Bell's Boys

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hile Wilbur and Orville were in Europe, a group of aviation enthusiasts came together in America that would give the Wrights a run for their money. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, had a passionate interest in aviation and had experimented with scientific kites since 1891. He was also a good friend of the Dr. Samuel P. Langley, the lately deceased head of the Smithsonian and builder of the unsuccessful Aerodrome. In many ways, Bell was Langley's successor — a Washington insider determined to develop a practical airplane with the apparent blessing of the U.S. Army.

In September of 1907, he organized the Aerial Experiment Association to build a practical airplane. It was a small group. Bell and his wife first enlisted engineering student John McCurdy and balloonist Fredrick Baldwin. Next came Army aviation expert Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, who was actually reassigned by the Army to the A.E.A. — proof that Bell had the Army's support. (And surprising when you consider the Army insisted to the Wright brothers that it had no requirements for a flying machine.) The last to join was motorcycle manufacturer Glenn Curtiss. Curtiss had recently build several motors for both Bell and Baldwin to use in aviation projects. He had offered his motors to the Wright Brothers in 1906, but they had turned him down.

"Bell's Boys," as they became known, began work by building a small glider patterned after the Wright design, as well as a modified Chanute-Herring glider. They also gathered all the information they could on aviation and aeronautical engineering. In December of 1907 and January of 1908, Curtiss and Selfridge wrote to the Wright brothers, asking advice. The Wrights were candid — they answered question about engineering and materials, and directed the members of the A.E.A. to published papers and patents for more in-depth information. They thought well of Alexander Graham Bell — as he did of them — and it impressed Wilbur and Orville that he was in charge of this little group.

The A.E.A. tested their first powered aircraft, the Red Wing (so-called for the color of the fabric used to cover the wings), in March 1908. It was a biplane, built after the Wright pattern with an elevator in front and a rudder in back. However, the designer — Selfridge —added a second elevator in back. He trussed the wings so the top wing curved down and the bottom wing curved up so the wing tips almost met. This was supposed to provide greater stability, as the airplane had no roll controls. It made just two short hops on an ice-covered lake near Hammondsport, New York, the second covering 318 feet before it crash-landed.

Encouraged, the A.E.A. began work on their second airplane, the White Wing, designed by Baldwin. Similar to the first, Baldwin added ailerons for roll control. He also installed wheels on the skids, as the ice was fast disappearing in Hammondsport. Baldwin, Selfridge, McCurdy, and Curtiss all flew it in May of 1908. Curtiss turned in the best performance, flying 1017 feet. The White Wing was wrecked shortly thereafter, and the group gamely began work on a third airplane.

In Their Own Words

Letter to Mabel -- Alexander Graham Bell was keenly interested in the Wright brothers long before he began the Aerial Experiment Association, as this letter to his wife in 1906 shows.

AEA members experiment with their first glider -- a copy of a Wright glider -- in 1907.