“But on further consideration”: Ibid.
“discussions” became as intense: Ibid.
“If you don’t stop arguing”: McMahon, The Wright Brothers, 129.
“guessed he’d been wrong”: Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 290.
Each had a diameter of 8 and a half feet: Orville Wright’s Notes, The Propellers, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 636.
Roebling wire would be used for the trusses: Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 288.
“It seems very queer”: Octave Chanute to Wilbur, April 4, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 304.
“devoted collaborators”: Howard, Wilbur and Orville, 98.
“even a little disagreeable”: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 251–52.
“A thousand glides is equivalent to”: Wilbur Wright, “Experiments and Observations in Soaring Flight,” presented before the Western Society of Engineers, June 24, 1903, Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, August 1903; McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 324.
“The birds’ wings are undoubtedly”: Ibid.
“It is very bad policy to ask”: Ibid., 332.
“the wind usually blows”: Ibid., 334.
“As none of our experiments has been with power machines”: Ibid.
“fair and mild”: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 589.
From Kitty Hawk Bill Tate sent word: Bill Tate to Wilbur Wright, June 26, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“latest contrivance”: Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1903.
“The Great Aerodrome”: Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 13.
It had cost $50,000 in public money: Howard, Wilbur and Orville, 125.
“the ark”: Chicago Tribune, July 14, 1903.
Langley himself arrived from Washington: Washington Post, July 17, 1903.
When a storm struck: Ibid., July 20, 1903.
“AIRSHIP AS A SUBMARINE”: New York Times, August 9, 1903.
Manly went before reporters: Ibid.
“Professor Langley seems to be having”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, July 22, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“whopper flying machine”: Wilbur to Katharine, October 18, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 367.
“We never did assemble”: Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 288.
“If there was any worry”: Ibid.
“Every year adds to our comprehension”: Orville to Katharine, September 26, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
Ninety-mile-an-hour winds had lifted their building: Wilbur to Bishop Wright, September 21, 1903, ibid.
Mosquitoes were said to have been so thick: Orville to Katharine, September 26, 1903, ibid.
But the winds had also sculpted: Orville to Charlie Taylor, October 4, 1903, ibid.
“the finest day we ever had”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, October 1, 1903, ibid.
With the help of Dan Tate, a new 16 × 44-foot building: Wilbur to Bishop Wright, October 4, 1903, ibid.
the wind at one point blowing 75 miles per hour: Orville Wright, “How We Made the First Flight,” Flying, December 1913; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 43.
“Worked all day in making connections”: Orville Wright’s diary, October 12, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 362–63.
“a storm hove to view”: Wilbur to Katharine, October 18, 1903; ibid., 365.
“The wind suddenly whirled around”: Ibid., 365–66.
“As the hammer and nails were in his pocket”: Ibid., 366–67.
“but we took the advice”: Ibid., 367.
“I see that Langley has had his fling”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, October 16, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“Flying machine market has been very unsteady”: Orville to Charles Taylor, October 20, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 369.
“Thursday, October 22: We worked all day”: Orville Wright’s diary, October 22, 1903, ibid., 371.
the magneto—a small generator utilizing magnets: Orville Wright’s diary, November 5, 1903, ibid., 377.
“pursued by a blind fate”: Orville to Bishop Wright and Katharine, November 15, 1903, ibid., 381.
“He doesn’t seem to think our machines”: Ibid.
“In addition to the classifications of last year”: Wilbur to Bishop Wright and Katharine, November 23, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“After a loaf of 15 days”: Orville to Charlie Taylor, November 23, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 385.
“to keep house alone”: Wilbur to George Spratt, December 2, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
In Washington, by the morning of December 8: Gibbs-Smith, Aviation, 66.
“now or never”: Tobin, To Conquer the Air, 187.
The giant airship, with its wings again set: Gibbs-Smith, Aviation, 66.
Manly, who had disappeared into the river: Chicago Daily News, December 9, 1903.
“the most voluble”: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 263.
Langley was compared to Darius Green: Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1903.
The government, said the Washington Post: December 10, 1903.
“He has constructed his aerodrome”: Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1903.
“perhaps too soon”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, November 8, 1906, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 2, 737.
“His work deserved neither abuse nor apology”: Ibid.
unpacking “the goods”: Orville Wright’s diary, December 11, 1903, ibid., Vol. 1, 391.
On the afternoon of Monday the 14th: Orville Wright’s diary, December 14, 1903, ibid., 391–92.
They simply flipped a coin: Ibid., 392; Wilbur to Bishop Wright and Katharine, December 14, 1903, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“When we told him it was a flying machine”: Orville Wright, “How We Made the First Flight,” Flying, December 1913; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 45.
