More History and photos
Posted Monday, Dec. 3, 1928
New York Times
Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright, at Kitty Hawk,* N. C., made the first airplane
flight in history. His brother Wilbur who had helped him invent the motor
and design the plane, watched him, nervous, confident and inquisitive,
from the ground. An undertaker also stood by. Wilbur Wright died in 1912;
but Orville Wright has lived to see:
1) This week, the $100,000,000 U. S. Aviation industry hold a vast
commercial exposition at Chicago;
2) Next fortnight, himself as guest of honor at the International Conference
on Civil Aeronautics, at Washington;
3) Dec. 17, his flight's silver anniversary ceremonies at Kitty Hawk—the
National Aeronautic Association dedicating a 10-ton granite boulder at the
point whence he took off, the Government laying the cornerstone of a
monument there.
First Flight. A biting cold wind was blowing 24 miles an hour along the
beach at Kitty Hawk the morning of Dec. 17, 1903. The Wrights with their
biplane and a few helpers were on a knoll. Dismally nearby was a horse
and wagon. A man sat on the wagon seat, leaning patiently forward, his
hands hanging loosely between his knees, the reins looped over a crooked
finger. He was a native undertaker.
The plane resembled a great, wide box kite with" struts supporting vertical
and horizontal rudders far out in the rear. The engine was at one side of
the flyer's seat, so that if the plane tumbled it would not fall on him. Two
skids projected in front to prevent the plane somersaulting on landing.
The Wrights built the plane according to specifications which they
developed themselves. When they had been boys at Dayton, Ohio, they
had played with kites and gliders and grew expert in their flight. When
they were young men and in the bicycle business they continued to study
aerodynamics. They built themselves a wind tunnel and learned new
aerodynamical laws. Two things, they learned, happened to a moving
plane—wind" pushed it up from below and a vacuum sucked it up from
above. If the plane was slightly curved and tapered from front to back the
suction force was about three times the pushing force. They learned, too,
how to warp the plane wings, how to steer it, how to control it in all ways.
They built their own motor. And then they were ready to make their first
flight.
At Kitty Hawk that cold December week, Wilbur and Orville Wright
tossed a coin to decide which would try the first flight. Wilbur won, got into
the machine, rose a few feet. After three seconds the machine stalled. Next
it was Orville's turn. He succeeded; he sustained the flight of a kite.
Wright Honors. The U. S., then, was tepid to flying. So the Wrights went to
Europe. There they won recognition and financial backing. That is why,
when Orville Wright believed that the Smithsonian Institution at
Washington was erroneously giving the late Samuel Pierpont Langley
credit for the first man-carrying airplane, he sent his Kitty Hawk plane to
the Science Museum' at South Kensington, London, for preservation.
Of course, Orville and Wilbur Wright, who never attended college, soon
received honorary academic degrees. Orville Wright has eight.
And, of course, they made money. In 1915, three years after Wilbur Wright's
death, Orville sold his patents to the Wright Aeronautical Corp. It is a
$7,000,000 concern.
Now, at 57, he lives a retired life at Dayton, persistently working at
aeronautical research.
Flying Developments. That first flight was over only 120 feet of ground and
lasted only 12 seconds. During the 25 years since then various planes have
crossed the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. They have risen to 38,418 ft.,
stayed in the air 65 hrs. 25 min., traveled 4,466 miles without alighting,
sped 319 m. p. h. They have crossed North America from the Pacific to the
Atlantic in 18 hr. 58 min., from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 24 hr. 51 min.
Passenger, express and mail planes cover 20,327 miles of routes. (Railroads
on their silver anniversary had only 9,021 miles of trackage.)
Plane Manufacture. Last year 2,000 planes were manufactured and sold.
This year the number will be 10,000, next year 20,000. About 150
concerns are now making planes. But scarcely a score make 95% of the
output. As happened with the automobile industry, some of the airplane
leaders will fail, some of the others will grow big. There will be mergers.
Airplane securities have an active sale. They are all speculative at present..
The chart (left) gives some current information on a few of the important
manufacturers. Changes occur daily.
Motor Manufacture. The Wrights in 1903 could get no one to make them a
suitable flying motor; they invented one themselves. It was vertical and
water-cooled. But the Wright Aeronautical Corp., which bought their
airplane patents now makes radial air-cooled (whirlwind and cyclone)
motors, but no planes. Nearly 3,000 Wright whirlwinds will have been
made & sold this year. Pratt & Whitney (Wasp & Hornet radial motors) is
the next largest motor maker, with 1,200 output this year. Curtiss
Aeroplane & Motor Co. makes V-type motors for its own planes; Fairchild
Aviation Corp. is almost ready to market its Caminez radial engine.
Packard and Velie, among motor car engine makers, have modified their
motors for flying.
Transportation. There are about 30 operators of scheduled flying routes in
the U. S.,* and about 600 more who run planes for hire on special trips.
They can make money only on long, fast trips, for the slower railroads and
motor buses are much cheaper. So the market for transport planes is
limited.
Unlimited however is the field for sport planes and flying boats. Flying
boats (Fairchild, Loening and Sikorsky are the leading makers) are useful
for getting to the harbors of large cities from outlying airports and
suburban homes. At present they are too expensive for all but rich
businessmen.
Sport planes on the other hand are cheap, safe and handy, and so are
popular. They sell well and have rapidly become a main support of the
aviation industry. The limit of their sale (their saturation point) is far off.
Wilber Wright
Wilber Night Flight
US Patent Diagram
Orville and Wilber Wright
Orville at 4 years old
Orville Wright
Sport planes on the other hand are
cheap, safe and handy, and so are
popular. They sell well and have
rapidly become a main support of the
aviation industry. The limit of their
sale (their saturation point) is far off.
1928