Transcription
A Reissue ofA Chronology Commemoratingthe Hundredth Anniversary of theBIRTH OF ORVILLE WRIGHT AUGUST 19, 1871By Arthur George RenstromWILBUR & ORVILLEWRIGHT
WILBUR & ORVILLEWRIGHTA Reissue ofA Chronology Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of theBIRTH OF ORVILLE WRIGHT AUGUST 19, 1871By Arthur George RenstromA Joint Publication of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissionand the National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationMonographs in Aerospace History, Number 32September 2003NASA Publication SP-2003-4532National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOffice of External RelationsNASA History OfficeNASA HeadquartersWashington, DC 20546
On the cover: The classic photograph of the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903.Orville Wright is on the airplane; older brother Wilbur looks on from the sidelines.Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataRenstrom, Arthur George, 1905–1991Wilbur & Orville Wright: a chronology: commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Orville Wright, August 19, 1871/compiled by Arthur G. Renstrom.p. cm.—(monographs in aerospace history; no.) (NASA history series) (NASA SP; 2003-4532)Includes bibliographical references and index.1. Wright, Orville, 1871–1948.—Chronology. 2. Wright, Wilbur, 1867–1912—Chronology. 3. Aeronautics—United States—History—Chronology. I. Title. II.Series. III. Series: NASA history series IV. NASA SP; 4532.TL540.W7R46 2003629.13’0092’273—dc21[B]2003051363
A Chronology iii
ForewordDuring the year 2003, hundreds of events will mark the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright brothers’ historic first flights at KittyHawk, North Carolina. The centennial year will witness exhibitions, lectures, television documentaries, films, air shows, flight recreations ofWright aircraft, the issuing of postage stamps and medals, the publication of dozens of new books and articles, and numerous other com memorative activities. One of these events, although not likely to make the evening news, is among the most important of all in terms of alasting contribution to the observance of this ultimate aviation milestone: the reprinting of Arthur G. Renstrom’s Wilbur & Orville Wright:A Chronology Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Orville Wright, August 19, 1871.Since its appearance in 1975, Wilbur & Orville Wright: A Chronology has become indispensable to students and authors concernedwith the life and work of the famous brothers. No doubt every book on the subject published in the last quarter century, including threeof my own, was written with this treasure close at hand. This volume is far more than a simple compilation of dates and facts. Renstromwas a master reference librarian and bibliographer with a passion for aviation and the Wright brothers. He brought his considerableresearch skills to bear on the topic, and the result is a richly detailed, ever-informative, often entertaining walk through the lives andachievements of these two extraordinary individuals. Renstrom was not content to offer a date with a one-line tidbit. His entries are brim ming with information. This is a highly readable reference work that, believe or not, can be enjoyably read from cover to cover. The proj ect was clearly a labor of love by a talented professional.During most of the last twenty years, I have been privileged to be the curator of the 1903 Wright Flyer at the SmithsonianInstitution’s National Air and Space Museum. The position brings a steady stream of inquiries about the Wright airplane and the end lessly fascinating brothers who created it. I do not know how I would have done this job without Renstrom’s superb volume on mybookshelf. It is the first place I go to check anything on the Wright brothers, and I typically find what I am looking for in its pages.Arthur Renstrom also published two other classic reference works on the Wright brothers: Wilbur & Orville Wright: ABibliography Commemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Wilbur Wright, April 16, 1867, in 1968 (an updated revi sion was published by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2002) and Wilbur & Orville Wright, PictorialMaterials: A Documentary Guide in 1982, completing a series of research tools for which there are few peers on any subject. Hewas also part of the team that produced the landmark two-volume compilation of the Wrights’ letters, notebooks, and diaries in1953, The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, edited by Marvin W. McFarland. Renstrom’s contribution to the documentationand preservation of the Wright story is a lasting legacy that will serve researchers, students, and general enthusiasts for generationsto come. In this busy, high-profile anniversary year, the reprinting of a nearly thirty-year-old reference book may seem a mundaneand quiet contribution to the celebration surrounding the Wright brothers’ world-changing achievement, but it is perhaps one ofthe most important. The U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission and NASA are to be commended for their foresight.Peter L. JakabChairman, Aeronautics DivisionNational Air and Space MuseumSmithsonian InstitutionJuly 4, 2003iv Wilbur & Orville Wright