“rigors of a cold December wind”: Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright, “The Wright Brothers’ Aeroplane,” Century Magazine, No. 5, September 1908; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 30.
“We had seen the glider fly without an engine”: Saunders, “Then We Quit Laughing”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 276.
“a joker”: Orville Wright, “How I Learned to Fly,” Boys’ Life, September 1914; ibid., 55.
“duck-snarer”: Ibid.
“our audacity in attempting flights”: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 99.
“a serious lot”: Saunders, “Then We Quit Laughing”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 276.
“We tried,” Daniels said: Ibid.
“previous acquaintance” with the conduct of the machine: “Statement by the Wright Brothers to the Associated Press,” January 5, 1904; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 15.
“Were you scared?” Orville would be asked: Leland D. Case, “Orville Wright: First Man to Fly,” The Rotarian, April 1948; ibid., 100.
“It was only a flight of twelve seconds”: Orville Wright, “How I Learned to Fly”; ibid., 55.
“went off like a bird”: Saunders, “Then We Quit Laughing”; ibid., 276.
“just like you’ve seen an umbrella”: Ibid.
“blowing across the beach”: Ibid.
?
??His escape was miraculous”: Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 116.
“ran up to me, pulled my legs and arms”: Ibid., 277.
Daniels could proudly claim: John T. Daniels to Orville Wright, September 25, 1932, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“Well, they’ve made a flight”: Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 118.
“SUCCESS FOUR FLIGHTS THURSDAY MORNING”: Orville to Bishop Wright, Telegram, December 17, 1903, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 397.
Not incidentally, the Langley project: Tobin, To Conquer the Air, 192.
came to a little less than $1,000: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 112.
“I like to think about it now”: Saunders, “Then We Quit Laughing”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 277.
the two “workingest boys”: Ibid., 275.
“It wasn’t luck that made them fly”: Ibid., 278.
6. Out at Huffman Prairie
“I found them in a pasture lot”: Root, Gleanings in Bee Culture, January 1, 1905, 36–39.
“Fifty-seven seconds, hey?”: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 106–7.
“FLYING MACHINE SOARS”: Virginian-Pilot, December 18, 1903.
“POSITIVELY NO”: Tobin, To Conquer the Air, 194.
Variations of the account appeared: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 105.
In Boston, however: Ibid., 115.
“It seems to me”: Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 122.
no “jig steps”: Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 289.
“There wasn’t any other money”: Ibid., 288.
great variety of bicycle “sundries”: Wright brothers’ ledger books, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
Charlie Taylor’s $18 a week: Taylor, “My Story of the Wright Brothers”; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 285.
a popular science teacher: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 279.
The pasture belonged to Torrence Huffman: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 122.
“They’re fools”: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 279.
“History was being made”: Miller, Wright Reminiscences, 68.
could be seen out in the grass: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 206.
When it came to building a shed: There is a replica of the Wright brothers’ shed at Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio.
On May 23, a Monday: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 123.
On Wednesday, when the crowd gathered again: Dayton Press, May 26, 1904.
The morning after, May 26: Ibid.; Wilbur to Octave Chanute, May 27, 1904, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 437–38.
Bishop Wright, who had been watching: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 608.
“Tail stick broken in starting”: Wilbur Wright’s diary, August 2, 1904, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 447.
“disarranged”: Ibid., 448.
“struck ground at start”: Wilbur Wright’s diary, August 5, 1904, ibid.
“a little rusty”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, June 21, 1904, ibid., 442.
“There was nothing spectacular”: Aero Club of America News, June 1912.
An exception was Luther Beard: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 139.
“render us independent of wind”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, August 8, 1904, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 449.
“starting apparatus”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, August 28, 1904, ibid., 453. A replica of the Wright brothers’ catapult can be seen at Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio.
reports coming “to our office”: Cox, Journey Through My Years, 83.
“I guess the truth is that we were just plain dumb”: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 135.
He was Amos Ives Root: Ibid., 142–43.
Born in a log cabin: Medina County Gazette, December 22, 1911; Root, An Eyewitness Account of Early American Beekeeping: The Autobiography of A. I. Root, 1.
“the bee man”: Medina County Gazette, December 29, 1922, and March 9, 1923.
He loved clocks, windmills, bicycles: Ibid., May 1, 1923; Root, An Eyewitness Account of Early American Beekeeping, 18, 33, 146, 149.
“While I like horses in a certain way”: Root, Gleanings in Bee Culture, January 15, 1904, 85.
at $350 it cost less than a horse and carriage: Ibid., August 1, 1904.
