Great Scott! It's Wilbur Wright Back in 1909!

Oakwood's Hawthorn Hill was never home to Wilbur Wright. Wilbur succumbed to typhoid fever in May of 1912, and construction of the new home was not completed until 1914. Orville, his sister Katharine, and their father Bishop Milton Wright began the process of moving into the home on April 28, 1914. A century has since passed, and you now find yourself walking these same halls. 

Hawthorn Hill, taken April 27th, 2014, one day before 100th anniversary of move in date by Wrights.

You tour the first and second level with the others in your party, and eventually find yourself again at the basement level near the open vault door. You have been here before, and you wonder. Would it happen again? You turn away from the vault to watch your fellow companions begin to walk back up the stairs to the first level, when suddenly someone or something pulls you backwards into the vault, the door quickly shuts, and you find yourself standing in the darkness. All is silent at first, but then you begin to hear voices. The sound of water nearby. And you know somehow, though you don't understand it, you've just passed through time to another century, another place.
As your eyes begin to adjust, you feel a breeze blowing against your face. You find yourself standing in a field of grass.You sense some activity around you, and then you see two figures, difficult to make out in this dim light. They are in a large wooden shed working on a biplane. Something unusual though about their activity, as they are in the process of attaching a red canoe to the skids of the machine.....and you are suddenly hit with the fear that you have somehow torn the fabric of the space time continuum because of your presence here. Why else would they be doing such a bizarre thing? And then your memory kicks in, and you see a picture in your mind of a canoe in the skids of a flyer that you had observed at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton. "Now I remember!", you think to yourself, "the display at Carillon.....they attached the canoe because Wilbur intended to fly over water, the Hudson River....I'm at Governor's Island, New York! Great Scott! It's Wilbur Wright back in 1909!"

Original canoe on display at Carillon Park. The canoe's original color was red in 1909, which can be seen to the left where green paint has worn away revealing the original underlying red. The canoe had been stored at Orville's Lab.

You find yourself standing amongst a group of reporters, waiting patiently a short distance from the hanger in which Wilbur Wright and his mechanic Charlie Taylor are working. You see a young man walk over to Wilbur and hand him a letter. Wilbur looks at it briefly, and then continues his work. You know this scene. You know what will happen next. Louis Bleriot flew across the English Channel in July of 1909. Wilbur Wright was about to become the second person to fly across a body of water, but this one much more dangerous, due to the unpredictable and unknown characteristics of the air currents and updrafts due to the city environment.
You strike up a conversation with a reporter next to you. He says his name is Smith, works for New York World, and he's having the time of his life. He enthusiastically shares with you his impressions of Wilbur.
"I've spent days with this wonder of the air, waiting for the moment when all should be right for him to leave Governor's Island behind and soar up into the skies. I saw him every hour. I heard everything that he had to say. Yet not once during those eventful days did I hear him make a boast, or brag about the wonderful achievements which have set the world to talking. And of the equally splendid achievements of his brother Orville was he just as silent." (You remember fondly of meeting Orville on your first adventure as told in "A Journey Back in Time- An Interview with Orville Wright". You marvel that you traveled back from 2014 to 1940 to meet Orville, and now in 1909, that meeting won't occur for another 31 years. Your head begins to swim.) The reporter continues talking.
"Don't imagine for a moment that Wright is rude or boorish- that is the last thing in the world one may say of him. Discourtesy is not in his makeup. Ask him a point blank question and he will give you an answer. But his answer is always short. There is no chance for misinterpretation. Nine times out of ten it shuts up the interviewer like a clam- the interviewer who makes his questions annoy Wilbur Wright you find it out. He doesn't like to be annoyed. The minute you meet him you get the impression in some way or other that Wilbur Wright wants to be left alone with his own thoughts.....He likes solitude. 'I'm not a sport', he told me one day. 'I'm making these flights for the good of mankind, for the good of the future. I'm not sport enough to fly for the amusement of people'."
Smith stops talking as he's suddenly drawn to the movements occurring at the hangar nearby. Wilbur and Charlie are beginning to move the Flyer out the shed! You hear him say "It looks like a good day for flying". He points his finger toward your way and the group of reporters you stand amongst, and he says "It'll do you boys good to do a little work after loafing around here for a week." The crowd surrounding you immediately rushes toward the machine, moving it from the hangar several hundred yards over the sand to the starting monorail.

Wilbur Wright, Governor's Island, October 1909.

