the aerial age had begun.

WB:351-L2-S2 1. Souvenir cache pot from Reims air meet, 1909. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L3-S3 2. Gilbert Erector Set manual featuring Wright and Blériot airplanes as projects that could be built, 1913. Lent by the National Museum of American History, Behring Center

WB:351-L4-S4 3. Game. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L5-S5 4. Pop-up paper airplane model. Book 20 x 14 inches Moderna Luftfartyg, Gösta Suneson, 1910. Alternate between Blériot and Voisin for conservation purposes Lent by Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Air and Space Museum Library

WB:351-L6-S6 5. Souvenir Wright airplane picture foldout, Brussels, 1910.

5.5 x 2.25 inches (folded)

WB:351-L7-S7 6. Bonne Année (Happy New Year) postcard. Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

6.5 x 4 inches

October 11, 2003, page 154 WB:351-L8-S8 7. Wilbur Wright Le Mans postcard booklet. Lent by the U.S. Air Force Academy Library, Gimbel Collection

6.25 x 3.5 inches

WB:351-L9-S9 8. Clock. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L10-S10 9. Antoinette airplane charm. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat.# A19840701 1.75 x 1.5 inches

WB:351-L11-S11 10. Blériot airplane charm. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat.# A19840702 1.5 x 1.25 inches

WB:351-L12-S12 11. Cachou box. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L13-S13 12. Antoinette airplane pillbox. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat. # 19840704 2 inches diameter x 1 inches

October 11, 2003, page 155 WB:351-L14-S14 13. Blériot airplane pillbox. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat. # 19840705 2 x 1.5 inches

WB:351-L15-S15 14. Broach. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L16-S16 15. Blériot airplane stick-pin.

Cat. #19951528 1.75 x 1 inches

WB:351-L17-S17 16. Voisin stick-pin. Gift of Henry S. Villard

Cat. #19840703 0.75 X 5 inches

October 11, 2003, page 156

WB:352-L1 Cartoons and Illustration Enthusiasm for flight was expressed in cartoons and playful illustration as well. Often the aerial world of the future was humorously depicted.

WB:352-L2-S2 L’Assiette au Beurre 12.5 x 10 inches Les Aéroplanes, 1908 L’Assiette au Beurre (The Plate with Butter) was a weekly magazine of social caricature published from 1901 to 1914. Each issue was devoted entirely to one subject. This one on airplanes was illustrated by noted Spanish artist, Juan Gris, one of the leading exponents of Cubist painting, and Jules Grandjouan, a pioneer satirical political illustrator. Gift of Jacques Perier

WB:352-L3-P3 “For the sake of France’s honor, it is well worth 5,000 more. It’s not Germany that would be bargaining, Mister Minister!...”

WB:352-L4-P4 “Must we keep right or left?... Above or under?...”

WB:352-L5-P5 “The customs officer can scream all he wants.... I get rid of customs!”

WB:352-L6-P6 “By order of the mayor, aerial traffic is prohibited from 5 p.m. and records do not count!”

WB:352-L7-P7 The drivers.—“In aeroplane, neither dust, nor flat tire!... Here’s what will bring the price of automobiles down!”

WB:352-L8-P8 “Just as it is forbidden to take water from the sea, it will be prohibited to take oxygen from the air.”

WB:352-L9-P9 THE MILITARY AEROPLANE “What concerns me is not how I’m going to kill the enemy, but how I’m going to manage not to kill myself.”

WB:352-L10-P10 THE MILITARY AEROPLANE The gunners.—“Gonna have to shoot straight up...but it could October 11, 2003, page 157 very well fall back on our nose.”

WB:352-L11-P11 “The sky too, now!... Wall the sky!”

WB:352-L12-P12 Clemenceau.—“Still, with that thing, there are no more countries....” Briand.—“Great!... That way we can go back to our old ideas.”

WB:352-L13-P13 The seller.—“Note that it is cheaper than an automobile, and faster....” The buyer.—“For the heirs.”

WB:352-L14-P14 “Stop!... If you were a bird, you could fly...but you are a man, you must get permission from competent authorities.”

WB:352-L15 From the French magazines Le Rire and Le Sourire.

WB:352-L16-P16 Aero-Fashion For 1910 “Your monoplane is charming, dear!” “Yes, but the biplane is dressier.” “And when it comes to stability, there is only Wright!”

WB:352-L17-P17 “Let me, let me contemplate your face....”

October 11, 2003, page 158 WB:352-L18-P18 1st Aeroplane—“Who’s Nini talking with?” 2nd Aeroplane—“With her mother!” 1st Aeroplane—“Darn! In these conditions, it’s not a mother..., it’s an ocean!”

WB:352-L19-P19 The aerial world of the future. Le Sourire, 1908 “Nice tethered chalet at 500 meters above ground: tennis court, cycling ring, sea-gull fishing. Wireless telegraph. Aeromail service twice a day.”

WB:352-L20-P20 The aerial world of the future. Le Sourire, 1910 “The Departure of Transatlantic (liner) in 1960.”

WB:352-L21-P21a,b The “hazards” of the new aviation enthusiasm.

October 11, 2003, page 159

WB:353-L1-P1 Album The Airplane Becomes Part of the Scenery The sight of an airplane overhead is a defining cultural experience of the 20th century. It did not take long for the new technology to become part of the visual landscape.

Images below will be in a photo album, not on an exhibit panel.

WB:353-L2-P2 Album Paris. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:353-L3-P3 Album Washington, D.C.

WB:353-L4-P4 Album Marseille. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

October 11, 2003, page 160 WB:353-L5-P5 Album Nice. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:353-L6-P6 Album Paris opera house. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:353-L7-P7 Album Tunis. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:353-L8-P8 Album New York.

WB:353-L9-P9 Album San Francisco.

October 11, 2003, page 161 WB:353-L10-P10 Album The beach. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

WB:353-L11-P11 Album The family farm. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and Standards Unit

October 11, 2003, page 162

WB:354-L1 Captured by the Camera The invention of the airplane coincided with a significant increase in photography in newspapers and popular magazines. Dramatic photographs of airplanes were reproduced in general literature and in new aviation publications, bringing the excitement of the aerial age to millions.

