Updated October 17, 2024 (23)
A sizable collection of fabric attributed to the 1903 Kitty Hawk Wright Flyer exists at various museums, universities, and in private hands. What are the accounts of how this fabric was removed from the Flyer, saved, and eventually distributed? This post attempts to summarize the known history, and make sense of some apparent conflicts when considering the impact of the 1913 flood on the stored Flyer. The Flyer was restored in 1916, and then again prior to sending the plane to London in 1928. What was the condition of the fabric in 1916 when the Flyer was unpacked
from the shipping crates that had endured the 1913 Flood waters? Was
any of the fabric salvageable? Was all of it replaced in 1916, or only some of
it? For simplicity, the second renovation is indicated in this post as occurring in 1928, though actual work may have occurred in late 1926 or early 1927.
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| Lester D. Gardner certification of Wright Flyer fabric- "...he found that the original fabric could not be used and substituted new fabric..." this occurring in 1916. |
Four flights occurred on December 17, 1903. Before a fifth flight could commence, a wind took hold of the Wright Flyer and flipped it over multiple times, damaging it such that the experiments were ended for that year. Orville Wright wrote his account of events after the fourth flight:
"The frame supporting the
front rudder was badly broken, but the main part of the machine was not
injured at all." (Damaged upon landing on fourth flight of 852 feet).
"We estimated that the machine could be put in condition for flight
again in a day or two. While we were standing about discussing this last
flight, a sudden strong gust of wind struck the machine and began to
turn it over. Everybody made a rush for it. Wilbur, who was at one end,
seized it in front. Mr. Daniels and I, who were behind, tried to stop it
by holding the rear uprights. All our efforts were vain. The machine
rolled over and over. Daniels, who had retained his grip, was carried
along with it, and was thrown about head over heels inside of the
machine. Fortunately he was not seriously injured, though badly bruised
in falling about against the motor, chain guides, etc. The ribs in the
surfaces of the machine were broken, the motor injured and the chain
guides badly bent, so that all possibility of further flights with it
for that year were at an end." (1)
In 1935, Orville wrote "In the first flight....only one cross skid was cracked in the landing. The repair required not more than ten minutes. After the fourth flight and after the plane had been returned to the point of starting, and while standing on the ground unattended, a sudden gust of wind lifted it off the ground, rolled it over and broke a number of the rear tips of the wing ribs, broke the legs off the motor, and bent the chain guides. Only one out of twelve sections of the wing spars was broken. Not a piece of the wings, nor any part of the wing covering, fell into the hands of souvenir hunters. We kept the wing covering and broken pieces and returned them to Dayton." (2)
Shipped from Kitty Hawk to Dayton in December of 1903, the Flyer remained in the shipping crates, and was stored in the shed
building behind the Wright Cycle Shop at 1127 West 3rd Street,
and there it remained for years, never to be flown again. As the
Wrights continued their experiments in 1904 at Simms Station (Huffman
Prairie), it was with a new machine, the Wright Flyer II, and in 1905,
with the Wright Flyer III.
Then came the 1913 Dayton Flood.
In the 1916 publication of The Beginning of Human Flight, Orville wrote, "After the last flight on December 17, 1903, while standing unguarded on the ground, the machine was struck by a sudden gust of wind, which lifted it from the ground, and rolled it over and over. The rudders were badly damaged, and some other parts broken; but the machine has suffered most from going through the flood that swept through Dayton in 1913. The greater part of the machine, still in boxes in which it was shipped from Kitty Hawk to Dayton, lay several weeks in the water and mud." (3)
Milton Wright diary entry April 5, 1913- "I walked home after dinner. Found Orville drying his bonds, as Lorin had done in forenoon."(5)
Milton Wright diary entry 1913 end-of-year notes, "The water came up 5 feet and five inches in our lower rooms......The removal of the sediment and the cleaning of the dirt from the cellar, lower rooms, and door-yard took a hard month's work." (5)
Milton, writing to his grand-niece Grace Frazier on April 14, "It will take a month to clear up the sediment and debris. I lost little, perhaps, fifty dollars in books; saved 1500 books, and valuable papers. Katharine lost more; Orville, 3,000.00. We saved all our houshold (household) furniture except Wilbur's desk, Katharine's sideboard and dinner-table, and Orville's pianola. These are greatly injured. The pianolo ruined. The carpets were soaked and the dining-room chairs, must be revarnished.......Orville's loss was about 1000 dollars about our house, a thousand in his new business (Boyd Building), and a thousand on his automobile which was watersoaked and injured, but is repaired and in use again. He was a light loser in proportion. Orville and Katharine were soon sleeping in their home. They cleaned it up, made fires, and cooked there. But for the fact that natural gas is shut off, I would be with them now.....We had three fires during the flood. The largest was on E. Third Street. It burned a Presbyterian Church. Another was just west of Orville's office, with his valuable papers, which escaped the fire...." (6) (7)
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| Page 1 of 4 page letter by Milton Wright to Grand-Niece Grace Frazier, April 14, 1913. (6) |
Orville's office at 1127 West Third Street required cleaning. The basement level would have required pumping of flood waters. The first floor level would have been covered with mud. Fortunately, the second floor was not reached by the flood waters. The storage building behind the old Cycle Shop storing the Wright Flyer crates required cleaning. Orville's business building, (the Boyd Building), at the NW corner of West Third and North Broadway streets required cleaning. In addition to this work, The Wright Factory further west and out of the flood zone needed to remain in operation once the employees had attended to their own cleanup of their homes. Further, construction continued on the Wright home in Oakwood, also out of the flood zone. Orville would have had hired help in the cleaning effort, but still, he would have had his hands full.
Nothing specific is known of the clean-up efforts associated with the Wright Flyer. Perhaps the crates were simply hosed off initially to remove surface mud, and this not occurring until other more pressing clean-up tasks were performed. The storage building that housed the crates would have had 4 to 6 inches or more of mud that would require removal. The river mud would have been mixed with raw sewage, horse manure, gas, oil, and other products during the flood, and this yellow ooze was left covering everything after the water had receded. Outhouses would have been emptied of their contents, and where sewer systems existed, their contents would have backed up to mix with the flood waters. The aroma was not pleasant. The crates, not being water-proof, would have had this flood water fill their interiors, permeating every inch of the Wright Flyer fabric as the aeroplane remained submerged under the flood waters for days, and in the mud for weeks. There is no record of a cleaning effort specifically related to the Flyer. History simply indicates that no cleaning effort occurred. (8)
Once the cleaning of his home, office, business building, etc. had been completed, Orville forged on with the Wright Company responsibilities. By the first of May, he was testing his hydroplane on the Little Miami river. By early October, he was testing the new Model E single-propeller Wright aeroplane at Simms Station. (9)
Two years later (1915), the 1903 Flyer stored in the shipping crates, was moved to 15
North Broadway to a barn. Orville's Aeronautical Lab was built at this site in 1916 where the Flyer would be stored after renovation that year.
Tom Crouch wrote in "The Bishop's Boys", "Most Americans were not aware that the 1903 Wright airplane was still in existence. Orville himself had scarcely given it any thought until 1916, when Massachusetts Institute of Technology officials asked to exhibit the historic craft as part of the ceremonies marking the opening of two new Institute buildings. He and Jim Jacobs of the Dayton-Wright Company pulled the parts out of the crate and began the job of reconstruction, adding new material only where absolutely necessary to repair the damage that had occurred in 1903." (10)
H. R. DuFour wrote in "Charles E. Taylor: The Wright Brothers Mechanician", "In the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, both the Franklin and the 1903 Flyer were damaged. What was left of the Flyer had been returned from Kitty Hawk and stored in a shed behind the shop in Dayton. Charlie overhauled the Franklin after it had completely dried out in 1914 (1913?).....Then, in 1916, to help prepare for the exhibition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Charlie removed the 1903 Flyer from storage. The brothers apparently had not considered it important, from a historical perspective, and it was not in very good condition. Despite the missing original parts, Charlie restored the engine to its 1903 configuration...." (11)
Charlie, interviewed in 1948, said, "In 1916, we took the Flyer out of storage and fixed it up for its first exhibition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. If it hadn't been for Roy Knabenshue, there might not have been the historic relic to exhibit there or in Washington now. Roy tells how he approached Wilbur early in 1912 and asked him what he was going to do with the Flyer, and Wilbur told him, 'Oh, I guess we'll burn it; it's worthless.' Roy argued it was historic and finally talked him out of destroying the plane. It was then forgotten until Orville got this request to show it in Massachusetts. It came from Lester D. Gardner (then publisher of Aviation magazine, later an officer in the Army Air Service in World War I and founder of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences), who was in charge of the aeronautical part of the dedication program of the new buildings of MIT at Cambridge. Orville was reluctant at first, but consented when Gardner and Roy convinced him how interesting it would be to the public." (12)
More from the 1916 publication of The Beginning of Human Flight, Orville wrote, "In assembling the machine for exhibition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the front and rear rudders had to be almost entirely rebuilt. The cloth and the main cross spars of the upper and lower center sections of the wings also had to be made new. A number of other parts had to be repaired, but most of the other parts, excepting the motor, are the original parts used in 1903. The motor now in the machine is a close copy of the 1903 motor, but was built about a year later and developed much more power than the original one. The motor in 1903 developed only ten to twelve horse power. The parts of the 1903 motor are still at hand, excepting the crank shaft and fly-wheel. These were loaned some years ago for exhibition at one of the aeronautical shows, and cannot now be found." (3)
How does one interpret the meaning of "The cloth and the main cross spars of the upper and lower center sections of the wings also had to be made new."? The Smithsonian and historians have interpreted this sentence to mean only the cloth on the upper and lower center sections was made new, such that the 1903 fabric remained on the Flyer upper and lower, left and right wing ends during the 1916 refurbishing. This author suggests that this is a misreading of the sentence. Orville, in an economy of words, is summarizing the extent of repair that was required. The cloth of the wings had to be made new, and the main cross spars of the upper and lower center sections of the wings also had to be made new. In other words, all the cloth had to be made new, not just the cloth on the upper and lower center sections. It would follow then, that all the original 1903 fabric was removed, and replaced with new fabric in 1916. This is what both Lester D. Gardner and James M. Jacobs have expressed (keep reading). This is also evident from the photographs of the restored Wright Flyer at MIT with it's fabric consistently clean throughout, without any obviously stained or decayed sections left from the flood damage.