“I hope you will excuse me, friends”: A. I. Root to Wilbur and Orville, February 16, 1904, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“Please excuse me, friends, but I am so anxious”: A. I. Root to Wilbur and Orville, July 26, 1904, ibid.
“one of the bright spots in my life”: A. I. Root to Wilbur and Orville, August 23, 1904, ibid.
He had promised he would say nothing: Ibid.; Root, Gleanings in Bee Culture, January 1, 1905, 48.
“In a recent trip of 400 miles through Ohio”: Ibid., September 1, 1904.
In the second week of September came word from the Wrights: A. I. Root to Wilbur, September 12, 1904, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
He reached Dayton on Tuesday, September 20: Root, Gleanings in Bee Culture, January 1, 1905.
“God in his great mercy”: Ibid., 37.
“when we shall not need to fuss”: Ibid., 38.
had been taken for a “nut”: Medina County Gazette, May 1, 1923; New York Times, April 4, 1971.
he was a man of strong religious convictions: Root, Gleanings in Bee Culture, September 1, 1904.
“Mr. Root seems to be a fine gentleman”: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 618.
“If such sensational and tremendously important experiments”: Scientific American, January 1906.
“If they will not take our word”: Tobin, To Conquer the Air, 263.
An officer of the British Army’s Balloon Section: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, November 15, 1904, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 465.
“not ready to begin considering”: Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 133.
Wilbur flew almost four circles: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 616.
Nevin suggested that Wilbur write a proposal: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, January 1, 1905, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 494–95.
The letter, dated January 18: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 149.
Congressman Nevin forwarded the letter: Ibid., 150.
“practical operation”: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 292.
“flat turn down”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, June 1, 1905, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 495.
“The power consumed by any bird”: Wilbur to Octave Chanute, March 11, 1905, ibid., 480–81.
“The best dividends on the labor invested”: Grimes, “Man May Now Fly at Will,” Technical World Magazine, Vol. 5, June 1906, 33.
“The operator, not relishing the idea of landing”: Orville Wright, Selections from the Writings of the Wright Brothers, privately printed for the Orville Wright Dinner, 1918, 11; Orville Wright, “The Wright Brothers’ Aeroplane,” Century Magazine, No. 5, September 1908; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 31.
Orville was able to nose the plane upward again: Wilbur Wright’s Summary of the Experiments of 1905, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1., 520.
“When you know, after the first few minutes”: New York Herald, November 25, 1906.
“a perfect blur”: Wright, “The Wright Brothers’ Aeroplane,” Century Magazine, September 1908; Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 32.
“At a height of one hundred feet”: Ibid.
On the afternoon of October 5, 1905: Dayton Daily News, October 6, 1905.
“I saw Wilbur fly twenty-four miles”: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 633.
“When I went out to Huffman Prairie”: Dayton Daily News, January 5, 1906.
“scant consideration”: Wilbur and Orville to the Secretary of War, October 9, 1905, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 515.
“the same thing that they had before”: Katharine to Bishop Wright, October 18, 1905, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“such drawings and descriptions”: Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 149.
“horizontal flight and to carry an operator”: McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 1, 518, footnote 1; Kelly, ed., Miracle at Kitty Hawk, 152.
“Those fellows are a bunch of asses”: Thomas P. Hughes, American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870–1970, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 102.
In the last week of 1905: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 636.
“Saturday, December 30 In the afternoon”: Ibid.
7. A Capital Exhibit A
“He inspires great confidence”: Memorandum of Hart O. Berg to Charles Flint on first meeting Wilbur Wright in London, May 26, 1907, Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, LOC.
“You people at home must stop worrying!”: Wilbur to Katharine, July 17, 1907, ibid.
“merely to see the sights”: Dayton Herald, March 26, 1906.
The one American, Walter Berry: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, 643; McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 2, 705, footnote 2.
“The Wrights have flown or they have not flown”: Kelly, The Wright Brothers, 192–93.
On the evening of March 24: Milton Wright, Diaries, 1857–1917, March 24, 1905, 643.
“Notwithstanding the failure”: Wilbur to Commandant Henri Bonel, April 6, 1906, McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 2, 708–9.
Charles Webbert, from whom the Wrights rented the bicycle shop: Jakab and Young, eds., The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright, 18, footnote 5.
“absolutely free from the time it left the rail”: Scientific American, April 7, 1906.
In France, Alberto Santos-Dumont: McFarland, ed., The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Vol. 2, 734–35.
“gained the greatest glory”: Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys, 326.