WB:354-L2a-s Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Technical Reports and The images below will be in a photo album, not Standards Unit on an exhibit panel. The credit lines are for particular images in the photo album. The first four are NASM images; all others are Library of Congress.

[ADD NEW IMAGE]

October 11, 2003, page 163

WB:360-L1 The Airplane and the Arts The airplane had important cultural implications from the moment it appeared. Artists, writers, and composers found powerful inspiration in aviation. For them the invention of mechanical flight was an aesthetic event, which they believed would have great influence on the new century’s artistic, even moral, direction. The early 20th century was an increasingly technological world. But more so than any other technical marvel of the period, the airplane had an emotional reception. It produced utopian hopes as well as unsettling fears. The invention of the airplane coincided with the advent of several of the 20th century’s defining artistic and intellectual movements. Flight was perhaps the ultimate signal that a new, modern age had begun.

October 11, 2003, page 164

WB:361-L1 Flight in Literature Aviation captured the attention of many of the great writers of the day, who traveled to aviation exhibitions, rode in airplanes, and recorded their reactions in words. Franz Kafka, Italian poet and novelist Gabriele D’Annunzio, and Futurist movement founder and leader F. T. Marinetti were among the influential writers whose vision of the future was shaped by the airplane. For them, the power of flight was an irresistible theme.

WB:361-L2-P2 Franz Kafka In September 1909, Kafka attended an air meet at Brescia, Italy, near Milan. He wrote a rich and textured sketch of the event entitled, “The Aeroplanes at Brescia.” In the brief essay, Kafka deftly captured the excitement, symbolism, and emotional response to the airplane that swept across Europe in 1908 and 1909. Courtesy of Corbis

WB:361-L3-S3 [deleted]

WB:361-L4 “Is he [Blériot] going to go up in the air in this tiny thing? The first seafarers had had it easier. They could practice first in pools, then in ponds, then in streams, and not venture out to sea until much later. For this man there is only sea.” Franz Kafka From “The Aeroplanes at Brescia”

WB:361-L4a-S4a Brescia air meet poster, 1909. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

October 11, 2003, page 165 WB:361-L5 Gabriele D’Annunzio Among the most celebrated writers of his day, D’Annunzio saw aviation as a messenger of a new life, a new civilization. He and others like him, saw spiritual transcendence through the conquest of the air. They believed an aerial world would revitalize culture, refashion laws and rituals, and provide an escape from the current reality of life. D’Annunzio’s novel Forse che sì forse che no, published in 1910, suggested that society could elevate itself morally and spiritually through flight.

WB:361-L6-P6 D’Annunzio (right) with aviator Glenn Curtiss in his airplane at Brescia.

WB:361-L7-S7 [deleted]

WB:361-L8 “The new instrument seemed to exalt man above his fate, to endow him not only with new dominion but with a sixth sense.” Gabriele D’Annunzio From Forse che sì forse che no

October 11, 2003, page 166 WB:361-L9-P9 Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Poet F. T. Marinetti, founder and leader of the Futurist movement, also became obsessed with the airplane, but the enthusiasm of the Futurists had a darker theme. They saw the coming of a machine-driven civilization that would divorce humanity from its past with unexpected and disturbing consequences, although in their view this would ultimately lead to a desirable end. To them the airplane was the symbol of modernity; it represented a new beauty of speed and technology. It would enable civilization to escape the constraints of nature. It would liberate humanity from what the Futurists considered society’s two great enemies: time and space. Flight was the realization of the age-old desire to conquer the elements. Courtesy of Hulton Archive Collection, Getty Images

WB:361-L10-S10 [deleted]

WB:361-L11 “We believe in the possibility of an incalculable number of human transformations, and we say without smiling that wings sleep in the flesh of man.” F. T. Marinetti

WB:361-L12 Critics of the Aerial Age Not all writers and intellectuals looked favorably upon the airplane. One of the sharpest critics was the Viennese journalist Karl Kraus. He believed that while people were clever enough to create sophisticated machines, they often lacked the intelligence to use them properly. Now that the air had been conquered, he feared the earth was condemned to be bombarded. His prediction would in part come true.

WB:361-L13 “If ever men presented a spectacle of sheer insanity it is now when, having at long last triumphed in their struggle to subordinate to their welfare the unconquered element, they have straightaway commenced to defile that element, so heroically mastered, by filling it with engines of destruction. If the gods were justified of their ironic smile—by the gods, it is now!” John Galsworthy British novelist, 1911

October 11, 2003, page 167 WB:361-L14-P14 For some, the grim reaper would rule the sky.

WB:361-L15-P15 Not everyone saw aviation as the salvation for civilization.

October 11, 2003, page 168

WB:362-L1 Aviation in Art The airplane appeared just as Cubism and the modern art movement emerged. The forward-looking essence of human flight was fertile subject matter for these abstract expressionist pioneers. Pablo Picasso, Henri Rousseau, Kazimir Malevich, Giacomo Balla, and Robert Delaunay produced works inspired by and featuring the airplane. The Italian Futurists were especially influential in motivating these avant-garde artists to explore aviation. Artists depicted the excitement of the new technology in a range of traditional styles as well. Photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Jacques-Henri Lartigue captured artistic views of the airplane with their cameras.

WB:362-L2 SUBSECTION The Airplane and the Avant-garde

Aviation offered the ideal link between the Cubists’ redefinition of space and alternative perception of reality and the Futurists’ desire to escape the constraints of everyday life and divorce humanity from the past. Malevich and Delaunay in particular were taken with aviation. For them, flight was a metaphor for the transformation of consciousness, a liberation from the constraints of normal existence, and a redefinition of time and space. They had a passion for the new 20th-century technologies and were fascinated with the notion of ascent, of escape from the earth.

WB:362-L2a The Airplane and the Avant-garde The airplane appeared just as Cubism and the modern art movement emerged. The forward-looking essence of human flight was fertile subject matter for these abstract expressionist pioneers. Avant-garde artists such as Picasso, Rousseau, Malevich, and Delaunay produced works inspired by the airplane.

October 11, 2003, page 169 WB:362-L3-S3 Eiffel Tower and the Gardens, Champs de Mars Robert Delaunay Oil on canvas 1922 Lent by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

70 x 67 inches

October 11, 2003, page 170

WB:362-L5 SUBSECTION Other Styles of Artistic Expression

The avant-garde were not the only artists who pursued aviation themes. The airplane appeared in poster art, landscapes, caricature, photography, and representational works as well.