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| The restored 1903 Wright Flyer on display at MIT in 1916 with what appears to be new fabric thoughout, and no evidence of any remaining sections of soiled 1903 fabric. As pictured in The Technology Review July 1943 issue, cut and affixed in editor Fred G. Fassett's copy of Fred Kelly's "The Wright Brothers" book.(6) |
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| Restored 1903 Wright Flyer, MIT, 1916. Courtesy of National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian. Does it appear that stained fabric exists? (The spot on the lower wing is a photographic defect, not a stain on the fabric.) |
In the words of Lester Gardner, "When O.W., at my suggestion, assembled the Kitty Hawk machine for the 1st time in 1916 at the opening of the new building, (at MIT) the fabric was removed." Orville left Dayton for Boston June 10th, and returned the morning of June 16th. The MIT exhibition occurred on June 12, 13 and 14.
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| Lester Durand Gardner, 1876-1956. Courtesy of MIT Museum. |
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In the MIT Technology Review November 1943 issue, Lester Gardner wrote "Seeing the picture of the airplane used by the Wright brothers on December 17, 1903, which you printed in the July issue of The Review, recalled how it happened to be exhibited at the opening of the Institute's Cambridge buildings in 1916. Several of us who were then interested in aviation were asked to secure interesting historical exhibits for the dedication. I thought that it would be of interest if the first machine to make a successful powered flight with a pilot could be secured. I did not know then that the machine had never been assembled since its memorable flight and had been through two Dayton floods." (Actually just one flood, Matt's note).
"Edward M. Hagar, '93, had just become president of the Wright-Martin Company and immediately became interested. He requested Orville Wright to loan the machine for the exhibition and asked A. Roy Knabenshue, the pioneer airship pilot, who was one of Wright's assistants, to go to Dayton and assist Mr. Wright in reassembling the Wright Flyer, as it was called. The first reports that we received were discouraging, as parts of the machine were damaged and much of the fabric was in poor condition."
"This great relic of American inventive genius had been undisturbed for 13 years. By continuous work, Mr. Wright and his assistants had the machine restored to its original condition in time to let it be seen by the public for the first time at M.I.T. Mr. Wright attended the dedication ceremonies and was guest of honor at a small dinner at which many well-known aeronautical specialists were present. At that time M.I.T. was giving the only complete course in aeronautical engineering in this country. Jerome C. Hunsaker, '12, was then in charge of it. " (Undisturbed for 13 years, in other words, not removed from crates and cleaned after the 1913 flood, Matt's note.)
"The Wright Flyer was shown at one or two exhibitions after 1916 and was later loaned to the South Kensington Museum in London. New York, N.Y. " (Actually the Flyer was displayed at least four times, and once as evidence for a lawsuit, Matt's note). (13)
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A video is available on the MIT website of a December 17, 2003 lecture given by the MIT museum curator, Deborah G. Douglas. The first 25 minutes of the lecture includes discussion of two pieces of Wright fabric provided by Lester Gardner within the MIT archives. A portion of the lecture follows:
"In the Spring, Lester Gardner, who was a graduate of MIT, had contacted his good friend Orville Wright, and said, “Would you be willing to consider the 1903 Wright Flyer on display at the Institute as a part of the festivities?” And the new president of Wright Aeronautical was also an MIT graduate, he prevailed on Orville, and he agreed to do this."
(Wright Aeronautical was not formed until 1919, so Deborah misspoke here, meaning to say Wright-Martin Company. The new president was Edward M. Hagar, Matt's note).
"So, in the first week of June before the celebrations, they go down to the barn in Dayton. Now this airplane only had less than 2 minutes of flying time in its history. It’s one of the least flown aircraft I think in human history. And, because after those famous four flights….they packed it up in boxes and they never opened them, the crates were unopened. And so, there had been a flood in Dayton in 1913, things were soaked, these parts, the fabric had deteriorated."
(Deborah states here that the crates were never opened. If the crates had not been opened and the Flyer was not cleaned after the flood, much of the fabric would have been decayed by 1916. Deborah does indicate the fabric had deteriorated. Matt's note.)
"And so they reassembled it and they recovered a portion of each wing, the center section actually the top and the lower wing, and he took those big hunks of fabric, folded them up, put them away in a box."
(Here it is stated only the center sections of wing fabric were removed and saved in 1916. Does this make sense that the fabric only deteriorated on the center section of the wings? I assume this belief is based on the misreading of Orville's account that only the cloth in the center wings was made new. It is interesting Deborah indicates the center section top and lower wing fabric was folded up, and put away in a box. The center section of the wings is where Daniels would have rolled with the plane, damaging wood and ripping fabric in 1903. The fabric in the center wings would have required replacement even it the flood had not occurred. Matt's note).
"It came on display here at MIT, it was one of the star attractions…….and they sent their airplane to London, and they recovered it again in 1928 before it went to London. At that point, they stripped off all the fabric, put brand new fabric over the whole airplane."
(Stated here, the remaining 1903 fabric was removed, and the plane totally recovered in 1928. Deborah doesn't mention details of how this fabric was separated, labeled, and saved. If the Flyer had only partially been recovered in 1916, then in 1928 when all the fabric was removed, some of it would be 1903 fabric, and some would be 1916 fabric. Was the 1916 fabric saved or discarded? As stated earlier, it makes more sense that all the 1903 fabric was removed in 1916, such that not just the center section of the wings, but any other fabric that was salvageable, was saved at that time. In 1928, all fabric removed would have been 1916 fabric. If this fabric was also saved, one would hope that it was clearly labeled as 1916 fabric and stored separately from the salvaged 1903 fabric. Matt's note).
"The airplane would be recovered still two more times. The most recent was in 1984 at the Smithsonian Institution. So, how do I know that the fabric, those little pieces of fabric, the one that I held up here, and the one that’s on the wall here, how do I know that these are original fabric? That’s always a problem for curators, the authentic object, is that real, is it real?.......
The fabric in turn was rediscovered, that original center section pieces were rediscovered in 1948 after Orville died, and the executors of his estate found these pieces of fabric and they also found extensive correspondence with his old friend Lester Gardner indicating his desire to give pieces of that fabric to Gardner."
(Deborah states that the 1903 center wing fabric removed in 1916 that was saved in a box, was found by the executors, and from this fabric, Lester Gardner distributed pieces. Deborah doesn't mention that the executors also found fabric bundles of the upper right wing panel, and of the lower left wing panel. More on these bundles, later. Matt's note.)
"Now, who’s Lester Gardner, not only was he a graduate of MIT, Gardner is the founding publisher and editor of an Aviation Week and Space Technology. That’s the dominate trade publication, aeronautical engineering today, and he was really considered the preeminent focus of communication in intellectual creativity exchange in the aerospace engineering field for the first half of the 20th century, so Gardner is this kind of conduit. You’ve heard about Octave Chanute who performed that function in the late 19th century, early 20th century. It’s Lester Gardner who performs that function later on. He’s one of the founders of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (today's the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics). And Gardner, one of the things that he does is he organizes a library, a collection of original manuscripts, of artifacts, of models, and in fact, that collection grew so large, it was the founding collection for the National Air and Space Museum. So when you go to Washington, the core of their archival holdings is in fact Lester Gardner’s original IAS collection. And Garner was very thrilled when he received from Orville a gift of a piece of wood and a piece of fabric. He had it custom framed, it was in an aluminum case that the aircraft manufacturer Glen Martin manufactured for him, and it was locked in a casket. It was really like a medieval relic that you had, and you could go, and it was bolted to the wall in the locked room…
So Gardner took these squares of fabric that you see that I’ve held up, and he had them mounted on certificates that look like the ones that hanging up here, where he printed a small mimeographed history of the flight and he presented a small certificate and it said, “I send with certification what I regard as the most valuable relic in aeronautical history as very few of these relics can be presented as they would always be a rare collector’s item. I hope that you will have the gift framed with the certification and carefully preserved so that it will never get into possession of anyone but you. And when you pass on, I hope that you will see that it remains in your family, as Orville Wright would never have wanted it to be commercialized. Signed Lester D. Gardner. We have two of these, I know of two others. No one knows exactly how many one inch squares of fabric were here."