This is the moment the reporters, and the local population have been waiting for. You think how we take flight for granted in our century, but in 1909, most people have never seen an airplane fly. In the words of the reporter Smith, "When Wilbur Wright arose from the sands of Governor's Island, soared past the Battery, glided up the Hudson, passed the battle-ships riding at anchor 200 feet below him, and then returned to the starting point, not twenty feet from his monorail, he accomplished the most spectacular flight in American history- probably the most remarkable flight ever achieved by man in the air. People had been waiting days and days to see him fly- as I had. He was taking on a flight for all New York and its legions of visitors to see, hundreds of thousands of them. The word flew round like magic; in cohorts the people rushed to points of vantage along the river front or to the tops of tall buildings. All New York wanted to see this human bird essay the air. All the way up the river, making history with every whirl of the propellers, tooting whistles and rousing cheers greeted this man-bird; guns saluted him, flags were dipped to him. It was an ovation from one end of Manhattan Island to the other for this wonderful man- enough to turn the head of even the best poised of us all."

Wilbur Wright flying at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909. Wilbur circled the Statue of Liberty September 29th, and flew to Grant's Tomb and back over the Hudson River from Governor's Island, October 4th.

You watch as Wilbur lands. As he climbs out of the seat, you hear him say "I'm mighty glad I came to New York, and I'm glad I was able to do a little something."
"A little something, think of that!" Smith says to you. "After sailing twenty miles through the air at a speed of fifty miles an hour, faster than most railroad trains travel; successfully navigating the unseen eddies and holes in the air that exist nowhere else as they do around sky-scraping Manhattan Island, swooping down from a height of 200 feet to within ten feet of the waters of the Hudson, skirting close to the docks along the shore so that people could get a good view of his craft as it sailed through the air- after performing this most marvelous of aerial feats, to say that he was glad he was able to do a 'little something'!"
The morning turns to the afternoon, and you see Wilbur and Charlie at the propellers, starting the aeroplane for another flight.  Then suddenly, an explosion, causing you to jump.The cylinder head of the engine blows out. Wilbur turns toward you and the reporters and says "I hope that everybody will realize that it is not my fault, and that I would have done the best I could if this accident had not happened. I never saw as ideal flying conditions and I really think I could have done pretty well."
Smith says to you "That's the nearest that I have ever heard the man come to bragging".
You want to meet Wilbur and shake his hand; warn him that he should avoid shellfish while traveling. You follow 20' or so behind him as he heads for and then enters the shed. If you can just convince him somehow, perhaps he'll avoid the deadly meal in early 1912 that gives him typhoid and brings a close to his eventful life. He'll likely think you're a bit odd, and you just might risk "annoying" him, and Smith warned you that Wilbur doesn't take well to being annoyed. As you approach the shed, you hesitate for a few seconds, but then you swing the door open, and step in.

In lieu of the interior of the shed, you find yourself back in the basement of Hawthorn Hill. Turning around, you see the open vault door. Peering back in, just a small room of storage items is evident. 

 

Copyright 2021-Getting the Story Wright

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You might be interested-

About Hawthorn Hill, read Wright State University "Out of the Box" blog by Lisa Rickey-  100 Years Ago Today: Wrights move into Hawthorn Hill  Lisa provides links to some interesting early pictures of construction.
For a good chapter on Wilbur's flights at Governor's Island, read "To Conquer The Air" by James Tobin, 2003, chapter 13, "The Greatest Courage and Achievements"

Note:
For historical accuracy, quotes from reporter H. M. Smith are taken word for word from his October 17, 1909 article in New York World, "A Week with Wilbur Wright".

A Journey Back in Time- An Interview with Orville Wright

Updated September 27, 2025

The details of how you arrived here aren't important. The fact remains that you've found yourself standing at the corner of West Third Street and North Broadway, in the city of Dayton, Ohio. The date is February 15th, 1940.  Just moments ago you were touring Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood- you had stepped into the basement vault, in our current year of 2025. The door swung shut behind you, and suddenly here you were. But one thing you do know, as you turn and face northwest, you're less than a 100' away from 15 North Broadway, Orville Wright's Lab. You don't know how much time you have, but you're not going to miss this opportunity. 

