A summary of this blog with some additional comments

Aviation history, as presented today, is chock full of liars, thieves, mountebanks, and four-flushers. Aviation pioneers, who in their day were known to be brilliant, such as Gustave Whitehead and John J. Montgomery, are accused of faking flights. One of our greatest pioneers, Glenn Curtiss, is said to have deliberately cheated on a test for the Smithsonian to prove an early pioneer plane was capable of flight when it really wasn't. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now, if stories, such as these, are questioned by serious researchers, there are those, who seem to have an inordinate interest in preserving the status quo, who accuse them of conspiracy theories, lies, or idiocy. A concerted effort is made to marginalize those who have opposing opinions, much as when this aviation history was originally written.

Are these accusations true? Who is behind these stories? Maybe those most responsible are the two pioneers who come shining through today's "history" as the beacons of honesty, integrity, and expertise.

This blog addresses some of these and other very important issues.

Presented below is a summary of the first seven posts of this blog "Truth in Aviation History," including some additional comments.
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A Wright Brothers coloring book from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The Wright brothers are promoted by NASM to the point that some call it the "Wright Museum."

              Post #1. The Wright Truth: Undecided

Much of early aviation history is based on statements by the Wright brothers. Unfortunately, many of
these statements are contradictory. Many of their questionable statements can't be
verified at all. If the Wrights are to be used as references, their statements and claims need to be verified with credible, original sources, independent of the Wright brothers themselves.This has not been done. If a conclusion is made from an unverified source, it needs to be so stated.

History ought not to be written on the assumption that particular individuals' claims to knowledge and/or honesty are absolutely unassailable, regardless of opposing claims.

         
               Among the enormous number of Wright references supposed to verify
               aviation history:

                  1. The Wright correspondence
                  2. The Wright diaries
                  3. Wright public statements in and out of court.
                  4. Wright photographs that can't necessarily be verified as to dates.
                  5. Any other documents originating from the Wrights

                 Examples of books derived from the Wright brothers' statements

                   l. "The Bishops Boys" and other books by Tom Crouch
                  2. "Wilbur and Orville" by Fred Howard
                  3. "The Wright Brothers" by Fred Kelly
                  4.  Books by Charles Harvard Gibbs Smith
                  5   Books or publications that use these books as references

 Post #2. The Wright Story: Not So Sure

Wright historians tell us that the Wright brothers were the first to make a manned,
 powered, controlled, sustained, heavier than air flight. Is this true?

The telegram the Wright brothers sent to their father Milton Wright in 1903 gives their version of what happened at Kitty Hawk December 17, 1903. Their statement can't be totally true.They said they took off from level ground with engine power alone against a 21

mile per hour wind. If the wind assisted the take off, it can't have been solely with 

engine power, or "engine power alone"

The telegram the Wrights sent their father Milton on December 17, 1903. It all started with a stretching of the truth. Some might call it by another name.

There were no official witnesses that day, experts on aviation, or reporters. Only five ordinary people who knew virtually nothing about aeronautics--three surfmen, a beach comber farmer, and a boy of eighteen. It is clearly documented that two of the only five witnesses, Daniels and Etheridge, agreed more than once that they placed the Wright plane on the side of the hill to take off. If the plane took off from the side of the hill, it did not take off from level ground--it was assisted by gravity. 

The definition of powered, sustained flight excludes a take off from the side of a hill, or a gravity assisted take off.

We have a choice whether to accept the Wright version or the version of the witnesses. (In court today the Wright version would have no validity.)


 Post #3.The Wright Photo Shoot: 1903 or 1908 ?

The iconic photograph represented as of the first flight in history and supposed to be proof of the first flight in history poses some serious questions.

We have only the word of the Wright brothers that John Daniels took this picture December 17, 1903.

John Daniels, who the Wrights claimed took the picture, said he didn't remember taking the picture. If he didn't, he certainly wouldn't/couldn't remember it! The date the picture was taken has not been proven. The photo didn't make its appearance until the year 1908. It could have been taken in 1908 when the Wright Brothers went back to Kitty Hawk with their later Wright flyer. It would be difficult to tell the planes from each other, as we are told the flyers were virtually the same. 

