[Illustration: King Edward VII visits Wright brothers during flights
at Pau, France.]
A world that has convinced itself something cannot be done, yields
slowly to the realization that the “impossible” has been achieved. When
the Wrights approached their own government with the suggestion that
their invention might be useful for scouting purposes their proposal
evoked no interest. Actually, appreciation of the implications and
possibilities of the new device came more quickly from Europe than
America. England and France were among the first to seek information on
the machine that had so thoroughly proved its ability to fly. As early
as 1905 a member of the French military had at least made unofficial
inquiry as to the cost of a plane, but for a time this led to nothing.
In 1907 the United States government realized that the Wrights had
proved the practicability of flying. The Signal Corps drew up
specifications and asked for bids. The Wrights offered to build a test
plane for $25,000. Their bid was accepted in February, 1908. Three
months later they signed a contract with a French syndicate to sell or
license the use of the plane in France. The Wrights were now in the
international picture.
[Illustration: King Alfonso XIII of Spain was keenly interested in
flying, but promised his family that he would not make flight.]
About this time the Wrights, always seeking better performance, made a
notable improvement in their plane. In their first historic flight and
during the experiments on Huffman Prairie, they rode “belly buster” just
as a boy does when coasting on a sled. They now made a different
arrangement of levers which enabled them to sit up while piloting the
plane. A seat for a passenger was also provided. Interestingly enough,
recent experiments with high-speed planes have brought some return of
the prone position for the pilot.
On May 14, 1908, newspaper men saw a history-making flight at Kitty
Hawk. The remodeled 1905 machine under perfect control carried two men.
Flights for the army followed in September and the last trace of
skepticism disappeared. Unfortunately, on the last flight Lieutenant
Selfridge, the passenger, was killed and Orville severely injured.
The year 1908 was notable in the saga of the Wrights. Wilbur made a
series of flights abroad that not only won all observers but aroused
wide interest and admiration throughout Europe. His quiet demeanor, his
unassuming modesty and his proved skill, stirred the popular
imagination. The French exalted him to the status of a hero. The great
of the world flocked to meet him and see him fly. They included King
Edward VII of England, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and the Dowager Queen
Margherita of Italy. Invitations to fly came from Rome and Berlin. In
Rome King Victor Emmanuel watched him fly.
[Illustration: Wilbur, at right, in characteristic pose—making a
repair in France.]
[Illustration: Orville Wright with army officer during highly
successful flights at Fort Myer, Virginia.]
In December, 1908, Orville and his sister, Katherine, went to Europe to
join Wilbur. The weather at Le Mans where Wilbur had been flying became
unsuitable for further flights and operations were transferred to Pau in
southern France. Here Orville and Katherine joined Wilbur. Many flights
were made and many distinguished visitors came to see the modern miracle
of human flight.
Honors were heaped upon the Wrights. They received among many other
distinctions, the gold medal of the Aeronautical Society of Great
Britain and the Aero Club of the United Kingdom. The French Aero Club of
the Sarthe gave them a bronze trophy. Later the Aero Club of America
bestowed medals on the flyers. A few weeks afterward, President Taft
received the Wrights at the White House and the brothers returned to
Dayton where a tumultuous welcome awaited them.
[Illustration: Wilbur flies low over spectators’ carriages at Pau,
France.]
Welcome home!
[Illustration: Main Street and Third on day of great Homecoming
Celebration, June 17, 1909.]
Probably nothing stirred the Wrights quite so deeply as their welcome
when they returned to Dayton from their foreign triumphs. The
“homecoming” lasted two days, June 17 and 18, 1909. Whistles blew, bands
played, bells rang, men, women and children paraded. During the
celebration practically all business in Dayton was suspended.
[Illustration: Orville and Wilbur on second day of Dayton
demonstration.]
Wilbur and Orville rode to the celebration in a carriage with their old
friends, Ed Sines, boyhood newspaper partner of Orville, and Ed Ellis, a
long-time friend of Wilbur. The Wrights reviewed a parade in their honor
and in the evening witnessed a spectacular display of fireworks. The
celebration continued the next day when one of the features was the
formation of a huge living American flag by 2,500 school children,
wearing red, white and blue. Immediately after the celebration Wilbur
and Orville left for Washington to complete the trials for the Army at
Fort Myer. The contract with the government had specified that the plane
must do forty miles an hour. Actually, Orville completed one 10-mile
flight in 14 minutes at approximately 43 miles per hour. The Wright
plane was accepted by the Army at the conclusion of these tests.