WB:362-L6-S6 French World War I Aircraft Louis Icart Hand colored dry point on paper Circa 1915 Gift of Dr. Betty Noble

Cat. # A19970473 15 x 22.75 inches

WB:362-L7-S7 Century Magazine Cover Lithograph

Cat. # A20000489 29 x21.5 inches

WB:362-L8-S8 Flying in 1910—Graham-White’s Farman Etching on paper

Cat. # A2000765 16 x12 inches

WB:362-L9-S9 Les premiers champions aviateurs Robert Dick Lithograph

Cat. # A19772695

October 11, 2003, page 171 WB:362-L10-S10 The Deutsch Prize George Hum Lithograph

Cat. # A20000725 19 x 13.5 inches

WB:362-L11-S11 Wright au Camp d’Auvours S. Montaut Lithograph 1908

Cat. #19800016

WB:362-L12-S12 Garros gagne le grand prix de l’aero club Gamy Lithograph 1912

Cat. # 19800012

WB:362-L13-S13 Meeting de Deauville Gamy Lithograph 1913

Cat. # A20000501 25 x 41.5 inches

WB:362-L14-S14 Hydroaeroplanes Gamy Lithograph 1912

Cat. # 19800013

October 11, 2003, page 172 WB:362-L15-P15 The Aeroplane Revised 3-06 Alfred Stieglitz Copy print of original photogravure 1910 Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

October 11, 2003, page 173

WB:363-L1 There’s Music in the Air The Airplane in Song Enthusiasm for flight was also expressed musically. The romance of flying and the appeal of the dashing, daring aviator were natural themes for popular song. Like other artists, musical composers found the aerial age rich inspiration for their creativity. In addition to the entertaining tunes, the sheet music of the period was also visually striking. Lent by Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Air and Space Museum Library

WB:363-L2-S2a-f [no labels] Sheet music

WB:363-L3-CI3 [no labels] Computer interactive using player piano to play recorded selections of sheet music

October 11, 2003, page 174

WB:364-L1 The Airplane on Screen The first narrative dramatic motion picture film, The Great Train Robbery, was made in the 1903, the same year the Wright brothers made their historic first flights. Before World War I, both film and aviation were still in their infancy, but already it was apparent that each had powerful potential to influence the world. Filmmakers interpreted the airplane from a number of perspectives. Some made it a central feature, intending to promote the new technology. Others used the airplane as an innovative backdrop to carry their story along in an exciting way. Still others explored the airplane’s potential for destruction and as a terrifying instrument of war.

WB:364-L2-TV2 Possibilities of the War in the Air, 1910 Directed by Charles Urban and produced by Warwick Trading Company. Running time: 6 minutes, 30 seconds

October 11, 2003, page 175 WB:400-L1-Main Label From Inventors to Icons

Wilbur and Orville Wright began their aeronautical experiments as modest, Midwestern businessmen. By the time they were finished, their world-changing invention placed them among the most recognized figures in American history. Today their names are part of the national cultural identity, and the Wright Flyer is an icon of ingenuity and technical creativity. A century after they launched the aerial age, the Wright brothers continue to awe and inspire.

WB:400-L2 “It is my belief that flight is possible and, while I am taking up the investigation for pleasure rather than profit, I think there is a slight possibility of achieving fame and fortune from it.” Letter from Wilbur Wright to his father September 3, 1900

October 11, 2003, page 176

WB:410-L1-P1 “A Short Life....” After the brothers formed the Wright Company and began manufacturing airplanes for sale in 1910, Wilbur became preoccupied with tending to the many patent infringement suits the Wrights filed. It was as much a matter of principle as money. The Wrights believed their invention was uniquely their own and revolutionary, and that they should be duly credited and compensated for their contribution to the world. Tired and stressed from the burden of litigation, Wilbur contracted typhoid fever in April 1912. He succumbed on May 30. He was only 45 years old.

WB:410-L2 “A short life, full of consequences. An unfailing intellect, imperturbable temper, great self-reliance and as great modesty, seeing the right clearly, pursuing it steadily, he lived and died.” From Bishop Milton Wright’s diary May 30, 1912

October 11, 2003, page 177

WB:420-L1-P1 Orville Alone Orville sold his interest in the Wright Company in 1915 and settled into the role of aviation elder statesman and national folk hero. He spent much of the remaining 33 years of his life upholding the reputation he and Wilbur had earned. In 1916 Orville finally gave up the lease on the modest bicycle shop in which he and Wilbur did their pioneering aeronautical work and moved into a new laboratory he had built nearby. He served on many government aeronautical boards and commissions and was a consultant with several private aircraft companies. He received 11 honorary degrees from universities in Europe and the United States, as well as dozens of medals and awards. Orville suffered his second heart attack in four months on January 27, 1948, and died three days later at the age of 76.

WB:420-L2-P2 Orville’s Last Flights Orville (left) flew as a pilot for the last time in 1918 and as a passenger only a few times thereafter. Ironically, flying became an unpleasant experience for him because the vibration in flight severely irritated his sciatic nerve, a lingering condition from the crash at Fort Myer in 1908.

October 11, 2003, page 178 WB:420-L3-P3 The Wright Memorial During the 1920s and 1930s, statues and memorials sprang up nearly everywhere the Wrights had worked or flown. The grandest is a 60-foot granite shaft, with feathered wings sculpted into the sides, erected at Kitty Hawk and dedicated in 1932.

WB:420-L4 “In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. Conceived by genius. Achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.” Inscription on the Wright memorial at Kitty Hawk

October 11, 2003, page 179

WB:430-L1-S1 From Kitty Hawk to the Moon in One Lifetime The aerial age has witnessed technological development at an amazing pace. In the space of one lifetime, we advanced from the Wright brothers’ tentative 12- second flight in 1903 to landing humans on the Moon and sending spacecraft beyond the edge of the solar system. To symbolically link the first airplane flight with the Cat. # A19721288 first human exploration of another celestial body, this sample of wood and fabric from the Wright Flyer was carried to the surface of the Moon by the crew of Apollo 11 in 1969. Gift of the U.S. Air Force Museum

October 11, 2003, page 180

WB:500-L1-Main Label The Second Aviation Century

As we close the first aviation century and begin the second, we are in some ways asking the same questions that our counterparts were a hundred years ago. Where will this exciting technology take us now? How will it be developed? What will be the impact on our lives? We of course have much more direct experience with the airplane than the first witnesses to human flight, but it still captures our imagination like no other technology. Despite how far we have come, enthusiasm and passion for flight is a timeless experience, linking us to the past and directing us toward the future. Just as the avant-garde artists of the early 20th century drew powerful inspiration from the airplane as a symbol of a new, modern world, flight continues to be an avenue of expression for contemporary artists. Art offers perhaps the most thought-provoking perspective from which to grasp the pervasive significance of the aerial age.