The front door of the small one story brick faced building is open. On the wall of the tiny vestibule are three framed photographs of the Wright memorial at Kitty Hawk. Orville Wright's secretary Miss Mabel Beck opens the unlocked door of the small waiting room. On the corner of the table nearest the door, you're surprised to see a letter addressed to you, c/o Mr. Orville Wright. As you're opening the letter, Orville Wright enters the room. He shakes hands cordially and smiles as you draw out a Valentine from the envelope, somehow sent by your wife. (Today is February 15th, Valentines Day was yesterday, you're thinking. The Wright family always celebrated Valentines Day. (See Valentines Day prank in my post "Orville Wright's Sense of Humor") 

Motioning you to a chair he sits down. His face is ruddy and full and he seems at ease, not having the somewhat suspicious or watchful look that he might have had otherwise, had he not been expecting you. But how is that possible? You decide not to question the situation, as you just might wake up, and find it all a dream. He's dressed in an inexpensive neat dark blue suit, semi stiff white collar, cheap blue tie with a white stripe, well polished black shoes and thin black stockings. You notice an old scar over his left eye, white hair on the sides, almost bald on top, thick white mustache and black eye brows, greying. 

Instinctively, you reach into your coat pocket and withdrawal a folded plan of "Wright Field 1904-1905".

As you're wondering how that found itself in your pocket, Orville takes the plan and begins to discuss the flights of Huffman Prairie. About the map, he mentions he had drawn the original himself. He had made some of the measurements, but lacked all the angles except those made by the old Yellow Springs Road and Dayton Springfield Pike. He had approximated the other angles and perimeter of the field (which had a fence around it) from several air views of the area which he had obtained from the U.S. Army Air Corps. Regarding the catapult car used by him and Wilbur he explained that the car rode on tandem rollers or small wheels of metal with flanges which rode on a metal rail secured to a 4" by 8". Explaining this, he drew the wheel in pencil full size on the back of the plan of Wright field.

Sketch by Orville Wright of catapult launch car wheel, evidence that your encounter was more than a dream.

He explains that his and Wilbur's early wind tunnel was not the first wind tunnel, others had had wind tunnels but not the necessary measuring devices.(You recall a photograph you had seen of Orville admiring the wind tunnel balances, which had been misplaced since December 6th, 1916, and not found again till 1946. You're tempted to tell Orville where they are located, in an old typewriter container, but you think you'd best keep quiet, and not cause a temporal time line disturbance. He'll find them soon enough.)

Per Ivonette Wright Miller, Wright Reminiscences, "On December 9, 1946 Uncle Orv was having some junk cleaned out of the attic at the lab. He carefully examined every piece before discarding it. One was an old typewriter case. He was about to toss it out on the junk heap when he shook it. Something inside rattled. He raised the lid and there were the missing balance instruments" (lost since December 6, 1916).

You find yourself thinking about these balances, and suddenly realize the conversation has continued on, and so you snap back to attention. Orville explains that he and Wilbur glided, did not soar, in their early gliders. (That's right, as you recall he had soared for an amazing 9 minutes and 45 seconds at Kitty Hawk in 1911.) You finally get up the nerve to ask a question, "What are your thoughts on the other pioneers working independently on the flight problem in the early 1900's?"

He explains that the European pioneers in 1903 and directly thereafter principally based their work on the lecture which Orville and Wilbur Wright's friend Chanute had made before the Aero Club of France on April 2nd 1903 in which Chanute had shown photographs of Wright planes and diagrams of Wright planes given to him by the Wrights. Chanute had gone to Europe to persuade Santos Dumont to come to the St. Louis Exposition. The Europeans wouldn't believe Chanute when he told them the Wrights could glide in a ratio of 10 to 1 angle. Orville explained that Santos-Dumont had had a difficult time with his dirigible at the St. Louis Exposition. The crowds were angered when Santos-Dumont (considering the weather was not right for a dirigible flight) would not fly. The dirigible had finally been mysteriously damaged at night. He then said, Wilbur and he had always thought that Santos-Dumont had done it himself to make his graceful exit from a disappointed exhibition crowd and critical press which had been making sport of him. (You don't recall hearing this before in your reading, and so you ask if any of this has been written down, are there any good books to read on the Wrights, such as "The Wright Brothers" by John McMahon, being careful not to mention book titles written after 1940, thinking about that tearing of the space time continuum thing again).

Portion of 1939 letter in which Orville Wright mentions his dislike of McMahon's book.