(Lester Gardner gave away approximately 100 samples as revealed later in this post. Matt's note.)
"These particular pieces however are not the only pieces of fabric ever distributed. Orville was sort of nicking off splinters and cutting up pieces of fabric all along. In fact when the National Cash Register company was restoring the 1905 Flyer, they were trying to get back pieces that souvenir hunters had garnered from the airplane that had been left in the shack that you saw pictures of earlier at Kitty Hawk. And so they, Orville Wright sent letters out and posted them in the newspapers that said he would give you, he would trade a piece of fabric or wood from the 1903 Flyer if you would give back pieces from the 1905 Flyer. And they did actually collect several of those pieces. In fact National Cash Register gave out 98 of these pieces, there were six grades. If you were the lowest tier of giver, those of you in fund raising would understand this, the low tier got just a wallet pack with a small scrap of fabric and a certificate and a little splinter of wood and moved on up to the highest tier with the whole framed fabric. It was very interesting, because in those presentations there was a historic description of the flight, and Orville corrected many of them in his own hand apparently, even though he had written the description with his words, he actually went hand back and corrected those descriptions."
(The corrections Orville made to the "historic description" was simply additional editing as the note was a work in progress found on his desk after his death. The account of 98 pieces being given with six grades is information that requires more research, as I've not heard of six different grades. As indicated later in this post, Deeds indicated 97 plaques were made similar to one sent to George Russell, and perhaps 9 additional were sent to donors. She mentions a wallet pack, and I am aware of one owned by Stephen Wright. Matt's note.)
To view the video, click on MIT Lester Gardner fabric
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| Wright fabric wallet shared by Stephen Wright. Print reads,"This is a piece of the original fabric from the Wright Brothers Kitty Hawk airplane now on exhibition in the Smithsonian Institution." |
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After James M. H. Jacobs assisted Orville in the reconstruction of the 1903 Wright Flyer, James took some salvaged wood and fabric and built two models of the Flyer. Model #1 included a typed note by James that read, "This model is number one of two built by Me between June, 1916 and November, 1916. It is made to exact dimensions and detail to the original Wright Flyer which I recovered for exhibition at M.I.T. Cambridge. The wood pieces are cut from three damaged struts also from the flyer." Model #1 was sold by Christie's in 1998 for GBP 78,500 ($131,095 1998 dollars). Note that James says he recovered the Wright Flyer in 1916, not that he partially recovered the Wright Flyer.
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| Pan American Aeronautic Exposition, New York, 1917. Orville Wright and the restored 1903 Wright Flyer. The fabric on the wings is clearly new, with no signs of flood staining. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution. |
After display of the Flyer at MIT in 1916, the aeroplane was exhibited at the Pan American Aeronautic Exposition in New York in 1917. June 15-18th, 1918, the Flyer was displayed at the Society of Automobile Engineers Summer Meeting in Dayton, exhibited at a large hall at Triangle Park. The evening of the 18th, a banquet was given in honor of Orville Wright. Then, in March 1919, it was displayed again at the New York Aero Show. And in January 1921, it was set up at South Field Dayton for a week or two for lawsuits evidence. Then, in October of 1924, the Flyer was displayed at the International Air Races at Dayton.
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| The 1903 Wright Flyer on display at the March 1919 New York Aeronautical Exposition. Note the minimal amount of dirt now showing on the lower wing. The right lower wing section (the left lower section as viewed from the rear of plane in this photo) doesn't appear more or less dirtier then the center lower section of the wing (6). Does it make sense that the center section is new cloth, and the left and right wing sections are original 1903 cloth damaged in the 1913 flood? |
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| The fabric throughout the lower wing left and right sides shows the same amount of dirt, wear, and tear of being displayed multiple times, packed, and unpacked, etc. as the center section of the wing. |
James Madison Harris Jacobs had a long working relationship with the Wright Brothers. James had worked at the Barney & Smith Car Company, involved with the inlaid woodwork of the railroad passenger cars in the early 1900's. Orville's friend Edwin Sines also worked at Barney & Smith during this time frame. James left Barney & Smith to work for Wilbur and Orville in the production of aeroplanes. James was a pallbearer at Wilbur Wright's funeral. After the Wright Company was sold in 1915, James eventually joined the Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. James and wife Ruth raised 5 sons and one daughter. In 1918, they named their third son James Wilbur Jacobs, followed in 1919 with their fourth son, whom they named Orville Wright Jacobs. James Wilbur Jacobs was interviewed March 4, 1967, one of many interviews conducted during the Wright Brothers- Charles F. Kettering Oral History Project, from the University of Dayton Archives and Special Collections. James shared his memories of his father, and of Orville Wright, including time spent at Orville's laboratory, "The first time I remember Orville Wright, was when I was about six years old. And this was in 1924 when the national air races were held in Dayton, at Wilbur Wright Field which is now the Harrison field portion of Wright and Patterson Field...I remember my father helping Orville put the first Wright airplane together, and it was taken out and put in a hangar at Wilbur Wright Field for public display."
The 1916 fabric was showing its age, and prior to shipping the Flyer to England, Orville replaced the fabric yet again.
James Wilbur Jacobs continued, "So in about 1928....my father, Miss Beck...and Orville Wright put the first airplane back together. They recovered the airplane....and this is the next time I can remember, in detail, being in the Broadway laboratory. And seeing the airplane being assembled, I used to go with my father every evening, and they'd put the airplane together. When they had it all together, I remember my father, who was quite a camera fan at the time, getting his flash out and taking a series of flash pictures of the Wright airplane just sitting in the laboratory. Orville was there, and I always had a feeling that Orville had a sense of, in his own mind, a sense of admiration for this airplane, and a sense of feeling that this was part of his life. But he never openly expressed this in any way..... Then he disassembled it and boxed it up and shipped it to England. This was Orville's answer to the Smithsonian." (14)
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| Photo of 1903 Wright Flyer taken in 1928 on floor of Orville Wright's Aeronautical Laboratory near center of south wall. Courtesy of Wright State University Special Collections and Archives. |
Orville Wright died January 30th, 1948. The months prior, he had been assisting with the restoration of the 1905 Wright Flyer III. On his desk at his North Broadway office, was found a note he had written. In the note, Orville indicates he had "saved parts broken when the plane, while standing on the ground, was overturned by the wind after the fourth flight of that day." These parts may have been kept separate from the bulk of the aeroplane placed in the shipping crates, and may not have been submerged in the 1913 flood waters if stored at the 2nd floor level of 1127 West Third. It's not known if Orville brought these parts home separately when leaving Kitty Hawk in December of 1903 (this Author believes this is likely), or if these parts were removed at the time of the 1916 renovation. If removed during the 1916 renovation, apparently Orville stored these wood and fabric fragments for later gifting through the years that followed, with some remaining for distribution to the donors of the 1905 Wright Flyer III parts. Perhaps these were removed and stored in the box with the removed center wing fabric that Deborah Douglas mentioned in her lecture. In any case, Orville obviously had set aside parts to be distributed to those who had provided Wright Flyer III parts, and his secretary Mabel Beck would have been aware of their storage location.
Evidence that the Wright brothers did bring home the broken parts separately from the crated Flyer can be found at the National Park Service Museum Resource Center in North Carolina. "Doug Stover, a National Park Service historian, picked up a small box holding a piece of varnished wood. It took a close look to make out the inscription: 'Compliments of Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright.' It was a piece of strut, signed by the brothers, from their 1903 Wright Flyer- the first airplane. It had been handed down through the family and donated to the Park Service, and now rests in one of two humidified buildings that make up a little-known museum here..." (15) Wilbur Wright died in 1912, and the shipping crates holding the Flyer were not opened until 1916, so obviously, the brothers had to have brought broken parts of the plane back with them separately from what was packed in the crates. This material, if stored at 2nd floor level of 1127 West Third Street, would have been above the 1913 flood water level. Any fabric saved in this way therefore would not have been exposed to the river water. Any stains would be from oil or gas.
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| 1903 Wright Flyer strut remnant signed by Orville and Wilbur Wright. Photo courtesy of the National Park Service Museum Resource Center and The Virginian-Pilot. (16) |
An interesting comparison to the 1903 Flyer renovation exists in the 1905 Wright Flyer III restoration. Some of the returned parts were too damaged to utilize and instead were used as patterns for duplication in re-building the 1905 Flyer. The original elevator was saved and is on display at Carillon Historical Park. One can see how the effects of time, and exposure to wind, water, and sand can degrade a wood and fabric item 120 years old. Much of the fabric on the 1903 Wright Flyer likely was in this condition when first removed from the shipping crates in 1916.