October 11, 2003, page 181 WB:500-L2-S2 [Repeat of WB:000-L3, “Round Trip” label, at gallery entrance.]

WB: Voisin, 1908 This selection of models may be incorporated Scale 1:16 into an exhibit on the wall outside the gallery. Model made by Daniel Dossert

WB: Deperdussin Racer, 1913 Scale 1:16 Model made by John D. Ficklen

WB: Deperdussin Racer Seaplane, 1913 Scale 1:16 Model made by Daniel Tracy

WB: Blériot XI, 1909 (English Channel crossing airplane) Scale 1:16 Model made by Kenneth Lundquist

WB: Antoinette, 1909 Cat.# A19330027 Scale 1:16 Model made by J. Edward Reeves

WB: Curtiss Hydroaeroplane, 1911 Cat. # A19830286 Scale 1:16 Model made by Robert Nevin

WB: Curtiss E Flying Boat, 1913 Scale 1:16 Model made by Charles H. Hubbell

Moved from WB:332-L13-M13 Wright Model H-S, 1914 Cat. # A19590211000 Scale 1:16 Model made by Robert Nevin

Moved from WB:332-L14-M14 Wright Model G, 1913 Cat. # A1954009000 Scale 1:16 Model made by Charles H. Hubbell

October 11, 2003, page 182 WB:600-L1-P1-Main Label NOT INCLUDED AT OPENING OF EXHIBITION The Wright Flyer: From Invention to Icon

Today Wilbur and Orville Wright are part of the national cultural identity, and the Wright Flyer is an icon of ingenuity and technical creativity. The world’s first airplane is not only the centerpiece of the National Air and Space Museum, it is one of the signature artifacts of the entire Smithsonian Institution. But, of course, when Wilbur and Orville built and flew the 1903 Flyer, it was not a national treasure. To them it was essentially a research tool in their path toward a practical airplane. Its transformation into a priceless piece of American heritage, displayed in the nation’s capital, would take some interesting twists and turns.

May 3, 2003, page 1

WB:610-L1-P1 December 17, 1903 The 1903 Wright Flyer, the world’s first successful powered airplane, had a very brief operational history. Its entire flying career took place on a single chilly December morning in 1903, on the isolated Outer Banks of North Carolina. Nevertheless, it was a morning that changed the world forever. Three weeks after the historic December 17th flights, the Wrights held a press conference in which they succinctly summed up their moment of triumph: “… we … packed our goods and returned home, knowing that the age of the flying machine had come at last.”

WB:610-L2-P2 A Short Flight Log Including an abortive 3.5-second first attempt on December 14, which the Wrights did not consider a flight, the Flyer’s total time in the air was a modest 101.5 seconds. Between 10:35 a.m. and noon on December 17, 1903, the brothers made four flights. The first and second were 12 seconds, then 15 seconds on the third, and the final, long flight was 59 seconds in duration. Distances covered were 120 feet, 175 feet, 200 feet, and 852 feet. Altitudes ranged between about 8 to 14 feet.

WB:610-L3-P3 Damaged on the Ground After a break for lunch, the brothers intended to resume test flying their airplane. But as they and the local observers discussed the latest flight, a gust of wind overturned the airplane and sent it tumbling across the ground. The Flyer was severely damaged and was never flown again. Nearly all the wing ribs were broken, one spar and several struts snapped, the engine crankcase was fractured, and the propeller transmission chain guides were badly bent. The experiments for 1903 were over, but not before the Wrights had accomplished what they had set out to do. This photograph was taken moments before the Flyer was upset by wind and damaged.

May 3, 2003, page 2

WB:620-L1 Out of Sight, But Not Out of Mind The Wrights thought of their three earlier experimental gliders simply as research tools, and discarded them at Kitty Hawk when they were finished flying them. The brothers did save the breakthrough 1903 Flyer, but their rather indifferent initial treatment of the world’s first airplane suggests that they did not consider it a national treasure until quite some years later.

WB:620-L2-P2 Stored Behind the Bike Shop The Wrights packed the damaged Flyer in its shipping crates at Kitty Hawk and stored it in a shed behind their Dayton bicycle shop. It remained largely untouched for 13 years. The engine crankshaft and flywheel were loaned to an aeronautical display in New York in 1906, but were never returned and disappeared. Other than that, the Wright Flyer was unseen until 1916.

WB:620-L3-P3 The Wright Flyer’s original crankshaft and flywheel on display at an exhibition in New York, 1906.

WB:620-L4-P4 The Great Flood In 1913, Dayton, Ohio, was inundated when the Miami River overflowed its banks. The Flyer sat in its crates under nearly a dozen feet of water and mud for several weeks. The shed was eventually torn down and the Flyer moved, still in the same water-damaged crates, to a barn at nearby 15 North Broadway in Dayton. In 1916, Orville replaced the barn with a more substantial brick building, a laboratory for his personal use, in which the airplane was stored.

May 3, 2003, page 3 WB:620-L5-P5 First Public Display The Wright Flyer was uncrated and assembled for the first time since it flew at Kitty Hawk in the summer of 1916, when Orville prepared for its first public display. It was briefly exhibited at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the dedication of several new buildings from June 11-14, 1916. The rudder and forward elevators were almost entirely rebuilt. The main spars of the upper and lower wing center- sections were replaced, and a number of other parts repaired, such as the wing ribs and the chain guides. The wing center- section fabric was replaced with new Pride of the West muslin, but the outer wing panels retained the original covering from 1903. The engine crankcase was broken in 1903 and the crankshaft and flywheel lost in 1906, so the engine was rebuilt using parts from a similar engine built in 1904, along with the existing 1903 components.

