|
Up
Aviation's Attic
(You are here.)
Down
  Need
to
find your
bearings?
Try
these
navigation aids:
If
this is your first
visit, please stop by:
Something
to share?
Please:
 |
|
Available in Française, Español, Português, Deutsch, Россию,
中文,
日本, and others.
 istory
is an endless storehouse of treasures, and pioneer aviation is one of its
richest rooms. Small wonder that pilots like to spend hours "hangar
flying," sharing tale after tale . Any aviation story worth telling
is rich with adventure and discovery. After all, these are tales about men
and women who fly, a unique and awesome ability that mankind
has only developed in the last century.
Part of our job at the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company is to dig up
pioneer aviation stories, brush them off, and share them with you. In
doing so, we organize that information so that it presents a coherent
picture of the lives of the Wright brothers and the history of early
aviation. But we occasionally find unique and interesting treasures that
don' quite fit the categories we've developed. Rather than ignore
these odd gems, we've decided to bring them front and center. Here, then
are a few of the unique and precious oddities that we've discovered in the
far corners of aviation's attic.
|
|
|
|
Griffith Brewer was Englishman who became one of the
Wright brothers best friends and most ardent supporters.
In this short piece, he describes his first visit to
Dayton, Ohio, sharing interesting details and insights
about the Wright factory, their flight school, and
life at the Wright home. |
Griffith Brewer at Simms Station.
|
|
|
Thanks to several generous souls, we have uncovered 14 vintage photos
of the Wrights and their first pupils flying at Huffman Prairie and in
Sedalia, Missouri. The photos document the period when the Wrights
compared both front and back elevators and eventually abandoned their
distinctive tail-first or canard design
for a conventional aircraft configuration. |
Flying the Wright Model AB.
|
|
|
In 1909, several aviation enthusiasts in England had Thomas
Clarke build an updated version of the 1902 Wright Glider that they
could use for training while waiting for their powered aircraft to
be built. Clarke came up with a cross between the 1902 glider and a
Wright Model A. |
Flying a Wright glider in England.
|
|
The first woman journalist to become famous for her interviews
takes on Wilbur and Orville -- and shows a completely different side of
the brothers other than the sober persona they projected to the world. |
Carew also drew these caricatures of the brothers.
|
|
One of the most successful wheeler-dealers of all time -- the man who
created IBM -- remembers how difficult it was to sell the Wright
airplane.
|
Charles Ranlett Flint.
|
|
It's amazing how many bad ideas a group of aeronautical engineers can
generate when they really put their minds to it.
|
You can wind it up, but it won't take you anywhere.
|
|
A mail-order catalogue for the discerning 1912 pilot and
aircraft-builder – engines, tires, fitting, goggles, even plans for a
Bleriot XI – an amazing 20 pages of industrial aviation stuff from a
time when the aviation industry was only 3 years old! |
Great prices, too.
|
|
The newly formed Aero Club of America hosts a trade show in New York
City, showing the very latest in aviation equipment from both sides of
the Atlantic Ocean, including the crankshaft and flywheel from the
"fabled" Wright Flyer.
|
A turning point in American aviation.
|
|
|