There is absolutely no proof that this photo was taken in the year 1903 by witness John Daniels or anyone else that year.


Post #4 The First Flight Picture: Puzzling Questions

There are many anomalies in the "first flight" picture. For instance, the shadows aren't consistent as they would have to be if the picture was taken outdoors with a single light source (the sun). The sun would be the light source outdoors even if the day was overcast as it seems to be.To repeat, John Daniels, who the Wrights claimed took the pictures, said he didn't remember taking the picture. (He was glad to take credit, though).

The position of the elevator in the photograph shows from modern day Caltech wind tunnel
tests that the plane is in full stall. A plane can't recover from a full stall as close to
the ground as it's shown to be in the photo.

 Post #5  Did the Wrights Really Fly in 1903? An Expert Opinion by Tom Crouch.

Oops! A letter surfaced written by Tom Crouch, head of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, stating to Leo Opdyke* that the so called flight shown in the picture that we are taught is the first flight in history was not long enough to be considered a true sustained flight. The flight was only an estimated 120 feet over the ground. Crouch states that the last flight by Wilbur of 852 feet could be considered a true flight. Of course, that would be true assuming it took off from level ground.

Common sense would conclude, then, that if the picture of Orville supposedly making the flight of 120 feet doesn't represent the first flight in history, because Wilbur's flight was the only true flight, then we have been sold a story, regardless of the authenticity of the picture..


 












    





  *Leo Opdycke was editor of the "World War One Aero" magazine, a publication that he developed  from a newsletter into one of the main sources of information for those interested in aviation from the time of its birth to the end of WWI."


  Post #6. Didn't the Wright Brothers Always Tell the Truth? Part 1


This post demonstrates that the Wright brothers were very adept in using the news
and publications to establish their versions of history, including what happened at Kitty
Hawk in 1903.They monitored the news, and if they saw an account that didn't coincide
with their stories, they were very aggressive in demanding that it be corrected--to
their version. In January 1904, they sent out a news release contradicting an account
that was apparently mostly fictitious about the Kitty Hawk "flights" and corrected it to
their agreed version.


Post #7 Didn't the Wright Brothers Always Tell the Truth? Part 2

In a 1914 Boys' Life article with Orville Wright's name on the byline (as told to Leslie W. Quirk), we find proof positive that Orville Wright was "loose with the truth," as writer  Jack Carpenter asserted in  "Pendulum I" and "Pendulum II," http://www.amazon.com/Pendulum-II-Americas-Aviation-Pioneers/dp/product-description/0960073620 . Orville claimed that he made the longest flight of 852 feet at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Wilbur had died and couldn't correct the article.

Cover of Boy' Life,  Sept. 1914. The Boy Scouts teach and advocate honesty.

Until Wilbur's death in 1912, it was accepted that he made the first flight (except for a 1908 claim written by Orville that he was the one who made the first flight, Century magazine).

After Wilbur's death, Orville stole the crown and even wrote the 1914 article for young people that it was he who made the longest flight of 852 feet. The article has been republished more than once, but never corrected.

Since the Wrights closely monitored articles published about themselves and made great efforts to change what they didn't like, we must assume that the so called "error" about who made the longest flight was not an error, but was intentional on Orville's part. He personally made no attempt to correct the article after it was published. In the next post we show that Orville was aware of the article--for years.

To be continued with summaries of these posts:

Post #8   Orville Wright's "True" Fiction for the Boy Scouts and for "Very Young People"


Post #9  More "Errors," "Inaccuracies. and "Whoppers" by Orville Wright in "Boys' Life"


Post #10  Wright "Flyer" Replicas and Reconstructions

Post #11 The Wrights Discovered What? Was the Wrights' "Original" Research Original?


Post #12 The Wrights Discovered What? Another Chapter


Post #13 Dr. George Spratt--A Letter and a Lost Friend