WB:620-L6-P6 The original broken crankcase flown in 1903 survives and is on display at the Wright memorial visitor’s center at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

WB:620-L7 Other Public Glimpses of the Flyer After the M.I.T. display, the Wright Flyer was displayed briefly at the Pan-American Aeronautical Exhibition in New York, February 8-15, 1917; at the Society of Automotive Engineers summer meeting in Dayton, June 17-18, 1918; at the Aeronautical Exposition in New York, March 1-15, 1919; and at the International Air Races in Dayton, October 2-4, 1924. Wright Company mechanic, Jim Jacobs, was in charge of assembling the Flyer for all of these exhibitions.

WB:620-L8-P8 Orville (left) with the Wright Flyer at the Pan-American Aeronautical Exhibition in 1917.

May 3, 2003, page 4 WB:620-L9-P9a and b Court Testimony The Wright Flyer was assembled on one other occasion in this period. In January 1921, it was set up at South Field in Dayton for the purposes of preparing testimony in the Regina Cleary Montgomery et. al vs. the Wright-Martin Aircraft Corporation patent suit. No engine or propellers were mounted on the airplane this time.

May 3, 2003, page 5

WB:630-L1 The Wright-Smithsonian Feud The Wright Flyer began to acquire its status of national treasure in the 1920s with the growing feud between Orville Wright and the Smithsonian Institution. The dispute revolved around the Smithsonian’s misleading public display of the aeronautical achievements of its former Secretary, Samuel P. Langley, and the Institution’s reluctance to properly credit the Wright brothers as the true inventors of the airplane. The dispute was not resolved until the early1940s, and the Flyer was not given to the Smithsonian until 1948, after Orville’s death.

WB:630-L2-P2a and b Roots of Distrust The roots of the rift between the Wrights and the Smithsonian began in 1910, when then Smithsonian Secretary Charles Walcott (Langley died in 1906) refused the Wrights’ offer of donation of the 1903 Wright Flyer, requesting instead a current Wright aircraft. Walcott intended to display the later Wright airplane with aeronautical artifacts of Langley, suggesting a connection to Langley’s work with the Wright achievement. The Wrights’ suspicions were aroused.

WB:630-L3-P3 Langley’s successful unpiloted 1896 model Aerodrome No. 5. It had a wingspan of 14 feet and was powered by a small steam engine. It made a few true flights, but it was a dead-end design that had no chance of success as a full-size piloted aircraft.

May 3, 2003, page 6 WB:630-L4-P4 Glenn Curtiss and the Langley Aerodrome Orville Wright’s concerns deepened in 1914 (Wilbur died in 1912) when the Smithsonian contracted aeronautical experimenter and aircraft manufacturer Glenn Curtiss to rebuild Langley’s unsuccessful 1903 full-size airplane, the Great Aerodrome, which crashed for the second time just nine days before the Wrights’ success at Kitty Hawk. Immersed in bitter patent infringement litigation with the Wrights for years, Curtiss recognized that the Smithsonian’s desire to tout the aeronautical achievements of Langley could serve his own interests. A partnership was formed with a $2,000 contract for Curtiss to rebuild and test the Langley Aerodrome.

WB:630-L5-P5 Langley’s Great Aerodrome collapses upon itself at takeoff on December 8, 1903.

WB:630-L6 “Capable of Flight” After the completely rebuilding the Langley Aerodrome with extensive modifications and a different engine, Curtiss did manage to make brief, straight-line hops with it. The aircraft was then returned to the Smithsonian, restored to its failed 1903 configuration, and displayed with a label stating that it was the “first man-carrying aeroplane in the history of the world capable of sustained free flight.” Orville was outraged.

WB:630-L7-P7 Curtiss gets the highly-modified Langley Aerodrome briefly airborne in 1914. By this point it could hardly be considered the same airplane.

May 3, 2003, page 7 WB:630-L8 A Bold Move In 1925, Orville decided to use the Flyer as leverage to shame the Smithsonian into correcting its stance. He announced that he would loan it to the Science Museum in London. Surely, Orville believed, the American people would not stand to have the world’s first airplane, built in America, by Americans, exiled to a foreign land. Orville had drawn his line in the sand.

WB:630-L9 The Flyer in Exile After being entirely re-covered with new Pride of the West muslin in late 1926 and early 1927, the Flyer was set up in Orville’s laboratory by March. It remained there until January 1928 when it was disassembled for crating and shipping to the Science Museum in London, where it arrived in February 1928. Orville lamented publicly, “I regret more than anyone else that this course is necessary.”

WB:630-L10-P10 The Wright Flyer on public display in the Science Museum.

WB:630-L11 A Test of Wills In the face of Orville’s action, the Smithsonian continued to dodge the issue. They offered only an unsatisfactory compromise on the language of its label accompanying the Langley airplane on public display, and did so, in the words of new Smithsonian Secretary Charles Abbot, “not in confession of error, but in a gesture of good will for the honor of America.” The comment only served to stiffen Orville’s resolve to gain satisfaction. Even Charles Lindbergh offered to help mediate the dispute.

May 3, 2003, page 8

WB:630-L12-P12 Lindbergh (right) with Orville. He tried unsuccessfully to intervene between Orville and the Smithsonian.

WB:630-L13-P13a and b The Feud Finally Ends The Wright Flyer would remain in England until 1948. In its 1942 annual report, the Smithsonian finally published the recanting of its views on the Langley matter that Orville wanted, and in 1943 he made plans to have the Flyer returned to the United States and transfer it to the Smithsonian for public display. During World War II, the airplane was safely stored with other British national treasures in an underground chamber about 100 miles from London. (Not in the London subway as is sometimes asserted.) After the war, Orville agreed to leave the Flyer at the Science Museum until they could make a copy of it for permanent display.

WB:630-L14 Operation “Homecoming” Orville died suddenly of a heart attack in January 1948 while the Wright Flyer was still in England, leaving it to the executors of his estate to fulfill his wishes and bring the treasured artifact home. It was installed at the Smithsonian in an elaborate ceremony on December 17, 1948, 45 years to the day after its history-making flights. Sir Oliver Franks, the British ambassador, eloquently and succinctly summed up the significance of the airplane. “It is a little as if we had before us the original wheel.” The Flyer had completed its transformation from invention into icon.