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| The unrestored elevator of the 1905 Wright Flyer III, the world's first practical aeroplane, on display at Carillon Historical Park. Note the condition of the original fabric showing the effects of exposure to the elements of wind, rain, and sand. Photo by Author. |
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| Side by side comparison of 1905 original weathered fabric on unrestored Wright Flyer III elevator (on the left), to 1903 Wright Flyer wing fabric (on the right) under the care of the Smithsonian. Does the Smithsonian fabric appear to have suffered weeks under contaminated flood waters and mud, and then to remain in a shipping crate for 3 years prior to the first restoration in 1916? If indeed 1903 fabric on the right, the Flyer couldn't have remained in the shipping crates after the flood. It had to have been removed, cleaned, and dried thoroughly, and then repacked. Else the fabric would have decomposed. But this is not the history that has been passed down- the Flyer remained in the crates uncleaned after the flood. |
A display case at Carillon Historical Park contains prototype lucite plaques prepared in 1948 containing 1903 Flyer fabric and wood piece, with copy of note prepared by Orville Wright.
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| Copy of authentication note of 1903 Wright Flyer remnants, written by Orville Wright, found on his desk at his office at 15 North Broadway after his death. |
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| Display of 1903 Wright Flyer remnant prototype plaques at Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio. The set of Prototype Commemorative Lucite Plaques would date to 1948, prepared after Orville Wright's death. Note the envelope with 1903 wood pieces and wing fabric. More on this fabric later. Photo by Author. |
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| On display at Carillon Historical Park, items 3 are original printing plates used for printing the note by Orville Wright authenticating the 1903 Wright Flyer parts to be included in the lucite plaques prepared under Col. E. A. Deeds instructions. The envelope, item 4, contains wood fragments from the 1903 Flyer. Photo by Author. |
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| Display at Carillon Historical Park highlighting Margaret Hollowell's contributions of parts for the 1905 Wright Flyer III. The letter to her attention from Carl Beust is to the left. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot December 21, 1947 article to the right mentions she will eventually "receive several small pieces of the original Kitty Hawk plane of 1903 with a signed statement by him (Orville Wright) identifying them." Photo by Author. |
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| 1903 Wright Flyer remnant plaque on display at Carillon Historical Park of style that was sent to donors of 1905 Wright Flyer III parts, with copy of Orville Wright's typed note with handwritten corrections. |
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| "In 1986, North Carolina native NASA astronaut Michael J. Smith arranged with the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh to take a piece of wood and a swatch of fabric salvaged, and authenticated by Orville Wright, from the damaged Wright Flyer aboard space shuttle Challenger's STS-51L mission. Although Challenger and its crew perished in the tragic accident, divers recovered the artifacts from the wreckage and visitors can view them at the North Carolina Museum of History." From December 14, 2023 "120 Years Ago: The First Powered Flight at Kitty Hawk", by John Uri, Johnson Space Center. Image courtesy of North Carolina Museum of History. |
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| Sold by Bonhams "The Story of the 20th Century Auction", June 4, 2014 for $9375, Plaque and associated letter sent to Mrs. W. D. Pruden. Auction description indicated that 9 such plaques were presented to donors. |
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| Charles E. Taylor, December 16, 1948, 81 years old, looking at his 1903 Wright Flyer remnant plaque at his home in Los Angeles. |
"My dear Mr. Taylor: August 24, 1948
In connection with the reconstruction of the Wright Brother's 1905 plane, we were successful in obtaining parts of the plane from a number of people who had acquired them in one way or another after the plane had been left at Kitty Hawk.
It was Mr. Orville Wright's plan to send to everyone who had cooperated by sending in parts, a souvenir consisting of a small part of the first plane to fly at Kitty Hawk in 1903. At the time of his death, he was composing a letter transmitting such souvenir parts, and a draft of the proposed letter was on his desk. It bore his signature as well as some small corrections which he had made in his own handwriting.
The amount of material taken from their original plane is, of course, limited to one or two parts broken in landing on the day of the first flight.
In carrying out the wish of Mr. Orville Wright, I though that these souvenirs which he had planned would be more lasting if mounted in a plaque, together with a photograph of the letter which Orville had composed and signed. This has been done.
I know that Orville would want you to have one of these placques, and I have accordingly had made up a number of additional ones and am sending one to you under separate cover by mail.
Sincerely, E A Deeds" (18)
Take note that Deed's attributes the material taken from the original plane as being broken in landing on the day of the first flight. Orville Wright's note, however, indicates the parts were broken when the plane was caught by the wind and overturned. Likely, the parts were a combination of both the damage from the fourth flight, and the damage that followed by being overturned multiple times.
Receiving a plaque with a similar letter, George M. Russel (Grandson of Reuchlin Wright) wrote E. A. Deeds thanking him for "the kindness and generosity...shown in assisting in closing Uncle Orv's affairs..", and asking for the approximate number of plaques that were prepared.(19) Deeds responded that 97 plaques were made, similar to the one sent to George. (20)
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| 1903
Wright Flyer fabric and wood remnant plaque sent to George M. Russel.
Note the rough condition and discoloration of the fabric. |
Leontine Wright Jameson (daughter of Lorin and Ivonette Wright) and her daughter Leontine Jameson Davis also received plaques. A video narrated by Paul Wright Jameson, grandson of Leontine can be viewed at U.S. National Park Service, Wright Brothers National Memorial. Likely, all the Wright family members received plaques; Lorin and Reuchlin's children, and grandchildren.
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| Leontine Jameson Davis, grand-daughter of Lorin and Ivonette Wright, holding a plaque. Press photo from Author's collection. |
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| 1903 Wright Flyer fabric and wood remnants given to Carl Beust. Carl was the attorney and head of the patent department at NCR, and was involved in the restoration of the 1905 Wright Flyer III, and other projects at Carillon Historical Park. |
Typical of the fabric in each of these plaques, the fabric below is a torn remnant, consistent with what one might expect of salvaged pieces that Orville Wright could have obtained either after the fourth flight on December 17, 1903, or when removing the damaged fabric during the renovation of the Flyer in 1916.
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| 1903 Wright Flyer fabric closeup from 1948 plaque. As stated on the Imperial War Museum website, "The
wing fabric used was a 100% cotton muslin called 'Pride of the West',
commonly used for women's underwear. It had a warp of 107 threads per
inch and a weft of 102 from a total thread count of 209." Utilizing the Author's Grandfather's slide rule, the reader is welcome to verify the count..... (6) |
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| 1903 Wright Flyer wood fragment close-up from 1948 plaque. "These are from parts broken while the plane, while standing on the ground, was overturned by the wind after the fourth flight of that day." Orville Wright. (6) |
From the 1903 fabric and wood remnants set aside by Orville Wright in 1947 from which pieces were taken to prepare the lucite plaques, another piece was provided from this archive to NASA through Carillon Historical Park in 2019. In 2021, "The Wright brothers made history again. Not on Earth this time, but nearly 200 million miles away on Mars. This past February, NASA landed the Perseverance Mars Rover on the planet. On board the rover was a four pound helicopter called Ingenuity. NASA's hope was to make the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another world....In July 2019, NASA called Carillon Historical Park to see what could be done....After some discussion, it was decided that a small piece of the muslin fabric from the wings of the 1903 Wright Flyer would work. The muslin Carillon Historical Park sent NASA (about one inch square) came from the collection of muslin and wood Orville donated to the construction of Carillon Park....Once it was determined to be safe, the muslin was attached to a wire just under Ingenuity's solar panel. The Mars helicopter made its first flight on April 19, 2021." (21)
Other 1903 Wright Flyer fabric and wood remnants certified by Orville Wright-
Orville gave away fabric and wood remnants from the 1903 Flyer during his lifetime. Some examples follow:
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| Dated December 17, 1936, and identified as two pieces from a wing of the plane flown at Kitty Hawk N. C. December 17, 1903, signed by Orville Wright. Sold for $1600, November 16, 2018, by Briggs Auction, Inc. |
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| Fabric and wood from the Wright Flyer wing, gifted by Orville Wright to Henry Ford, December 17, 1936. Courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum. |
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| One item of an archive belonging to Mrs. John W. Dougherty, a member of the Wright Library Board from 1923-1946, serving with Orville Wright during his tenure from 1934-1946 per Cordier Auctions & Appraisals. The archive, which included this item, sold for $11,000 on February 25, 2023. The archive also included a copy of the Edison Institute Dedication of the Wright Brothers Home and Shop in Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan, signed by Orville Wright to John W. Dougherty. Orville Wright certifies that "This little piece of wing covering did its part in lifting the plane in this flight". |
Apollo 11 Mission-
Dayton Daily News December 12, 1969- "A piece of wing fabric and part of a wood propeller were taken along to the moon by Neil Armstrong and the other Apollo 11 astronauts during their historic flight last July. They were returned to Col. J. D. Hornsby, museum director, by Armstrong last week and will be exhibited as soon as arrangements can be made, officials said. The items were part of the original Wright Flyer, which flew Dec. 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk. They were removed from the plane after it was damaged following the fourth flight that day. Museum officials said they obtained the souvenirs from the Wright estate through Harold Miller, co-executor of the estate."
