Opposing Views

As with all opinions, there are those who voice their approval. Many saw the Wrights as heroes, accomplishing something never done before. Those who observed their public flights were especially interested. Today, those who give too much credit to the Wrights most likely do not know the full story.

I emailed Jack Carpenter, author of Pendulum II and GlennHCurtiss.com, and asked his opinion of the Wright brothers. This was his reply: "You've done a wonderful piece of work, which I commend you most highly for. As to the Wrights, they were interesting fellows that contributed their bit to the advent of manned flight after the development of the lightweight internal combustion engine -- and then, whether because of greed, ignorance, or simply human frailty, proceeded to destroy much of what they'd achieved."

A viewpoint to take into consideration is that of the Wrights themselves. They thought they were the best and no one could compete with their ideas. They tried selling their invention to numerous war offices in different countries, yet they were repeatedly rejected.

As the negotiations spun out fruitlessly, the Wrights' sales prospects started to dim. Yet they weren't worried about competition. Wilbur wrote to Chanute in late 1906, "...we are convinced that no one will be able to develop a practical flyer within five years."

(Hise, Phaedra http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/19/1119aviation.html)

No good came of the Wrights' demand for outrageous prices when trying to sell their invention to other countries. With their patent battles, the Wrights caused hundreds of people to resent them.

Even when a great majority of other inventors began to surpass them in 1907, Wilbur told an associate, "I want the business built up so as to get the greatest amount of money with as little work. Sell few machines at a big profit, so that we can close out..."

A French aviator, Louis Paulhan, returned to France commenting: "I am most happy to be safe in France. I have finally escaped the nightmare of the past few weeks" branding the Wrights "veritable birds of prey." (Carpenter, Jack p.253)

Next: 100 Years Later

Photo Gallery

Orville's diary in which he wrote about he and his brother's flight trials

A check from Wilbur to his sister, Katharine for $500, roughly $20,000 today

The Wrights' signatures

Drawings of their plans for their plane

The Wrights recorded the results of their flights and experiments in small vest-pocket notebooks like this one written in Orville's hand

This was the letter to the Smithsonian on May 30, 1899 written by Wilbur

Next: Opposing Views

Their Patent Battles

New York World, March 6, 1910 -- There seems to be much indignation in France about the attitude of Wilbur and Orville Wright over their patents. Some of the adverse opinion is real, some manufactured. On the other hand there is much public sentiment in the Wright's favor.

This is voiced in La Liberte, an evening newspaper, which says: "The Wrights ask only for royalty which certainly is due them. They have a perfect right to protect their patents. Sympathy should go out to them as inventors and pioneers, not as mere chauffuers or mechanicians who learn to pilot aeroplanes." (Quoted from: Carpenter, Jack p.253)

After several rejected applications, the Wright brothers finally achieved patent protection for "an alleged new and useful improvement in Flying-Machines." The detailed drawings at left accompanied a 1908 Wright patent application. (Crouch, Tom D. and Jakab, Peter L. p.141)

This was what the Wrights fought for -- their patents. Anyone flying and using their "wing warping system" was brought to the courts, since the brothers believed everyone flying at the time was stealing their idea, when this system was the only way to successfully take to the air.

     "The Wright Brothers were bitter. All around them pilots were profiting hugely from an invention which they had perfected for the world; without their wing-warping system none of it would have happened, certainly not as quickly. They held patents... in all the leading aviation countries and they demanded royalties from any pilot using the system and flying for profit. If the pilot did not pay up, and many did not, they went to the courts. They made no exceptions -- Paulhan, Grahame-White and others had writs served on them at air meets by Wright lawyers, and promoters of meets received demands for twenty per cent of the posted prize money and ten per cent of the gate receipts. But they reserved their harshest treatment for Glenn Curtiss who was selling aircraft in direct competition to them.
    "Litigation began to dominate their lives, and Wilbur especially spent long periods in the courts giving expert evidence against Curtiss. But it was a hopeless task. There were too many people flying, and even when they were awarded judgement the battles continued; there was always another pilot or promoter to sue or an appeal to attend. They would not settle out of court. It's hard to fathom what it was that made them go on; it had to be something more than money."