PrefaceSince 1949, when the Wright papers were given to theLibrary of Congress by the Orville Wright estate, the Library haspaid tribute to the Wright brothers on several occasions.To celebrate the 50th anniversary of powered flight, a twovolume edition of The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright,Including the Chanute-Wright Letters and Other Papers of OctaveChanute (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1953) waspublished under the sponsorship of Oberlin College. TheWrights’ letters, diaries, notebooks, and other records of theirscientific and technical work in inventing and perfecting the air plane were edited at that time by Marvin W. McFarland of theLibrary’s Aeronautics Division.A subsequent anniversary was observed by the Library withthe publication of Wilbur & Orville Wright: A BibliographyCommemorating the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of WilburWright, April 16, 1867 (Washington: Library of Congress, 1968),listing more than 2,000 printed and audiovisual research materi als on the Wright brothers.Commemorating the 100th anniversary in 1971 of the birthof Orville Wright, the Library here presents a chronology andflight log through which the fortunes of the Wright brothers andtheir flying machines may be traced: their early trials, with littleof the encouragement of public notices; the growing interest intheir work by the time they exhibited their airplane and tech nique for the Army in 1908; their demonstration flights abroadin 1908 and 1909, which brought them public acclaim andmeetings with kings; their triumphant return to the UnitedStates, with the presentation of medals by the President and amemorable two-day homecoming celebration in Dayton; theperiod of public exhibition flying; Wilbur’s unexpected deathfrom typhoid fever; the protracted Wright patent litigation withGlenn H. Curtiss; the sale of the Wright Company in 1915; thesubsequent retirement of Orville from public life, his lengthycontroversy with the Smithsonian Institution, and awards tohim of numerous medals and honorary degrees; and finally, thecontinuing tribute tendered the Wrights in anniversary celebrationsand testimonial dinners and the building and dedication ofmemorials and monuments in their honor.The nucleus of the present publication was an article entitled“Wright Chronology,” contributed by the compiler of this workto the July 1953 issue of the aviation journal Aero Digest, acommemorative issue marking the 50th anniversary of poweredflight by the Wright brothers. Prepared in connection with tasksassociated with The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, it con sisted of 366 individual entries and covered the period from thebirth of Wilbur Wright on April 16, 1867, through the Wrightgolden anniversary celebrations on December 17, 1953.The present chronology comprises over 2,600 individualentries, extending the period covered through August 19,1971, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of OrvilleWright. The information presented is based upon an extensivesurvey of the Library’s unique Wright collection, as well asother related documentary sources in the Library. One of theprimary sources for the later years was the extensive chronologicalscrapbook collection maintained by the Wright brothers. Initiatedby them in 1902, when the Wrights were conducting glidingexperiments at Kitty Hawk, the scrapbooks were maintained inlater years largely by Mabel Beck, secretary to Orville for manyyears, who also faithfully presided over the voluminous files andhelped preserve the valuable documents for future historians.Additions to the scrapbooks ceased on February 29, 1948, short ly after Orville’s death on January 30 of that year. A related sourcewas the Library’s Hart O. Berg collection, including 14 scrap books of newspaper clippings on the Wrights.Supplementing the main chronology is a flight log, in whichan attempt has been made to record the flights of Wilbur andOrville from 1900, when their first gliding experiments werecarried out at Kitty Hawk, through 1918, when Orville madehis last flight as a pilot at Dayton on May 13, flying a Wright1911 model aircraft. A total of 21 detailed flight logs are presented.So far as is known, no previous attempts have been made torecord the Wright flights systematically. Wright documents haveserved as primary sources for 12 series of flights: 1900, Orville’sletter from Kitty Hawk to Katharine Wright, dated October 14;1901, Wilbur Wright’s Diary A; 1902, Orville Wright’s Diary Band Orville Wright’s Notebook C; 1903, Orville Wright’s DiaryD; 1904, Wilbur Wright’s Diary E, 1904–1905; 1905, WilburWright’s Diary F; 1908, Wilbur Wright’s Diary T (Kitty Hawk)and Signal Corps “Log of Wright Aeroplane” (Fort Myer, Va.);1909, Signal Corps “Log of Wright Aeroplane” (Fort Myer, Va.)and Orville Wright’s Diary X (Tempelhof Field, Berlin); 1910,Orville Wright’s Diary Y; and 1911, Orville Wright’s Diary V.The Wright brothers’ scrapbooks and contemporaryaccounts in American and European newspapers and in aviationand technical journals were the primary sources for the remainingWright flight logs. No diaries or notebooks were maintained byWilbur in France in 1908 recording his flights at theHunaudières Race Course and Camp d’Auvours at Le Mans, orin 1909 at Pont-Long, at Pau, and at Centocelle Flying Field,Rome. Nor did he keep detailed records of his flights atGovernors Island, N.Y., and at College Park, Md., in 1909.Likewise, no accurate and detailed records survive of Orville’snumerous flights at Dayton during the period 1910–18.Consequently, it is exceedingly difficult to record all flights forthese periods, and no claim is made for completeness.Furthermore, accurate time, distance, and altitude records forthese years are frequently unavailable.A comprehensive index of persons, institutions, and geographicnames cited in the publication is provided to facilitate use of thechronology.The amount of pertinent material uncovered as thepreparation of the chronology progressed resulted in anenlargement of its original scope, and consequently it was notpossible to achieve publication in the 1971 anniversary year.A Chronology v