("They were removed from the plane after it was damaged following the fourth flight." This indicates the fabric and wood were from the remnants separated while Wilbur and Orville were at Kitty Hawk, transported separately from the crated Flyer which was shipped back to Dayton. Again, these remnants would not have seen the flood waters of 1913 if stored at the second floor of 1127 West Third. Any stains on the fabric would be from oil or gas in lieu of from river water.)
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| Wright Flyer fabric taken to moon's surface on Apollo 11 mission. Photo courtesy of Dayton Daily News. |
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| Kitty Hawk fabric and wood from Apollo 11 mission. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution. |
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| "In July 1969, Neil Armstrong pioneered the tradition of sending Wright Flyer ephemera to space. 'NASA contacted my family before Apollo 11,' says Stephen Wright, the Wright brothers' great-grandnephew. 'Half of what Neil Armstrong took to the moon came back to our family. I'm looking at a piece right now." Image courtesy of Stephen Wright. |
%20-%20Orville%20Wright%20Wilbur%20Wright%20%20cropped.jpg "Wright Brothers National Memorial Apollo 11") |
| "This framed display contains a piece of "Pride of the West" muslin fabric from the upper left wing and a fragment of wood from the left propeller from the 1903 Wright Flyer". Image courtesy of Wright Brothers National Memorial. |
Purdue University Wright fabric-
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, May 27, 2019- "Recently, Neil Armstrong's widow, Carol Armstrong, donated two pieces of fabric from the wings of the original Wright Brothers flyer, built in 1903 and flown at Kitty Hawk. This donation, to the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives at Purdue, bridges these two pivotal flight and space events, connecting the Purdue family all the way back to the birth of aviation by powered flight.....Along with the fabric, Carol Armstrong donated related correspondence from 1969 between the Air Force Museum and Neil Armstrong regarding the Wright Flyer fabric."
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| One of 2 fabric pieces, each measuring approximately 25" by 24". Image courtesy of Purdue University Archives and Special Collections. |
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Large Fabric remnants found by the Executors of Orville's Estate-
On certificates with Kitty Hawk Flyer fabric attached, Wilkinson Wright wrote, "After Orville's death in 1948, his executors found some of the
original wing coverings carefully preserved and labeled in his
laboratory at 15 North Broadway in Dayton, Ohio." Per Deborah
Douglas of MIT, these findings would have included a box with the 1903
center wing fabric that was removed in 1916. Additionally, found were
bundles of the lower left wing, and upper right wing fabric. Specific
wording of the labels would be important to differentiate between 1903
fabric and 1916 fabric. More research is required to determine if the
original labels exist, and how they were worded. If only the fabric on
the center wing sections was replaced in 1916, the damaged 1903 center
wing fabric would have been boxed and stored in 1916. In 1928, when all
the fabric was removed, the center wing fabric at that time would date
to 1916, and was perhaps discarded. If saved, it would need a specific
label differentiating it from the 1903 center wing fabric removed in
1916. The same would apply if all the fabric was removed in 1916 (which is likely) and
then again in 1928. Fabric removed in 1928 would be 1916 fabric, and
proper labeling would be required to differentiate it from the 1903
fabric.
The fabric found by the executors was eventually distributed as recorded by various news outlets as follows:
The Smithsonian Upper Right Wing Fabric-
The Journal Herald December 17, 1980- "A niece of Orville and Wilbur Wright brought to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington this week a bundle of old muslin- part of the original fabric from the plane that launched a new era with man's first powered flight...Ivonette Wright Miller of Dayton recalled her uncle Orville put new skin on it (the Flyer) after the 1913 Dayton flood...Mrs. Miller and her husband Harold, brought the fabric from one wing to Washington during Wright Brothers Week..."
The Lima News December 17, 1980- "A niece of the brothers, Ivonette Wright Miller of Dayton, said Orville Wright put new fabric on the plane's wings after the 1916 (1913) flood in the southwestern Ohio town....'The plane was under water for two weeks during the flood', she said. Though the craft was in crates at the laboratory, 'it was such a mess- covered with mud- he put new fabric on it," she said. When Orville Wright took the muslin fabric off, he saved it. His niece took part of the fabric to the museum."
(When interviewed here in 1980, Ivonette indicates the craft was such a mess, covered with mud, that Orville put new fabric on it. If correctly reported in these articles, the fabric was replaced in 1916. However, this fabric now at the Smithsonian, doesn't appear to be that damaged by the flood.)
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| Ivonette Wright Miller with fabric donated to the Smithsonian, December of 1980. Photo courtesy of the Lima News, December 17, 1980 issue. |
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| Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Fabric from upper right wing of Wright Flyer. The Smithsonian website has made available a photographic study of this fabric section. This photo is just one of a couple dozen close-up shots, section by section, available. |
The Air Force Museum lower left wing fabric-
Dayton Daily News December 15, 1981- On the 78th anniversary of first flight, Ivonette Wright Miller gave fabric to the Air Force Museum. "The muslin covered the lower left wing of the Wright's plane that made the Kitty Hawk flight...Orville Wright replaced the muslin fabric after the 1913 flood in Dayton. "The plane was under water two weeks during the flood," Mrs. Miller recalled.
(Again, the muslin is reported to have been replaced after the 1913 flood, therefore replaced in 1916. A photographic study of this piece would be very interesting, as was done with the Smithsonian piece, but this Author is not aware of any available photos of the fabric completely laid open and flat. Any additional information from readers or the Air Force Museum would be appreciated.)
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| Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. 1903 Wright Flyer fabric measuring 127.5 square feet covered the left half of lower wing per the sign in the display in this photo; on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum. (A separate 12' by 3'-2" piece of the left lower wing was given to the Smithsonian in 2008). |
The Journal Herald, April 10, 1985- "Several relatives of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright inspect fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer donated Tuesday to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Shown are (from left) John Jameson, whose wife, Leontine Wright, was niece of the Wright Brothers; Horace Wright, a nephew; Mrs. Ivonette Wright Miller, a niece; Milton M. Wright, a great-nephew; and Wilkinson Wright, also a great-nephew. Since 1981, the museum has displayed part of the canvas from the plane that made the first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk...Another portion is at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The Wrights donated a smaller chunk of fabric to help the Air Force Museum's fund-raising drive...."
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| Wright family relatives inspecting fabric, courtesy of The Journal Herald. |
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| Another view of the fabric donated to the Air Force Museum, courtesy of the Springfield News, April 10, 1985. This photo shows more of the stains. |
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| Yet another view, Horace Wright and Ivonette Wright Miller with Kitty Hawk fabric, April 10, 1985, courtesy of News Journal, Mansfield Ohio. |
The Journal Herald, April 3, 1986- Concerning fabric donated to the air museum foundation fund drive, Ivonette "said the fabric is 'Pride of the West' muslin that the Wright brothers ordered through the old Rike-Kumler Co. (predecessor of Lazarus)....Harold Miller said the material remained on the wings of the Wright Flyer until 1928, when Orville Wright replaced it with a new, identical muslin as he was reassembling the aircraft to ship to London, England, for display. 'After the first flight, the plane was brought back to Dayton and stored in the Wright Bicycle Shop at 1127 West Third St.', Miller said. 'They stored it in crates and didn't unpack it. Then, in the 1913 flood it was completely under water and that stained the fabric. So, when Orville got the plane ready to send to England in 1928, he took the old fabric off and labled it and put it away in bundles.' The Millers said Orville Wright personally gave away about one wing's worth of covering during his lifetime; and since his death, his heirs have donated another wing covering to the Smithsonian Institute's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; and another to the Air Force Museum, which is on display at the museum next to the 1909 Wright Military Flyer."
(Take note in this 1986 account, Harold Miller indicates the old fabric was removed in 1928, was labeled, and put away in bundles. Unfortunately, the details of what fabric was replaced in 1916 is not mentioned. Again, it would be very helpful to know the exact reading of the labeling on these bundles.)
The fund drive, according to the article above, had 16 major contributors of at least $100,000 each, and each received a 2 inch square piece of Wright Flyer fabric displayed on a 25" by 29" spruce wood plaque enclosed in a sealed case. The fabric came from a 10" by 10" piece donated by the Wright family a year prior. 25 plaques were made, with 8 in reserve for future major donors. One plaque was donated to the Air Force museum.
The National Soaring Museum Wright fabric-
Star Gazette, September 19, 20, 1992, The National Soaring Museum in Elmira NY, which displays a replica of the 1911 Wright Glider, received a piece of Wright Flyer fabric donated through the estate of Horace Wright. "The historic piece of cloth was sealed in a climate-controlled case by the main entrance of the museum.....the case is unusual because it was designed to match the wing configuration of the original airplane. The cloth is stretched across replica wing struts inside the case."