WB:630-L15-P15 Smithsonian curator Paul E. Garber (right) escorts the Wright Flyer to Washington, D.C, during Operation “Homecoming” in 1948.

May 3, 2003, page 9 WB:630-L16-P16 The installation ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution. Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis can be seen hanging behind the Flyer. When informed that his airplane would be moved back to make room for the Wright Flyer, Lindbergh said he would be honored to have the Spirit share the hall with the world’s first airplane.

WB:630-L17-TV17 [There is film footage of the assembly of the Wright Flyer at the Smithsonian in 1948 if you want to use it here. It would have to be edited.]

May 3, 2003, page 10

WB:640-L1 Preservation and Study The Wright Flyer hung in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries building from 1948 until 1976, when it was moved to the then new National Air and Space Museum. Cleaning and a few minor repairs were made at that time, but in 1984 and 1985 a thorough preservation treatment was performed on the Flyer by the Smithsonian. It was the first time since Orville’s refurbishment of the Flyer in late 1926, early 1927 that anyone had an opportunity to study the famous airplane in intimate detail.

WB:640-L2-P2 A Unique Viewing Opportunity So as not to deprive visitors their opportunity to see the Flyer, treatment was performed in a special gallery in the museum on public view, rather than at the museum’s off-site restoration facility where such work is normally done. NASM restoration technicians, Karl Heinzel, Richard Horigan, and Reed Ferguson had the honor of working on the world’s first airplane.

WB:640-L3-P3 Treatment by NASM Beginning in December 1984, the airplane was first completely disassembled and inspected. Other than the fabric covering, which was very dirty and somewhat brittle, the Flyer was in amazingly good shape. The Smithsonian’s conservation laboratory prepared a full report on the condition of the artifact before any work was begun.

WB:640-L4-P4a, …. The wooden framework was carefully cleaned and where necessary minor repairs were made. Corrosion on the metal

fittings and bracing wires was removed and the surfaces A selection of restoration photos treated with preservative. The only major component that was here. Probably about 6. replaced was the fabric covering.

May 3, 2003, page 11

WB:640-L5-P5a and b The engine was completely disassembled and examined to determine which parts remained from 1903 and which ones were added later by Orville when he first refurbished the Flyer in 1916.

WB:640-L6-P6 In order to retain the remaining original paint on the engine, but still refinish it, a coating of light, inert wax was applied before giving it a fresh coat of black paint. If need be in the future, the new paint and wax can be easily removed to reveal the original paint underneath.

WB:640-L7-P7 Secrets Uncovered During the four months of disassembling, cleaning, preserving, and studying the Wright Flyer, the museum staff learned many things about the famous object. When the fabric covering was removed details of the structure were better understood and some interesting markings were revealed.

WB:640-L8-P8 Inside one of the wingtips was stamped the name “Browns.” It was discovered that S. N. Brown Co. was a carriage company in Dayton, Ohio, and that the wingtips were made from bows that formed a folding carriage roof.

May 3, 2003, page 12

WB:640-L9-P9 A similar discovery was made on the wing spars. Written on them were “Wilbur Wright” and the shipping destination of the parts, “Elizabeth City, N.C.,” among other hand-written notations.

WB:640-L10-P10 Comparison of the fabric covering Orville put on in late 1926, early 1927 with a sample of original flown 1903 fabric in the museum’s collection showed that Orville had sewn it on slightly differently in the 1920s. New fabric put on by NASM in 1985 was stitched using the 1903 pattern, increasing the accuracy of the Flyer as it is now displayed. The original Pride of the West fabric used by Orville in 1903, 1916, and 1927 was no longer available in 1985, but a muslin very similar in weight and thread count was applied.

WB:640-L11-P11 Some discoveries led to further questions. The Wrights reported that when the Flyer was overturned and damaged by a gust of wind at Kitty Hawk following their last flight on December 17, 1903, all the wing ribs were broken. Upon removal of the fabric by NASM in 1984, metal strips connecting the back section of the ribs behind the rear spar to the rest of the rib structure were found. This begged the question were these metal strips repairs added later or part of the original design? In their records from 1903, the Wrights described the construction of their ribs as continuous framework, with no metal strips connecting separate sections, suggesting the present construction was a later change. But with no specific reference from Orville as to the origin of the strips, the matter remains open to debate.

May 3, 2003, page 13 WB:640-L12-P12 Documenting the Wright Flyer During the course of the treatment of the Flyer, the aircraft was carefully measured and documented, yielding a very accurate set of drawings and a detailed photographic record of all its individual components.

WB:640-L13-P13 Back in its Place of Honor After four months of meticulous treatment and reassembly, the Wright Flyer was returned to its place of honor in the center of the museum’s Milestone’s of Flight gallery in June 1985.

May 3, 2003, page 14

This section would be added to the website after the exhibition opens with pictures of Flyer in its new setting in the gallery. Or, if desired, it could be edited to future tense and also used as a coming attraction item with “gallery in progress” section.

WB:650-L1-P1 The Wright Flyer Seen as Never Before Beginning with the loan from Orville to the Science Museum in 1928, the Wright Flyer has always been publicly exhibited hanging. Its many fascinating and intricate details have always been inaccessible to museum visitors. Since coming to the Smithsonian in 1948, the airplane has been taken down from its hanging display only three times: to move it into the new building in 1976, for the 1984-1985 restoration, and for one day in November 2000 during repairs to the skylights in the Milestones of Flight gallery. The NASM centennial exhibition, The Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age, begins a new chapter in the history of this amazing artifact. For the first time, the airplane is displayed on the floor, in its own gallery, with the most extensive presentation on the Wright brothers the museum has ever offered. Even if you have seen the Flyer at NASM many times before, you have never truly seen it until encountering it in its new setting.

WB:650-L2-P2 Invention and Icon We all owe a great deal to the Wright brothers—their airplane changed the world forever. When encountering this amazing machine in person, it is a sight that stirs even the most jaded of onlookers. Through the original artifact it is possible, to a degree, to transcend time and identify with the Wright achievement in a very direct way. The Wright Flyer reflects both the extraordinary accomplishment of two individuals and the enormous potential that resides in all humanity. It is truly an invention and an icon. Seeing it is an experience that should not be missed.