ContentsForeword .ivPreface.vChronology.11867 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11903 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61910 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261920 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .571950 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .621960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .651970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66Flight Log .691900 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .691901 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .691902 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .711903 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .751904 Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .771905 Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .821908 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .841908 Hunaudières Race Course, Le Mans, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .861908 Camp d’Auvours, Le Mans, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .871908 Ft. Myer, Va. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .931909 Pont-Long, Pau, France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .941909 Centocelle Field, Rome, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .971909 Ft. Myer, Va. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1001909 Tempelhof Field, Berlin, Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1011909 Governors Island, N.Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1021909 Bornstedt Field, Potsdam, Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1031909 College Park, Md. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1031910 Montgomery, Ala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1061910 Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108vi Wilbur & Orville Wright
1911 Kitty Hawk, N.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1151911–1918 Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118The NASA History Series .121A Chronology vii
Chronology18671874APRIL 16. Wilbur Wright born on a farm near Millville, eightmiles east of New Castle, in Henry County, Ind.He was the son of the Rev. Milton Wright, a minister andlater bishop of the United Brethren Church in Christ, and SusanCatherine Koerner. Besides his younger brother, Orville, and hissister, Katharine, there were two older brothers, Reuchlin (bornMarch 17, 1861, in Grant County, near Fairmont, Ind.), andLorin (born November 18, 1862, in Fayette County, Ind.); twoother children, twins, died in infancy.Bishop Wright was born November 17, 1828, in RushCounty, Ind. He attended country schools there and for a shorttime was a student at Hartsville College, Ind. In 1853 hereceived a license to preach from the White River Conference ofthe Church of the United Brethren in Christ and was ordainedAugust 1856 at Abbington, Ind. He was the principal of adenominational school in Oregon from 1857 to 1859.On November 24, 1859, he married Susan CatherineKoerner, daughter of John G. Koerner, wagon and carriagemaker. She attended Hartsville College for a time and wasespecially successful in mathematical studies.Between 1859 and 1869 Milton Wright was engaged for ashort time in teaching and afterward in preaching. In 1869 he wasmade editor of the Religious Telescope, published in Dayton, Ohio,continuing in that capacity for eight years. He was elected bishopon May 10, 1877, at the 17th general conference of the Church ofthe United Brethren in Christ at Westfield College, Westfield, Ill. In1878 he moved from Dayton to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In 1881 hemoved to Richmond, Ind., where, in conjunction with his work asa presiding elder, he edited the Richmond Star. In 1884 he againmade Dayton his home, remaining there after his retirement in1905 and until his death in 1917.AUGUST 19. Katharine Wright born at Dayton, Ohio.Katharine Wright was graduated from Oberlin College in1898 and later taught at the Steele High School in Dayton. Sheserved as secretary of the Dayton Association of College Womenand was secretary of her college class. She resided at the WrightDayton home until her marriage in 1926 to Henry J. Haskell,editor of the Kansas City Star and an Oberlin College classmate.18681878Bishop Milton Wright, on a return from a short trip onchurch business, brings home a toy Pénaud-type hélicoptére,arousing the boys’ first interest in the problem of flight.JUNE. Wright family moves from Dayton to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.1881FEBRUARY 13. Wilbur, at age 13, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, joinsUnited Brethren Church, Rev. Marion R. Drury, pastor.APRIL. Orville writes letter to his father, who is away on churchbusiness.The earliest surviving document in the Wright Collection inthe Library of Congress, it reads:Dear FatherI got your letter today. My teacher said I was a goodboy today. We have 45 in our room. The other day Itook a machine can and filled it with water then I putit on the stove. I waited a little while and the watercame squirting out of the top about a foot. The waterin the river was up in the cracker factory about half afoot. There is a good deal water on the Island. The oldcat is dead.SEPTEMBER. Wright family moves to Hartsville, BartholomewCounty, Ind., following Rev. Milton Wright’s appointment aspastor of Hartsville College.1869SPRING. Wright family mov
Wright flight logs. No diaries or notebooks were maintained by Wilbur in France in 1908 recording his flights at the Hunaudières Race Course and Camp d’Auvours at Le Mans, or in 1909 at Pont-Long, at Pau, and at Centocelle Flying Field,