Carillon Historical Park lower right wing fabric-
Dayton Daily News, May 20, 1999- "Jeanne Palermo, curator at Carillon Historical Park...held in her carefully gloved hands Wednesday was a piece of fabric from the lower right wing of Wilbur and Orville Wright's 1903 Kitty Hawk Flyer....The cloth was donated to the park from the estate of the late Susan Blair Wright of Bellbrook, who died March 5, at 96....The old wing fabric and other parts of the 1903 flyer were stored in crates in a shed behind the Wright bicycle shop at 1127 W. Third St. The area was submerged in 12 feet of water during the flood of March 25-26, 1913, but a thick layer of mud protected the artifacts with minimal damage. Wright family members later kept the original wing fabric when the flyer was restored to hang in the Smithsonian Institution. The 'Pride of the West' muslin, purchased by the Wrights at Rike's department store, has been preserved and given to a few people in inch-square swatches. The donated piece, about 2 feet by 6 feet, carried the name "Bus", nickname of Horace Wright, in what appears to be Orville's hand, Palermo said. Park officials are delighted to have a piece large enough to show stitching, oil spills, a hand-sewn patch and the tack marks from its attachment to the wing of the historic plane."
(If the name "Bus" is in Orville's handwriting, then this fabric would have been gifted to Horace by Orville, and would not be from the fabric found by the executor's after Orville's death. If indeed oil spill stains exist on the fabric, this would favor 1903 fabric in lieu of 1916 fabric, as oil would not be necessary for the restored plane used only for display purposes. The fabric piece is currently not on display at Carillon Park, but rather stored in their archives.)
Aviation Trail, December 16, 2021- "Amanda Wright-Lane and Stephen Wright have donated to Carillon Park the family's largest five foot wide sections of the muslin that covered the lower left wing of the 1903 Wright Flyer. After the 1903 flight, the Wright brothers stored the airplane in a shed behind their 7 Hawthorn Street home. In 1926, before he sent the airplane to England for display at the British Science Museum, Orville put new muslin on the plane and put the original muslin in storage. After his death in 1948, the original muslin was given to members of the Wright family."
(This account does not detail the original 1916 restoration. Instead, it indicates the muslin that was replaced in 1926 was placed in storage. Some, if not all of the fabric replaced in 1926 was 1916 fabric. Also, the plane was not stored in a shed behind the 7 Hawthorn Street home. It was stored in a shed behind 1127 West Third St former Wright Cycle Shop location.) |
| Wright Flyer fabric on display at Carillon Historical Park, photo courtesy of Aviation Trail. |
Marianne Miller Hudec lower left wing fabric-
In 2002, Marianne Miller Hudec lent a 4' section of fabric from the lower left wing to Ken Hyde of The Wright Experience for study to enable him to have similar fabric manufactured for use in his reproduction model of the Kitty Hawk Wright Flyer.
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| 1903 Wright Flyer 4' section of fabric from lower left wing. Photo courtesy of Raleigh, N.C. The News and Observer, December 15, 2002. |
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| Another view of the 4' section of fabric, courtesy of Manassas Va. Journal Messenger, May 19, 2002. |
Smithsonian website, a 12' by 3'-2" section of flown 1903 fabric from the lower left wing panel was donated in 2008 by Marianne Miller Hudec in memory of her parents Harald S. and Ivonette Wright Miller.
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| Lower left wing panel fabric donated to National Air and Space Museum in 2008. Does this fabric appear to have suffered through the 1913 flood waters? |
Imperial War Museum, Duxford lower right wing fabric-
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| Wright fabric on display at Imperial War Museum, Duxford. Photo courtesy of The British Museum, contributed by Imperial War Museum Duxford. |
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| The plaque reads, "....When Orville Wright prepared the Flyer for public exhibition, the original fabric had to be replaced, as it had been soaked during the flood in 1913. After Orville's death in 1948, the fabric was divided between some of his grand-nieces and grand-nephews. This piece of fabric was donated to the Museum by the Wright family in 2002." |
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Fabric documented by Harold Miller and or Ivonette Wright Miller-
The certification reads, "When Orville Wright prepared the Kitty Hawk machine for public exhibition, the original fabric had to be replaced as it had been under water during the Dayton Flood of 1913. He substituted new fabric of identical material. After his death we found that he had preserved some of the original coverings of the wings. We certify that this piece of fabric was used by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N. C. in the world's first heavier-than-air flight in which man made free, controlled, and sustained flight." (Note that the specifics of fabric replacement occurring in 1916, and then again in 1928 are not detailed here.)
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| Compilation by Author of various fabric pieces certified by Harold S. Miller and/or Ivonette Wright Miller, images courtesy of Heritage Auctions. |
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Fabric documented by Lester Gardner (Publisher of Aviation magazine, and later Secretary, V.P, and then President of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences)-
"When Orville Wright, at my suggestion, assembled the Kitty Hawk machine for public exhibition for the first time, in 1916, at the opening of the new buildings of M.I.T. in Cambridge, he found that the original fabric could not be used and substituted new fabric of the identical material. When he died, his executors found that he had preserved some of the original coverings of the wings and entrusted several pieces of this most valuable relic to me for distribution to notable aeronautical friends. I certify that this piece was used in the first successful flight in history by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N.C." (Note that Gardner makes no mention of the 1928 removal of the 1916 fabric and installation of new fabric prior to sending the Flyer to London).
Anderson Daily Bulletin, July 10, 1951- "Man About Town", "W. E. Benjamin, of Edgewood, one of Anderson's leading aviation exponents, is the proud owner of a piece of the wing fabric of the Wright brother's original Kitty Hawk Flyer....Mr. Benjamin received the relic from Lester D. Gardner, now of New York, founder of the Aero Institute of America.....Mr. Gardner came into possession of the Kitty Hawk fabric following the death of Orville Wright....Executors of the latter's estate discovered a large piece of the fabric catalogued among his effects, although its existence was not know until that time...Mr. Gardner, a friend of the Wrights, was requested to distribute the 'find' among leading representatives of the aviation world. He chose some 50 museums and individuals, including Mr. Benjamin, to receive a portion of the historic covering. The lucky people who received part of the fabric were requested to keep it always in their families." (The number of 50 was likely doubled; see note 24 at end of this post).
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| Cards provided with each fabric certification piece for use by the recipient to attach to the item once it was framed and displayed. Courtesy of WSU Special Collections and Archives. |
Lester Gardner, when giving these fabric pieces away, included the notes above:
"I send you with certification what I regard as the most valuable relic in aeronautical history. As very few of these relics can be presented and as they would always be a rare collectors item, I hope that you will have the gift framed with the certification and carefully preserved so that it will never get into the possession of anyone but you. And when you pass on, I hope that you will see that it remains in your family as Orville Wright would never have wanted it to be commercialized."
From the WSU Special Collections and Archives, a letter from Harold Miller to Gardner, written February 3, 1951, "....We
have looked over the statements you intend to send out with the fabric
and it meets with our approval. As you point out in your statement we
all believe that the distribution of this fabric should be very limited
and it should only be placed in hands that will never commercialize
it...."
Unfortunately, that is exactly what has been happening with many of these fabric pieces. Commercialized by buyers who cut these remnants up into tinier pieces for individual resale at a gross profit. In an initial letter sent to those he would offer to gift the fabric, he wrote, "Some do not care to receive such souvenirs which involve what really amounts to trusteeship as the executors and myself wish to be certain that these relics are never allowed to be sold or get into the hands of dealers. I am therefore writing these letters to forty friends and a select list of museums to inquire if they would like to receive this priceless relic with the restrictions." (24)
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| Example of fabric certification piece Lester Gardner prepared for Harold Miller, courtesy of WSU Special Collections and Archives. |
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| 1903 Wright Flyer fabric closeup from piece above, Harold Miller certificate from Lester Gardner, courtesy of WSU Special Collections and Archives. |
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| Compilation by Author of some of the various fabric pieces certified by Lester Gardner, images courtesy of Bonhams and Heritage Auctions. |
Antique Roadshow featured a Lester Gardner piece, and the video can be viewed at Wright Flyer fabric
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Otto Kallir Collection-
A large piece of fabric, at 12" by 10" was offered at auction by Bonhams during their Air and Space Sale of September 27, 2017, with a note signed by Lester Gardner, "This is a piece of the original fabric covering the wings of the Kitty Hawk with which Orville Wright made the first successful flight in history on December 17, 1903." The provenance listed is from the Otto Kallir Collection of Aviation History, Sotheby's, June 14, 1993. Otto Kallir died in 1978.
Lester Gardner was provided several pieces of fabric in 1951 through Harold and Ivonette Wright to divide and distribute to around 50 individuals and institutions as discussed previously. This number increased likely to around 100 as Lester added 30 European leaders and others to the list of recipients. To accomplish this, Gardner cut the fabric pieces into smaller pieces. Based on an original plan to send to 50, the overall fabric pieces entrusted to Lester collectively would have been no more than 200 square inches allowing for 2" square sections. The pieces were cut smaller than this to allow 100 relics to be distributed. Of the original three pieces provided to Gardner, average size would have been roughly 8.5" by 8.5".
Questions-
1. How and when, and through whom did Lester Gardner obtain this fourth piece of fabric? It is too large to have come from the pieces provided through Harold and Ivonette Wright in 1951 as these were all distributed.
2. How did Otto Kallir obtain this piece from Lester Gardner or from his estate? Why wouldn't Lester have gifted this piece to MIT, or some other institution or museum?