[Illustration: Michelin Trophy awarded to Wright brothers for
achievements in France.]
[Illustration: {Medal from the Aero Club of America.}]
[Illustration: This trophy from the Aero Club of Sarthe, France, was
placed in niche in Wright home.]
Immediately after the flights at Fort Myer, Orville and Katherine left
for Germany. His purpose was to train pilots for the German company
which had been organized. He made many flights on that trip, some of
them witnessed by members of the royal family and on one of which the
Crown Prince was a passenger. On one he raised the world’s altitude
record from 100 meters to 172 meters, roughly 550 feet. Shortly
thereafter he flew for one hour, thirty-five minutes and forty-seven
seconds with a passenger, thereby establishing a new world’s record for
a flight with a passenger.
While Orville was in Germany in 1909, Wilbur was making spectacular
flights around New York. In one of these he flew 21 miles from
Governor’s Island up the Hudson River to Grant’s Tomb and back.
To train pilots to fly their planes the Wrights opened a flying school
on Huffman Prairie where those early and precarious flights had been
made. Here a notable group of flyers received their training. One of
them was Henry H. Arnold who became Commanding General of the Army Air
Corps in World War II.
In May, 1910, Wilbur made his last flight as pilot. Shortly afterward he
and Orville flew for a brief time together. It was the only flight when
the brothers were both in the air at the same time. Later the same day
Orville took up his 82-year-old father. In the spirit of the Wrights the
Bishop’s only comment was ... “Higher! Higher!” Orville’s final flight
as pilot was made in 1918 from South Field near Dayton.
[Illustration: Orville Wright meeting with members of National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.]
After an illness of three weeks, Wilbur Wright died on May 30, 1912, in
his forty-fifth year. The whole world mourned him. Thus, in the prime of
life, with a record of achievement privileged to few, passed a notable
figure in American creative history. Orville Wright survived his brother
for 36 years, passing away January 30, 1948. Throughout his life he
maintained his active interest in aviation, was a life member of the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and a frequent and honored
visitor to Wright Field, the great Air Force research center named in
honor of the Wright brothers.
[Illustration: Always interested in new developments, Orville Wright
visits Wright Field.]
[Illustration: The “Kitty Hawk,” Smithsonian Institution,
Washington.]
The Wright brothers have been honored by many nations. Medals, trophies,
monuments tell in part, at least, the story of their great achievement.
The original Kitty Hawk aeroplane holds the place of honor in the
aeronautical exhibit of Smithsonian Institution, Washington. A replica
of the Kitty Hawk in the Science Museum at South Kensington, London,
speaks for the British nation in honoring the Wrights. Monuments have
been erected at Kitty Hawk, N. C., at Le Mans, France, and at Dayton.
And now Wright Hall with its restored 1905 plane takes its place as one
of the efforts of a grateful world to honor one of man’s greatest
achievements.
[Illustration: Wright Memorial, Kitty Hawk, N. C.]
[Illustration: Monument to Wrights, Le Mans, France.]
[Illustration: Wright Hall in Carillon Park houses restored 1905
Wright aeroplane.]
On the walls of Wright Hall is inscribed this tribute to the
achievements and to the personal character of two great Americans:
_In honored memory of Wilbur and Orville Wright, citizens of Dayton
and of the world. Through original research, the Wright brothers
acquired scientific knowledge and developed theories of aerodynamics
which, with their invention of aileron control, enabled them in 1903
to build and fly, at Kitty Hawk, the first power-driven, man-carrying
aeroplane capable of flight._
_Their further development of the aeroplane gave it a capacity for
service which established aviation as one of the great forward steps
in human progress._
_As scientists, Wilbur and Orville Wright discovered the secret of
flight. As inventors, builders and flyers, they brought aviation to
the world._
_Their courage, perseverance and ability are comparable only to the
magnitude of their achievement. The aeroplane will stand for all time
as one of those few truly great inventions which have shaped the life
and destiny of man._
CARILLON PARK
DAYTON, OHIO
One of a series of Carillon Park
booklets. Price ten cents.