The Wright "Story" -- Not So Sure

We are taught in our history books that the Wright Brothers were the first to fly on December 17, 1903. The narrations about that day usually begin dramatically, something like this: "On a cold, windy day near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers lifted off the sand in their small plane and became the first in the history of mankind to fly."

Obviously there were manned flights before that in balloons, kites, and gliders. Man even made powered flights. So the definition of what the Wrights claimed that day was changed to be more precise: the Wrights were "the first to make a manned, powered, controlled, sustained flight in a heavier than air machine."

But we're looking for truth in aviation history. How do we know the Wrights actually flew that day? Well, there were witnesses who were there, five of them. They were three life guards, John Daniels, Adam Etheridge, and Willie Dough, W.C.Brinkley, a farmer who was said to be beach combing, and Johnny Moore, an eighteen year old lad who wandered onto the site that morning. We have the statements of the Wrights themselves, of course.

Then there is the picture that Daniels supposedly took just as the first flight took off, Orville on the plane, Wilbur standing to the right of the plane. (See previous blog post) There is little to no proof, other than that. Five witnesses, the Wrights' statements, and a photograph, allegedly taken by Daniels.

The Wrights' account was summarized in a telegram (below) that Orville sent to his father after the events of the day. But the statement in the telegram can't be true.

Orville states that they made four flights from level ground with engine power alone against a 21 mile per hour wind. But the plane couldn't have taken off with engine power alone if it was assisted by either a 21 or a 27 mph headwind.
(The Wrights said they checked after the flights and the wind was clocked at 27 miles per hour by the life saving station at Kitty Hawk.)



Another problem is that Orville
states they took off from level ground. However, one of the witnesses, John Daniels, signed a statement (at right) that the Wrights took off from the hill. Later in 1935, Daniels signed another statement that the men placed the plane on the rail on a hill. Witness Etheridge agreed with him.

Assisted by the wind? Assisted by the hill?
That's not a take off with engine power alone. Moreover, by any definition, that was not a powered flight. Controlled? Not by the Wrights' later accounts. Sustained? Orville's first "flight" was a "hop" of 120 feet. And the plane did not come down due to the will of the pilots. In other words, you might say, it crashed.

What about the photograph? (To be continued)

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