3. Gardner with much thought, distributed approximately 100 small fabric remnants in 1951. Why would he provide a 12" by 10" piece to one individual? He certainly didn't sell it to Kallir, as "Orville Wright would have never wanted it to be commercialized."
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| 12" by 10" fabric, courtesy of Bonhams. |
Another source of fabric from the Otto Kallir Collection is from a Wright Flyer model airplane with wing fabric attributed to the 1903 Flyer. The model was sold in the Bonhams History of Science and Technology, Including Space History auction, December 5, 2018 for $23,750, but unfortunately was broken during shipping. Rather than repairing the model (which would have been easily accomplished), the plane was sent to Collectibles Authentication Guaranty (CAG) for removal of the fabric and encapsulation of pieces for resale by the purchaser.
Per Bonham's auction description, the item was accompanied by a letter by Lester Gardner, "When Orville Wright, at my suggestion, assembled the Kitty Hawk machine for public exhibition for the first time....he found that the original fabric could not be used and substituted new fabric....When he died, his executors found that he had preserved some of the original coverings of the wings and entrusted them to me for distribution to notable aeronautical friends."
Questions-
1. How, when, and through whom did Lester Gardner obtain these pieces of fabric? They are too much in quantity to have come from the pieces provided through Harold and Ivonette Wright in 1951 as these were all distributed.
2. How did Otto Kallir obtain the fabric from Lester Gardner or from his estate? Why wouldn't Lester have gifted these pieces to MIT, or some other institution or museum?
3. When was the model constructed and by whom?
4. Why does the "letter" from Lester Gardner apparently read exactly as the statement he provided for distribution of the small pieces he distributed to 100 or so individuals, museums, and institutions? Why is the letter not personalized for such a large amount of fabric to one individual? He certainly didn't sell it to Kallir, as "Orville Wright would have never wanted it to be commercialized."
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| Otto Kallir model prior to breakage. Image courtesy of Bonhams. |
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| Otto Kallir model with damage. Image courtesy of CAG. |
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| Fabric pieces removed from Otto Kallir model. Image courtesy of CAG. These have been cut into smaller pieces, encapsulated, and sold separately. The upper right elevator piece was cut in half, and the left half was sold for $22,500 through Heritage Auctions. The left half of the elevator piece below that sold through Heritage for $6000. Of 16 pieces (including these two) that have sold, a collective total of over $160,000, it appears with a total of at least 66 pieces available, a total sales of $660,000 is possible, minus sales commission on a $23,750 investment. |
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Fabric documented by Wick Wright- (Grandson of Lorin and Ivonette Stokes Wright) "When Orville Wright prepared the 1903 Wright flyer for public exhibition in 1928, he replaced the original fabric because it had been damaged by submersion in the flood waters in 1913. He covered the flying surfaces with new fabric of identical material. After Orville's death in 1948, his executors found some of the original wing coverings carefully preserved and labeled in his laboratory at 15 North Broadway in Dayton, Ohio. This piece of fabric is from the section that covered the lower left wing of the first Wright aeroplane on December 17, 1903. On that day, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first free, controlled and sustained flights in a powered driven heavier-than-air flying machine." (Note that the first renovation that occurred in 1916 with at least some fabric replacement is not detailed here.)
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| Susan Wright at left with Wilkinson and Marion Wright, 1992 Air Show. Image courtesy of Dayton Daily News. |
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Fabric documented by Horace and Susan Wright- (Horace, son of Lorin and Ivonette Stokes Wright) "When Orville Wright prepared the Kitty Hawk machine for public exhibition, the original fabric had to be replaced as it had been under water during the Dayton Flood of 1913. He substituted new fabric of identical material. After his death we found that he had preserved some of the original coverings of the wings. We certify that this piece of fabric was used by Orville Wright on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N. C. in the world's first heavier-than-air flight in which man made free, controlled, and sustained flight." (Note that the specifics of fabric replacement occurring in 1916, and then again in 1928 are not detailed here.)
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| Horace and Susan Wright in 1956 attending their irises. Image courtesy of Dayton Daily News. |
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| This piece of fabric has since been sliced and diced into tiny 0.375" wide triangular pieces and sold separately at prices that make no common sense. This is a sad development. Pieces have sold for $1875, $1283, $6250, etc. It is rumored one of the buyers of the tiny triangular pieces intends to have the piece divided into individual atoms, and sold separately for just $1000 each. There is concern that one of the purchasers of one of the atoms may attempt to have the atom split in order to sell the individual electrons, protons, and neutrons, and therefore, a warning label will be included with each individual atom of Wright Flyer fabric indicating that attempting to split the atom may result in a chain reaction leading to a nuclear explosion, and therefore is not recommended. |
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Fabric documented by Harvey Geyer- Harvey Geyer was "superintendent of the Dayton Wright Airplane Co. assembly plant at Moraine City in that war (WWI). After that war's end he formed a company which now is the Inland division....Because of his early association in aviation, Mr. Geyer was designated by Col. E. A. Deeds to assemble the No. 3 Wright airplane when it became an exhibit at Carillon park. In addition he was one of the appraisers of the Orville Wright estate and had his responsibility the designation of what papers and effects in the Wright estate should go to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia." Harvey, who was associated with the Wright Brothers from 1910 through 1912, died at the age of 61, December 21, 1952. (22)
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| Harvey Geyer, 1891-1952, image courtesy of Dayton Daily News. |
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| Section of fabric which has since been sliced to smaller encapsulated pieces for resale. Note that Geyer believed the original Kitty Hawk muslin fabric was purchased at Hunter & Hardy Dry Goods Store, E. Third Street, in lieu of Rikes-Kumler. |
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Summary-
Before I summarize my thoughts on the various fabric archives attributed as original December 17, 1903 first flight flown fabric, I want to be clear that I do not believe that any purposeful deception was or is involved by anyone within the Wright family, by any historian, or by any of the institutions that received the donated fabric sections. I simply find that historically there may have been some unintentional mixing of 1916 fabric with 1903 fabric. I can't conclude with certainty that this has occurred, but it really appears that it has.
1. Based on the historical account that the 1903 Wright Flyer was stored in shipping crates that were totally submerged under 12 feet of contaminated 1913 flood waters for days, with the fabric remaining muddy and wet for weeks, and then not touched for another 3 years, it is difficult to understand how large preserved full sections of wing fabric could have survived to remain in place on the Flyer for later removal in 1928. Orville Wright wrote, "The machine has suffered most from going through the flood." Lester Gardner wrote, "The fabric was removed.......much of the fabric was in poor condition". Lester Gardner also wrote, "...he found the original fabric could not be used and substituted new fabric..." Deborah Douglas stated, "The fabric had deteriorated". James M. H. Jacobs wrote in 1916, "the original Wright Flyer which I recovered...." Complete replacement of fabric in 1916 fits best with the testimony and evidence.
2. The full sections of wing fabric that have been donated to the Smithsonian and to the National Museum of the USAF seem more likely fabric pieces installed in 1916, and then removed in 1928, saved by Orville for future use perhaps as a pattern. These sections, discovered by the executors after Orville Wright's death in 1948, were thought to be original 1903 fabric removed prior to sending the Flyer to London in 1928. It appears the details of the 1916 renovation were not fully understood at that time. If the labels associated with these fabric pieces specifically indicated the fabric dates back to 1903, then I would need to re-evaluate my thoughts on these. What was the reading on the labels?
3. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum website indicates the lower left wing fabric and upper right wing fabric in their possession were not replaced during the 1916 renovation; rather the fabric sections remained on the plane and were not removed until the 1928 renovation of the Flyer, at which time they were labeled and stored away. How this fabric could have been preserved so well after suffering the 1913 flood waters is not explained. It is simply stated that various spots and stains exist over the entire surface of the fabric. From the photographs, these stains appear rather minimal. Normal dirt accumulation from 1916 to 1928 or flood damage? Also not explained is why the fabric appears new in the MIT 1916 photos.
4. Evidence suggests Wilbur and Orville Wright preserved pieces of fabric and wood from the damaged 1903 Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk in December of 1903, and brought these back to Dayton separately from the crated Flyer. Orville stated, "These are from parts broken when the plane, while standing on the ground, was overturned by the wind after the fourth flight on that day." The section of strut signed by Orville and Wilbur had to have been brought back separately as the shipping crates were not opened until four years after Wilbur's death. This adds support to the 1969 Dayton Daily News article on the Apollo 11 fabric and wood remnants, "They were removed from the plane after it was damaged following the fourth flight that day." These pieces may have avoided the 1913 flood waters, to eventually be gifted to individuals throughout Orville's lifetime, to the Apollo 11 mission, and to the Perseverance Mars Rover and Ingenuity helicopter Mars mission. The sizable piece gifted to Horace Wright and other fabric pieces gifted by Orville to family members and friends during his lifetime were certified by Orville himself as 1903 fabric.
5. I suspect Orville Wright also preserved pieces of fabric and wood obtained during the 1916 renovation of the 1903 Wright Flyer. I suspect the majority of the fabric was found to be decayed, and was totally removed from the Flyer. Small pieces here and there on the frame were salvageable as scrap remnants, and were saved. Some of these scraps were larger than others.
