The "First Flight" Picture: Puzzling Questions

A close study of the iconic picture (third picture, below) of the 1903 Wright flyer reveals strange anomalies. If you observe the cast shadows, you can easily see that they are contradictory. 

A bright, sunny day will produce dark crisp shadows like the cast shadows on the box in the foreground shown above. An overcast day like it was on Dec. 17, 1903, will produce fainter, softer shadows like that to the left of Wilbur. One could say a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds hitting the box. But then there would be a cast shadow just as strong to the left of the box on the sand. Note that the cast shadow beneath the plane is dark as opposed to the one cast by Wilbur, which is faint and barely discernible. These shadows should be relatively consistent in the same cloudy conditions.  Adding to the inconsistent shadows, the perspective of the shadows is questionable  

Position of the elevator is more than 5-6 degrees
 
The position of the elevator on the plane also raises serious questions. (Magnified in picture above) Wind tunnel tests in 2003 on a full size replica of the 1903 flyer at Cal Tech  have proven that if the elevator was above 5-6 degrees on the Wright flyer, the plane would stall. See page 11 of linked AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) summary. The elevator position in the picture above indicates that if the plane is in the air, it is about to crash.

Adding to that, the flexible wings indicate that they are not lifting the plane. Even though they were built anhedryl (drooping), they are drooping almost exactly as they do in photographs when the plane is sitting at rest on the ground. Compare photos below. (Note: The air moving past flexible wings will lift up the wings noticeably before the plane lifts up. The wings provide the lift for a plane. In other words, the plane doesn't rise up in flight, then lift the wings. It's the reverse.)

The shadow on the box in the foreground indicates a sunny day.

The Wrights claimed the plane flew 100 feet beyond the rail, which can  be seen below the plane in the iconic Wright flyer picture at right. How can it be? The plane is 2-3 feet off the ground, in a full stall, with little to no apparent lift to the wings.

Another question. Is the plane in the photograph really flying? Why question that? Why not?  I suppose because the speculation then resembles a full conspiracy theory. But moving into that forbidden territory is tempting.

The plane certainly looks like it's in the air. But.a good first year art student that studies the science of light and shadow can tell you that the shadow beneath the plane is the only real indication the plane is in the air. Adding a crude cast shadow and changing the background a little in the photograph

wouldn't be too difficult. But note the absence of cast shadows from the rudders!

 .

 

Wright flyer at rest. Note more consistent cast shadows.

The Wrights were photographers.

They had a darkroom and developed their own pictures.

They had a print shop and an old fashioned "photo shop."

Conspiracy?

Conspiracy or not, a very real conclusion from all of the above is 

that given the anomalies presented and only the brothers testifying as to the photograph's authenticity, I strongly doubt that the photograph would stand up in an unbiased court today. Or even be admitted as evidence.

To be continued---