The Wright brothers’ patents and their low importance for aviation by Bogdan Lazar February 20, 2020 Table of Contents The Wright brothers’ patents and their low importance for aviation.................................................................................. 3 Patents related to the stabilization of an aeroplane in roll, using wing warping plus a vertical tail rudder, and in pitch, with a horizontal front elevator ...................................................................................................................................... 4 The aeroplane with two front vertical rudders, one fix and the other mobile ................................................................ 4 Two vertical vanes placed close to the tips of the main wings ...................................................................................... 4 The automatic pitch and roll stabilizers, two fallacies ................................................................................................... 4 The Flexible rudder ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 The British patent no. 6732 for 1904 – Manual stabilization in roll and pitch of an aeroplane – May 12, 1904 ............... 5 The US patent no. 821,393 – Manual stabilization in roll and pitch of an aeroplane – May 22, 1906 .............................. 7 The British patent no. 392 of Matthew Piers Watt Boulton – A thorough description of the ailerons, and how they can be used for stabilizing an aerial vessel about its longitudinal axis, is given – August 5, 1868 .......................................... 7 The flying machine with front and rear vertical rudders – March 30, 1908 ....................................................................... 8 The flying machine with two lateral vanes – March 30, 1908 ........................................................................................... 9 The US patent no. 1,075,533 – Automatic pitch and roll stabilizer – filed on February 10, 1908 ................................... 10 The automatic roll stabilizer ......................................................................................................................................... 10 The automatic pitch stabilizer ...................................................................................................................................... 10 Why a pendulum cannot stabilize a plane in roll ......................................................................................................... 12 Why the vanes of the Wrights cannot stabilize a plane in pitch ................................................................................... 12 The automatic roll and pitch stabilizer as a whole ....................................................................................................... 14 The US patent no. 908,929 – “Mechanism for Flexing the Rudder of a Flying Machine” – January 5, 1909 ................. 14 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 15 The Wright brothers’ patents filed between March 22, 1903 and July 15, 1908 – full text ............................................. 16 Other documents – full text .............................................................................................................................................. 41 The patent no. 392 for 1868, of M. P. W. Boulton, which contains a clear description of ailerons ................................. 42 References ........................................................................................................................................................................ 47 Various documents ....................................................................................................................................................... 47 Newspaper articles about Wilbur’s flights in France ................................................................................................... 48 The first witnessed flights in the world ........................................................................................................................ 48 Wright brothers’ patents ............................................................................................................................................... 48 1903-08, Octave Chanute, “La Navigation Aérienne aux États-Unis”, The Wright brothers’ patents and their low importance for L’Aérophile, Paris, August 1903, 11e Année, No. 8, pp. 171-183. aviation Finally, Wilbur and Orville were granted a series of similar The Wright brothers were two American inventors who claimed patents in: Great Britain (May 12, 1904), France (September 1, they built and piloted powered heavier-than-air flying machines in 1904), Austria (February 26, 1906), United States (May 22, 1906) 1903, 1904, 1905 and May 1908 and really flew planes in front of and other countries. All of them just briefly point out the invention numerous witnesses, including personalities of the aeronautic world, could also apply to planes but their texts plus accompanying starting with August 8, 1908, when Wilbur, the elder of them, was drawings describe and show a glider. Later, starting with November seen up in the air above the Hunaudières racecourse near Le Mans, 18, 1907, the two Daytonians filed other patents but again they do France. The article “Le premier vol, en France, du premier homme not show powered flying apparatuses. oiseau” by François Peyrey (L’Auto, Paris, August 9, 1908, col. 1-2, Therefore, the case of the Wrights as the first people who built p. 5) gives a detailed record of the flight performed the previous and flew planes is extremely weak and their 1903-1905 planes, as day and also mentions the names of a few eyewitnesses: Ernest flight capable machines, which really traveled through the air Zens, who timed the flight at 1 minute and 45 seconds, Paul Zens, carrying a pilot, are so elusive that their importance for powered Ernest Archdeacon, Louis Blériot, René and Pierre Gasnier, Captain aviation is zero. Léonide Sazerac de Forge, Count Henri de Moy, all members of the The Wright gliders were so unstable that their rotations about the French Aéro-Club. longitudinal and transverse axes had to be continuously controlled No technical drawing, detailed description or clear picture just to fly along straight lines. The main idea, in all their patents, is showing a Wright plane, on the ground or in the air, were made pitch and roll stability, not three-axis control. Also an objective available to the general public before August 8, 1908, so none of clearly stated was “to provide efficient means of guiding the the powered apparatuses constructed and flown before the above machine in both vertical and horizontal directions”, the Wrights do mentioned date, according to what the two inventors pretended, not claim steering. How the altitude could be changed is explained could have been a source of inspiration for other aviation pioneers well. The front elevator has a double role, to stabilize the airplane because nobody knew exactly what those machines looked like. in pitch and to change its height above the ground but regarding The French newspapers (see the examples listed below) started to taking turns the short explanations given by the two inventors are show pictures of Wilbur’s biplane on August 12, 1908. not convincing. There is no indication in any of their patents that 1908-08-12, “De nouveau, Wilbur Wright à volé”, L’Auto, Paris, August 12, they understood the principle behind turning a plane/glider by 1908, col. 3-4, p. 1. banking, that they were aware of the important lateral centripetal 1908-08-12, Raoul Sabatier, “L’homme volant. Wilbur Wright a fait hier à force that appears. They do not say in any place that rolling the 25 mètres de hauteur plus de Quatre kilomètres en 3 minutes 43 secondes.”, flying apparatus to one side will cause it to start making a turn. Le Journal, Paris, August 12, 1908, col. 3-4, p. 1. As a remark, it was already known that heavier-than-air machines 1908-08-12, “Les expériences de Wright. Supériorité de l’aéroplane could be built in such a way that they were able to maintain their américain.”, Le Petit Parisien, Paris, August 12, 1908, col. 3-4, p. 2. equilibrium automatically, without the continuous intervention of 1908-08-12, “La conquête de l’air. L’Aéroplane Wright.”, Le Radical, Paris, the operator. The article “Mechanical Flight. Wonderful August 12, 1908, col. 3-4, p. 2. Performance of Professor Langley’s Aerodrome.” (The Roanoke All these papers contain at least one clear photo showing the Wright Daily Times, Virginia, US, May 13, 1896, col. 4, p. 8) contains a machine. statement of Alexander Graham Bell regarding two flights of a The first planes were officially witnessed taking off, under their model plane, actuated by a steam engine, he had witnessed on May own power, in France on September 13, 1906, and October 7, 1906, 6, 1896. The inventor of the telephone was impressed by the piloted by Santos Dumont and Traian Vuia, respectively. The stability of this apparatus during both its powered flight, while aviation evolved rapidly and on January 13, 1908, Henri Farman ascending, and as a glider, after the engine stopped. This is what he already flew one kilometer in a circuit. Orville Wright even said: witnessed