6. From these stored items, Col. E. A. Deeds supervised production of plaques for donors of 1905 Flyer parts, and for Wright family members and friends. Lester Gardner was provided fabric from this archive to pass out to 50+ recipients.
Questions-
1. What was the wording on the labels found with the bundles of wing fabric discovered by the Executor's of Orville Wright's estate? Do these labels still exist? Did the labels simply identify location fabric had been utilized on the Flyer (left lower wing), or did the labels specifically identify the fabric as December 17, 1903 flown fabric?
2. What explanation or theory currently exists on how the original complete end sections of wing fabric survived the 1913 flood without substantial decay? It is reasonable the sections of fabric survived within folds and tightly packed locations within the crates to account for clean fabric remnants that exist today. But for 125-145 sq ft sections?
3. If Orville Wright indeed gave away an amount of one wing's worth of fabric during his lifetime as expressed by Harold and Ivonette Wright Miller, then there is much more research to do. I found several small pieces that I included in this post. Where are the other pieces, what are their sizes? The piece provided to Carillon Historical Park from the estate of Susan Blair Wright, wife of Horace Wright, is 2' by 6', a gift of Orville to Horace during Orville's lifetime. I hope to visit the Carillon Archives to view this piece if possible. I hope one day I can compile a list of fabric Orville provided to family members, as surely, Horace was not the only one to receive such a gift.
4. I have not read the large archive of Orville Wright, Lester Gardner correspondence mentioned by Deborah Douglas of M.I.T. I hope to research further to see if more clarity can be found concerning the work performed in 1916 on the renovation work.
5. More study is required, obviously. What is the history of the fabric that has been cut into approximately 1.25" squares and placed on 8.5" by 11" sheets of paper, certified as 1903 fabric? In each case, was the fabric source from a remnant gifted to the family member directly from Orville Wright? Or was the fabric piece removed from one of the large wing end sections discovered after his death?
6.What scientific methods are available to determine if the source of a stain is from 1913 river mud contaminants? This test, if positive, would confirm 1903 fabric. If negative, the fabric was either brought back in 1903 and stored above flood level, or the fabric dates to 1916.
7. Concerning questions, I have always found that the more I learn, the more I realize how much I still don't know.
Associated Posts-
Value of Historical Items Associated with the Wright Brothers
Copyright 2024- Getting The Story Wright
Posted October 1, 2024, with updates continuing through October 17th.
Notes:
1. How We Made The First Flight, by Orville Wright, Flying Magazine, 1913.
2. LOC, letter to Mr. W. O. Saunders, The Independent, June 29, 1935, from Orville Wright concerning a slanderous editorial claiming the Wright Flyer was wrecked after the first flight and the remains left for souvenir hunters. Thank you to Terrell Wright for bringing this letter to my attention.
3. Charles E. Taylor interview as published in Collier's, December 25, 1948.
3. The Beginning of Human Flight, The Wright Company 60 Broadway New York. Written by Orville Wright for the display of the Wright Flyer at MIT in 1916.
4. The Bishop's Boys, Tom Crouch, 1989, Chapter 32, "A Short Life".
5. Milton Wright Diaries 1857-1917, Wright State University Core Scholar, 1999. Wright Brothers Collection (MS-1)
6. From Author's collection.
7. Milton indicates his losses were little, and that he saved 1500 books and valuable papers. It would seem unlikely he lost his auto-biography therefore, in the flood, as has been recorded by other historians. He makes no mention of losing it in his 1913 diary end-of-year notes of the flood, simply, "I lost a few books of value...". Milton began to write his auto-biography January 6th, 1908. He mentions many times working on it in his diary entries through 1909. By April 7, 1909, he was up to page 101; April 20 to page 120. January 9, 1911, he indicated he was rewriting his autobiography. Anyone aware if his autobiography survived?
8.
It seems odd that Orville would have simply hosed
the mud off the exterior of the shipping crates and then return them to
the cleaned storage shed. He would have understood that the contaminated
flood waters had soaked the Flyer fabric, wood, and metal parts. If
the crates had been emptied of their contents, and all
the silt that had infiltrated the crates and deposited on the Flyer had
been washed off, and then allowed to dry completely before repacking
into the cleaned crates, the Flyer would have suffered much less decay.
If
this level of cleaning and drying had not taken place, and the Flyer
had simply been left in the shipping crates without cleaning and drying,
much of the fabric would have rotted, and the metal parts rusted in a
matter of weeks or months, let alone 3 more years in storage. But in
1913, Orville apparently didn't place that much importance in preserving
the Flyer, and he had his hands full of other responsibilities.
From
my personal experience, I had a large heavy canvas tarp I had used for
decades for raking leaves upon, to drag to a compost pile. Several years
ago, I placed this tarp on the soil, and piled pea gravel onto it for
later use. Eventually, as I removed the pea gravel for a project 3
months later, I found the tarp had rotted. It shred to pieces and had to
be discarded. This from just exposure to several months of rain and
contact with soil and gravel. How much more would the Flyer have
suffered, remaining wet and contaminated in the crates, eventually
drying out over months time?
9. Dayton Daily News, October 6, 1913, "Orville Wright makes successful test of new type of aeroplane with one propeller."
10. The Bishop's Boys, Tom Crouch, 1989, Chapter 35, "The Smithsonian Feud"
11. Charles E. Taylor: 1868-1956 The Wright Brothers Mechanician, by H.R. DuFour, with Peter J. Unitt, 1997- Chapter 10, "Back in Dayton for a While".
12. Charles E. Taylor interview as published in Collier's, December 25, 1948.
13. MIT Technology Review November 1943, Mail Returns, The Wright Flyer, from Lester D. Gardner
14. Charles F. Kettering Oral History Project, University of Dayton Archives and Special Collections, 3-4-1967 Interview with James Wilbur Jacobs.
15. May 11th, 1996 interview by Ann Deines with Wilkinson Wright.
16. The Virginian-Pilot, April 26, 2013, By Jeff Hampton, Manteo, NC. Thank you to Terrell Wright for bringing this information to my attention.
17. Dayton Daily News, February 25, 1948, "Carillon Park Will House Wright Airplane of 1905".
18. E. A. Deeds letter to Charles E. Taylor, August 14, 1948, Carillon Historical Park Archives.
19. George M. Russel letter to E. A. Deeds, September 3, 1948.
20. E. A. Deeds letter to George M. Russel, September 16, 1948.
21. Carillon Historical Park Volume 17, Issue 1, "The Mars Helicopter & Carillon Park Making history on Mars".
22. Dayton Daily News, December 22, 1952, "Harvey Geyer, Organizer of Inland, Dies".
23. I visited the WSU Special Collections and Archives on October 10, 2024, to view correspondence between Lester Gardner and Harold and Ivonette Miller. Additional information has been added to this post. Image of Flyer from 1917 Exhibition has been added showing clean fabric.
24. From WSU Special Collections and Archives, letter dated March 1, 1951, Lester Gardner writing to Harold Miller (Scribze) "I have been entrusted of Orville Wright's estate with a piece of the original fabric used on the 'Wright Flyer' when Orville and Wilbur made the first successful flights in history on December 17th 1903 at Kitty Hawk. I find that I can cut this valuable relic into enough pieces to send to fifty friends and museums.....Some do not care to receive such souvenirs which involve what really amounts to trusteeship as the executors and myself wish to be certain that these relics are never allowed to be sold or get into the hands of dealers. I am therefore writing these letters to forty friends and a select list of museums to inquire if they would like to receive this priceless relic with restrictions...."
Gardner then sends a letter on June 21, 1951 to Harold Miller, "Thought you and Ivonette might like to look over another lot of letters. These are about half. I hope you see how carefully I selected the recipients..."
Miller replied July 19, 1951, "Ivonette and I enjoyed reading the enclosed letters which I am returning. We both were surprised at the quantity of letters you have sent. We were under the impression that you intended to make a very limited distribution of the fabric. As I recall your original idea was to send it out to about fifty people..."
Gardner replied July 19, 1951, "I was a little surprised at the tone of your letter returning the letters. Evidently, you and Ivonette seem to feel that I have sent too many pieces of the fabric to friends....Originally, I did think that fifty friends would absorb all the fabric I had, but the design of the certificate made it possible to send it to more museums (here and abroad), universities, and to about thirty of the leaders in Europe...."
(The total number then would be 50 friends, plus 30 leaders in Europe, plus more museums and universities. If allow 20 for museums and universities, then total of around 100 were sent by Lester Gardner).
Harold responded August 3, 1951, "It is my belief that you have misinterpreted my letter of July 19th in which I returned the letters you were so kind to send to us to read....We have expressed to you before and I wish to repeat that you used excellent taste and judgement in putting your certificate and fabric together. I don't know how many you have sent out, but I am sure that it has far exceeded anything you had in mind at anytime we have discussed this project...We all know that as one of Uncle Orv's trusted friends you are as interested as we are in seeing that the true Wright story is understood. We have deeply appreciated your advice and counsel in solving the many problems that have confronted us. I hope that you will understand our feelings in this matter..."
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