Ivan Rendall (Carpenter, Jack Pendulum II pp.288-289)

The Wright brothers were reluctant to share their triumph. Shy men who were happiest working in their garage workshop, they had no desire to become celebrities. Asked to make a speech, Wilbur said that he knew of only one bird -- the parrot -- that talks, and it didn't fly very high. They also did not want to let their competition know what they had accomplished.

In the next few years they modified and improved their design and took out patents on everything in their machines. Maybe they wanted to perfect the design themselves, and maybe they were trying to protect their inventions. Whatever the reason, their attempts to beat the competition hampered the development and improvement of aircraft. And their actions did not win them public support. (Alter, Judy p.195-196)

Next: Photo Gallery

Rivals for the Prize

When the Wrights were developing their flyer at the turn of the century, many other inventors were also exploring the same field, working on their own flying machines. Some of their ideas were very different.

Pierpont Langley

Pierpont Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, nearly beat the Wrights and caused them to work harder and faster. His giant "Aerodrome" was 55 feet long and 48 feet wide, and an attempt to fly this machine on December 8, 1903 ended in failure and led to Langley's public humiliation that discouraged further attempts.

Incredibly, the original Langley aerodrome was restored by Glenn Curtiss and flown successfully at a distance of 10 miles in 30 minutes. This means that Langley actually built a working flying machine before the Wrights, which the Smithsonain Institution acknowledged. However, Orville Wright insisted that the museum change the label that credits Langley's invention.

LANGLEY AERODROME OF 1903 -- RESTORED
"In the opinion of many competent to judge, this was the first heavier-than-air craft in the history of the world capable of sustained free flight, under its own power, carrying a man. This aircraft antedated the machine designed and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright, which, on December 17, 1903, was the first in the history of the world to accomplish free flight, under its own power, carrying a man." (Carpenter, Jack p.368)

Alexander Graham Bell

Another famous competitor was Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. For many years, Bell tried to perfect a flying machine based on "tetrahedral kites" -- a series of triangular cells that were supposed to provide lift.

Although Bell patented his design in 1904, it never really worked. However, Bell formed the "Aerial Experiment Association" (AEA) on September 30, 1907. This was a group of 5 talented individuals, including Glenn Curtiss who would succeed in a spectacular way.

Glenn H. Curtiss

On July 4, 1908, Glenn H. Curtiss made the "First Official Flight in the Western Hemisphere."

Curtiss went on to invent the hydroplane, and proved to be a major force in the development of aviation -- and he was continually battling the Wright brothers in court.

The Wrights always argued that Curtiss was stealing their ideas, when their plans were, in reality, very different. Curtiss' flyer was many times more efficient as well.

David Fairchild's description of the "first official flight" by Curtiss
"Suddenly the group of people around the machine scattered into the fields. Curtiss climbed into the seat in front of the yellow wings, the assistant turned over the narrow wooden propeller, there was a sharp loud whirr and a cloud of dust and smoke as the blades of the propeller churned in the air... The men holding the gigantic bird let go. It started down the track on its rubber-tired wheels going faster and faster. Then, before we realized what it was doing, it glided upward into the air and bore down upon us at the rate of 30 miles an hour. Nearer and nearer it came like a gigantic ochre-colored condor carrying its prey. Soon the thin, strong features of the man, his bare outstretched arms with hands on the steering wheel, his legs on the bar in front, riveted our attention. Hemmed in by bars and wires, with a 40-horse-power engine exploding behind him leaving a trail of smoke and with a whirling propeller cutting the air 1200 times a minute, he sailed with 40 feet of outstretched wings 20 feet above our heads."

Curtiss won the first leg of the Scientific American Trophy with this, the "First Official Flight in the Western Hemisphere." (Carpenter, Jack p.169)

And Others

There were many French pioneers who followed the Wrights' experiments, wanting to surpass them in success. Henri Farman was the first of these inventors to translate the "hops" of early French flights into real ones.

Avion Verdon Roe, a great British pioneer who was the creator of the Avro company.