May 3, 2003, page 15 The Real Wright Flyer

This is the actual airplane, not a reproduction, flown by Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903. Orville Wright replaced several engine components, the propellers, and a few parts of the wooden framework when he repaired the Flyer for its first public display in 1916. The Museum replaced the fabric covering in 1985. Otherwise, this is the original airplane that made the first flight. WB:241-L13-P13-S13 Wright Brothers’ Camp Table Table dimensions: Height 28 5/8 in. X Width On their second trip to Kitty Hawk in 1901, the Wrights 39 ½ in. X Depth 29 7/8 in. replaced their tent from the year before with a substantial wooden structure that served as hangar, workshop, and living quarters. This table, seen in the lower right of the photograph taken in 1902, shows the table in place, which the brothers used as a desk and dining table. Lent by Ronald A. Ciarmello Photograph courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:262-L6-S6 The balance for measuring lift (reproduction). Lent by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

WB:332-L19a-S19a Samples of silk and commemorative card from first air-freight shipment, by Morehouse-Martens Department Store, November 7, 1910. Gift of Charlotte Martens Reeves

WB:500-L1a The Artwork Above Flight to Jezeree (top) Dream Flight (left) Journey to My Parallel Universe (right) By Joan Glase Digital prints on canvas and neon, 2005 Gift of Joan Glase

WB:280-L5-S5 Wright Patent Drawing New Artifact and Label This is an early photomechanical process enlargement of one of the drawings in the Wright patent granted in 1906. It was likely reproduced for ceremonial or souvenir purposes. Gift in honor of Paul Keferl Sr.

WB:262-L3-S3 Scraps of Wallpaper from the Wind Tunnel (facsimile) Two pieces, about 10 inches square Wilbur and Orville recorded the measurements they made with their first wind tunnel on scraps of wallpaper they laid in the bottom of the tunnel, including these pieces. The brothers used the tunnel only for a day, but their results again showed clear discrepancies with Lilienthal’s data. Courtesy of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

WB:281-L5-S5 Original 1903 Fabric from the Wright Flyer This wing panel is a the largest surviving piece of original fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer. It was on the airplane during its historic flights of December 17, 1903. The Flyer was completely re-covered in 1927 under Orville Wright’s supervision, and again in 1985 by the National Air and Space Museum. This fabric is the same “Pride of the West” unbleached muslin used on the 1901 and 1902 gliders. Once again, it was left unsealed to save weight. Gift of Marianne Wright Hudec

WB:262-L6-S6 The balance for measuring lift (reproduction). Lent by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia

WB:272-L7-S7 1902 Glider Wingtip This wingtip is the only surviving piece from any of the three Wright gliders. The brothers viewed the gliders simply as research tools. Because the aircraft were so beat up from flight testing and repair, Wilbur and Orville simply left them behind at Kitty Hawk when they departed. This wingtip was scavenged years later. Lent by Frederick B. Drane

Approx. 41 in x 15 in Cat. # A19340032

December 19, 2013, page 1 WB:121-L3-S3 “I have always thought I would like to be a teacher.… It would be congenial to my tastes, and I think with proper training I could be reasonably successful.” Wilbur Wright, 1894

A Young Man with Promise Wilbur was quiet, but sure of himself. He was intellectually motivated, excelled in school, had an extraordinary memory, and was a good athlete. Toward the end of his senior year at Richmond High School in Indiana, the family suddenly returned to Dayton due to Milton’s church responsibilities. Wilbur was unable to complete his courses and graduate. Hoping to attend Yale and become a teacher, he enrolled in several college preparatory courses at Central High School in Dayton. Report card is a facsimile. Report card Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:122-L4-S4 A Restless Student . . . Orville was as bright as his brother, but he could be mischievous in the classroom and did not always apply himself fully. His work habits improved in high school. But instead of following the prescribed junior-year curriculum, he opted for a series of advanced college preparatory courses. As a result, he would not qualify for his high school degree at the end of his senior year, so he decided not to attend school that term. He never graduated. Report card is a facsimile. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

Report card

December 19, 2013, page 2 WB:121-L3-S3 “I have always thought I would like to be a teacher.… It would be congenial to my tastes, and I think with proper training I could be reasonably successful.” Wilbur Wright, 1894

A Young Man with Promise Wilbur was quiet, but sure of himself. He was intellectually motivated, excelled in school, had an extraordinary memory, and was a good athlete. Toward the end of his senior year at Richmond High School in Indiana, the family suddenly returned to Dayton due to Milton’s church responsibilities. Wilbur was unable to complete his courses and graduate. Hoping to attend Yale and become a teacher, he enrolled in several college preparatory courses at Central High School in Dayton. Report card Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:122-L4-S4 A Restless Student . . . Orville was as bright as his brother, but he could be mischievous in the classroom and did not always apply himself fully. His work habits improved in high school. But instead of following the prescribed junior-year curriculum, he opted for a series of advanced college preparatory courses. As a result, he would not qualify for his high school degree at the end of his senior year, so he decided not to attend school that term. He never graduated. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

Report card

WB:131-L3- S3a,b Sines & Wright: Printers Orville’s boyhood friend Ed Sines was also a printing enthusiast. The boys began a small job-printing business in 1886, operated out of their homes, called Sines & Wright. They printed such items as handbills, advertising circulars, letterhead, business cards, and tickets. Courtesy of Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:132-L1-S1 Wright Bros., Job Printers In 1888 with Wilbur’s assistance, Orville designed and built a larger, more professional press so he could accept bigger jobs. Among his first contracts was the church pamphlet written by Wilbur, Scenes in the Church Commission During the Last Day of Its Session. It marked the first time their historic moniker, “the Church pamphlet, Wright brothers,” appeared in print. 8 in. x 5.5 in. Courtesy of Wright State University Library, Special Collections and Archives

WB:281-L8-S8 1903 Wright Flyer Cat. # A19610048 Original Aircraft Flown at Kitty Hawk in 1903 The 1903 Wright Flyer made four flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, the best covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. It was the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight with a pilot aboard. The Wrights used their proven canard biplane configuration, which was rooted in their initial 1899 kite design. Key to the Flyer’s success was its three-axis control system, which featured wing-warping for lateral balance, a moveable rudder, and an elevator for pitch control. The right wing was four inches longer than the left to compensate for the engine being heavier than and mounted to the right of the pilot. The wings were rigged with a slight droop to reduce the effects of crosswinds. Gift of the Estate of Orville Wright

Wingspan: 12.3 m (40 ft 4 in) Wing area: 47.4 sq m (510 sq ft) Length: 6.4 m (21 ft 1 in) Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 4 in) Weight: 341 kg (750 lb), with pilot Engine: Horizontal 4-cylinder, water-cooled, 12 hp

WB:281-L8a-S8a This is the Real Wright Flyer Cat. # A19610048 Many reproductions of the Wright Flyer have been made, but this is the actual airplane built and flown by the Wright brothers in 1903. The fabric covering was replaced by the Museum in 1985, hence the newer appearance.