Louis Bleriot adopted the tractor monoplane which made him world famous. He also flew across the English Channel in 1909.

Next: Their Patent Battles

Getting Airborne

"It is my belief that flight is possible and, while I am taking up the investigation for pleasure rather than profit, I think there is a slight possibility of achieving fame and fortune from it." -- Wilbur Wright to his father, September 3, 1900

When they decided they wanted to see if humans could fly, the Wright brothers watched birds for hours, studying the way they turned by lifting one wing tip up and turning the other down. In 1899, they built a model kite that had a "wing warping" system. It worked so well, they wanted a bigger model, and they intended to test it somewhere that was very windy. The U.S. Weather Bureau recommended Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

One of the Wrights's earliest experiments involved building a small wind tunnel at their bicycle factory. It consisted of a gas engine hooked to a small fan that blew air through a cardboard box. Using paper wings, they could observe how air currents affected wing structure. Eventually, after trying 200 pairs of paper wings, they built full-sized wings that would give their aircraft lift and balance. They also compiled the first useful tables for calculating lift and drag.

They learned to fly by doing experiments with gliders, and during those flights they learned that they needed a better method of steering than weight-control. When their glider crashed into the soft dunes at Kitty Hawk, they learned that they must increase the air pressure under the wings to hold the craft up. They thought an engine could do it because it would cause more wind to go under the wings. The Wrights realized they needed a lightweight internal combustion gas engine. Since they were not using hydrogen, the danger of fire was not as great. But when they contacted manufacturing companies, nobody wanted to sell the brothers an engine. They thought it would disgrace their products to be attached to so foolish a project. So the brothers were forced to build their own engine.

In their first experiment, the glider did not fly because the engine was too heavy. They redesigned both the engine and the glider and then, on December 17, 1903, at 10:35 AM it flew 120 feet (36 m). The engine was a four-cylinder, twelve-horsepower, internal combustion gas engine. They tried again several times that day, and in the final flight of fifty-nine seconds achieved a distance of 852 feet (259 m). Only three or four men witnessed these short flights -- and they were apparently not much impressed. (Alter, Judy p.195)

Next: Rivals for the Prize

Early Efforts

Almost everybody knows that the Wright brothers first flew a controlled, powered heavier-than-air craft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. What many people don't realize is that the brothers did many earlier experiments before they achieved powered flight and that the work of several earlier men led to their success.

There were the Montgolfier brothers who, in 1783, built an "aerostate" that consisted of a huge linen bag, lined with paper and heated by a small, straw-fed fire, and J.A.C. Charles who introduced the hydrogen balloon, also in 1783. In 1852, Frenchman Henri Giffard invented the dirigible (French for "steerable") airship, the first balloon with machinery. It was powered by a steam engine that drove three propellers, and steered by a triangular rudder.

In the late nineteenth century, German Otto Lilienthal (below left) had a conical hill built near Berlin from which he could experiment with his gliders, which we call hang gliders today. After twenty-five years of experiments, Lilienthal made his first flight in 1891. He steered the vehicle by shifting his weight, but that did not provide any real control. Unfortunately Lilienthal was fatally injured in 1896 in a fall; by then he had completed almost 2,000 short flights. The Wright brothers built on all the work that preceded their experiments but they were most influenced by Lilienthal. (Alter, Judy pp. 193-194)

Another gliding pioneer was Octave Chanute (above right). He was an American engineer famous for large projects such as building a long bridge over the Missouri River. Chanute had visited Lilienthal in Germany to discuss gliding and flying. From 1896 to 1898, Chanute and his team built and flew several Lilienthal-type hang gliders.

Lilienthal, Chanute, and others published their experiments and results in scientific magazines and books. Chanute became the leading figure in America for information and reports on the science of flight. The Wrights asked him for advice, and they became friends, writing regular letters to each other. (Parker, Steve p.11)

Next: Getting Airborne

A Dream is Born

"From the time we were little children, my brother Orville and myself lived together, played together, worked together, and in fact, thought together." -- Wilbur Wright

Wilbur was born on a farm near Milville, Indiana, April 16 , 1867. The family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where Orville was born on August 19, 1871, at 7 Hawthorn Street. They had two older brothers, Reuchlin & Lorin, and a younger sister, Katharine. (Parker, Steve p.5)

Their father, Milton Wright, became a bishop of the United Brethren Church. He was sometimes away from home for long periods and taught his sons that with hard work and a will to succeed, they could achieve almost anything. During their schooldays Orville and Wilbur were always messing about with machines and playing with kites. (Parker, Steve p.5)

As boys, Wilbur and Orville loved to build and fix things. One of the first things they built together was a lathe -- a machine for cutting and shaping pieces of wood. Their father encouraged the boys in their building projects. On his return home from one of his trips, Pastor Wright brought his sons a flying toy. It was made of cork and paper and was powered by rubber bands. The toy fascinated Wilbur and Orville. (Santella, Andrew p.8)

In 1884, the Wrights moved back to Dayton, Ohio, home of the United Brethren Publishing House. By that time, Pastor Wright was a bishop in the church and editor of the church newspaper. At around the same time, Susan Wright became ill with tuberculosis. Wilbur stayed home to take care of his mother, but sadly her condition became worse, and she died in 1889. 

Afterwards, Wilbur began to help his father produce the church newspaper. He contributed articles and invented a machine to fold papers in half for delivery. Orville left school and started his own printing business. With Wilbur's help, he built a printing press and started a weekly newspaper called the West Side News. Wilbur became the newspaper's editor. (Santella, Andrew pp. 9-10)

Next, the brothers and Ed Sines set up as Wright and Wright, Job Printers. They worked hard, producing posters, ads, leaflets, and cards, and built up the business. Soon bicycles took over from printing. Ed Sines was put in charge of the printing business.

Beginning in 1892, Wilbur and Orville set up the Wright Cycle Company. They opened a shop at 1127 West Third Street, Dayton, then started more shops. They sold bicycles, repaired and rented them, and began to design and make their own models. In future years, the money from the cycle business would allow the Wrights to spend many months on their flying machines. (Parker, Steve p.7)

The Wrights constantly taught themselves more skills with machines and mechanics. They worked with metals and woods and used tools such as drills and lathes. They even made a small combustion engine to power their workshop machinery.

During the late 1890s, the Wright brothers' interests moved on again. Gliding was in the news. It was said that one day a person would achieve real powered flight. Whoever did this would become famous and wealthy. Remembering the kites and "bat" toy of their childhood, the Wrights decided that they wanted to build a flying machine. (Parker, Steve p.8)

Next: Early Efforts

What's the Truth?

Many people know the Wright brothers as the two great men who invented the first powered airplane. They see them as pioneers, as well as heroes; without them we would not be exploring the skies today. But is that really true? Maybe there's another side to this story, and maybe it's even possible that the Wrights actually slowed down early aviation instead of helping it along.

If the question were asked: "What would world aviation have been like in 1910 if there had been no Wright brothers?" the answers might be:

     1. "Man would still be earth-bound" by some
     2. "The same as it actually was in 1910" by better informed others
     3. "About where it was in 1915" by those knowing the full truth of the matter

Actually, the Wright brothers inhibited flight far more than they accelerated its development.

(Carpenter, Jack, Pendulum II p.ix)

Next: A Dream is Born

Introduction

In 2004, high school student Elora G. Lyda created a website that carefully explored the facts behind the Wright Brothers' troublesome influence on the development of aviation. This fascinating investigation earned a First Place trophy in California State's National History Day 2004 competition.

Her innovative website no longer exists, but I (Elora's Dad) recently discovered a CD that preserved each page of this prize-winning entry. I am recreating it here to honor her exhaustive efforts, and to provide a useful resource for future students and researchers.

This is a reconstruction of a website created more than ten years ago, so most of the links to other sites are no longer valid. Also, the videos Elora used have been replaced with currently available ones.

Below is the original animated background Elora designed for her 2004 GeoCities site

For more like this, go to: Jack Carpenter Collection

To see Elora's Wright Brothers Home Page, go here: What's the Truth?