May 31, 2006, page 36

WB:281-L9 Historical Label for the 1903 Wright Flyer The Wright Flyer was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution after Orville’s death in 1948. It has been on display with this label, prepared by the executors of his estate, ever since.

The Original Wright Brothers’ Aeroplane The World’s First Power-Driven Heavier-than-Air Machine in Which Man Made Free, Controlled, and Sustained Flight Invented and Built by Wilbur and Orville Wright Flown by Them at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina December 17, 1903 By Original Scientific Research the Wright Brothers Discovered the Principles of Human Flight As Inventors, Builders and Flyers They Further Developed the Aeroplane Taught Man to Fly and Opened the Era of Aviation

Deposited by the Estate of Orville Wright

May 31, 2006, page 37

WB:221-L1-P1 Sir George Cayley 1773–1857 The career of Englishman Sir George Cayley marked a turning point in the history of aviation. Cayley was the first to mount a well- conceived, systematic program of aeronautical research grounded in the scientific method. He conducted practical experiments in aerodynamics, published his findings in scientific journals, and performed flight tests with models and full-size gliders.

WB:221-L2-P2a,b Cayley Silver Disc, 1799 Although Cayley never achieved his goal of powered flight, he defined the basic form of the airplane: a machine with fixed wings, a fuselage, and a tail, with separate systems to provide lift, propulsion, and control. Cayley commemorated this breakthrough by striking a silver disc in 1799 with an image of the airplane as he conceived it. On the reverse, he inscribed an aerodynamic 1 inch in diameter force diagram, which illustrates how clearly he understood the basic requirements of mechanical flight. The actual disc is about the size of a quarter and is in the collection of the Science Museum, London.

WB:221-L3-P3 Cayley whirling arm device for gathering aerodynamic data on model wing surfaces, 1804.

WB:221-L4-P4 Cayley model glider, 1804.

WB:221-L5-P5 Cayley full-size aircraft, the Boy-Carrier, 1849.

March 27, 2006, page 44

WB:282-L1 The Propulsion System The last obstacle to powered flight was the propulsion system. The term propulsion system is important. Wilbur and Orville recognized that developing an effective propeller, and an efficient transmission linkage to the power plant, was just as crucial as building a suitable engine. Seeking a power plant for their airplane, the Wrights contacted many of the dozens of firms that by then were manufacturing gasoline engines. Ten responded, but none could meet power and weight requirements the Wrights specified, or could do so at a reasonable price. Undeterred, the brothers decided to build their own.

WB:282-L2-P2 Charlie Taylor The Wrights’ Assistant Charlie Taylor, a mechanic the Wrights hired in 1901 to work in their bicycle shop, helped design the engine and did virtually all the machine work to build it. He completed the engine in only six weeks and tested it for the first time on February 12, 1903. The engine was the only aspect of the Wrights’ invention of the airplane that someone else had a significant hand in creating.

WB:282-L3-S3 Charlie Taylor’s Tools 20 in x 8 in x 7 in box Whether Taylor used any of these to make the Wright engine is not known, but he did own them at the time he worked on it. Lent by Reuben W. Taylor Jr., Charles Edward Taylor II, and Charles Edward Taylor III

March 27, 2006, page 44

WB:362-L18-S18 Chemet sur son Hydro-Aeroplane “Borel” Cat. # A20070095000 E. Montaut Pochoir print

WB:362-L19-S19 Untitled Cat. # A20070096000 E. Montaut Pochoir print

WB:321-L19a The Wrights Go Abroad

WB:321-L19-P19a-h City maps, passenger lists, and postcards from the Wrights’ European tour. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:321-L21-P21a,b,c,d Scenes of Wilbur Wright’s public flights in France. Orville and Katharine looking on, upper right.

Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:321-L19-S19a-h City maps, passenger lists, and postcards from the Wrights’ European tour. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:322-L10-S10 May I Introduce Myself…. Everyone was clamoring to meet the Wrights: other prominent aviators, people with business deals, reporters, adoring women seeking their attention. These are a few of the hundreds of calling cards the Wrights received from notable figures of the day during their European tour. Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives

WB:322-L11h-S11h Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:343-L5a-S5a Courtesy of Wright State University, Special Collections and brochure Archives

WB:351-L2-S2 1. Souvenir cache pot from Reims air meet, 1909. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

DELETE ENTIRELY FROM PANEL

WB:351-L3-S3 [new ID number]. Gilbert Erector Set manual featuring Wright and Blériot airplanes as projects that could be built, 1913. Courtesy of the National Museum of American History, Behring Center

WB:351-L4-S4 [new ID number]. Game. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

WB:351-L5-S5 4. Pop-up paper airplane model. Book 20 x 14 inches Moderna Luftfartyg, Gösta Suneson, 1910. Alternate between Blériot and Voisin for conservation purposes Lent by Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Air and Space Museum Library

DELETE ENTIRELY FROM PANEL

WB:351-L9-S9 8. Clock. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

DELETE ENTIRELY FROM PANEL

WB:351-L12-S12 11. Cachou box. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

DELETE ENTIRELY FROM PANEL

WB:351-L15-S15 14. Broach. Lent by Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

DELETE ENTIRELY FROM PANEL

WB:351-L ?-S?a,b,c [ID number]. Fanciful aviation postcard, ca. 1909.

WB:361-L4a-S4a Brescia air meet poster, 1909. Courtesy of Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace

* Adjust identification numbers of remaining items in the WB:351 case accordingly.