Orville replies that McMahon's book is extremely inaccurate and misleading and he would therefore naturally prefer that you did not refer to that book. So you ask then, which book should you read about him and Wilbur. He responds that there wasn't any. He says he had had a manuscript for two years written by someone else about him and Wilbur which he had been asked to correct but that it was a long job due to many errors and he just hadn't had time. (Thinking about who this author might be, a memory comes to mind, and you recall that Fred Kelly of Xenia Ohio had been working on his book "The Wright Brothers", to be published in 1943. You choose to not let on that you have the inside scoop to this story).

The subject changes. Orville mentions that Wilbur had gone to Europe, quietly and unannounced and there merely by chance ran in to Ferber the French aviation enthusiast. In the French aviation publication "Aerophile", typewritten and translated excerpts of which Orville held in his hand which he reads to you, Ferber had written it was due to Wilbur Wright that he had seen photographs of Wright aircraft in the air, it was due to Wilbur Wright that he knew that human flight was possible. 

You ask Orville about their experiences at Kitty Hawk prior to the 1903 flights. Orville responds that at Kitty Hawk, Chanute had brought along a mechanic. This mechanic had not proved very satisfactory so they decided to let him go. During the next meal the mechanic said he thought he would return by 'way of Washington'. It flashed through the minds Wilbur, Chanute, and himself that the mechanic was planning to go by way of Washington in order to see Langley and tell him of some of the basis of the progress in flying they were making. Chanute spoke up and said he thought he also would return by 'way of Washington'- which he did. On reaching Washington, Chanute went straight to Langley whom he just caught on the point of leaving Washington, in fact Chanute rode in the carriage with Langley who was on his way to the railroad station. The mechanic sought out Langley but got there too late to see him, so wrote Langley instead, Langley sending the letter (or letters) on to the Wrights. (You recall that this mechanic was none other than Augustus Herring. You remember reading about this event in Tom Crouch's book 'The Bishop's Boys', but since Tom wrote the book in 1989, you think it wise to not mention it to Orville). Orville then said that had Langley lived (beyond 1906) that he and Wilbur would not have had any trouble with the Smithsonian. (It sounds to you that Samuel Langley was an upright honest man with integrity. You're wishing at this point that you had brought a concealed audio recording device, but lacking that, you'll have to remember as much of this conversation as you can and write it down later).

Glenn Curtiss and crew making alterations to the 1903 Langley Aerodrome in 1914 in an attempt to discredit the Wright Brothers by showing that the contraption could have flown if not for faults in the launching device utilized in 1903.

Regarding Langley's Aerodrome, Orville Wright indicated that it weighed 17 pounds per horsepower while the Wright plane weighed about 60 pounds per horsepower. The Aerodrome was structurally weak. The wings of the Aerodrome were flat and not cambered. When Orville's patent infringement suit had been won, Curtiss in an attempt to nullify that decision, the Aerodrome had been resurrected and much strengthened and powered with a more powerful motor, they had tried to obtain sustained flight with it. (You recall how this shameful episode resulted in the 1903 Flyer being sent to London for display in lieu of the Smithsonian. Fortunately in 2025, the Flyer is proudly displayed here in the States, but here and now, in 1940, the Flyer still resides across the ocean. You want to tell Orville that it eventually will all work out, but again, there is that whole "Butterfly Effect" thing to consider, and you'd rather not return home to find that Biff Tannen is now mayor of Dayton, so you keep silent.)

You ask Orville who had done the first "Night Flying". He asks you if you mean cross country flying. You clarify, no, the first flight in an airplane after night fall. And he responds he thought he probably had made the first airplane flight after dark, at Potsdam, Germany, making his landing by the light of old fashioned automobile headlights.
Orville's secretary Mabel Beck has left and Orville Wright leads you to his small office across the hall, with a small drafting table in the corner, and takes down a wooden box in which contained a metal lateral airplane stabilizer model with pendulum mechanism. A small rectangular metal blade rotating on a horizontal axis slows the almost imperceptible swing of the "pendulum". Before realizing what you had said, you blurt out that it looks somewhat like the flux capacitor. Cautiously, you look for Orville's reaction, and he simply smiles, and says he has another engagement that he will make alright in his car. As you struggle with your coat, he makes a motion to help you, but you wave him off ever so slightly for it didn't seem right to have him help you. As you turn to leave, he tells you to enjoy the rest of your day at Hawthorn Hill. Surprised, you look at him, and he smiles, and says, "Well, who do you think installed that vault in the basement?"
As you walk up to Third Street and look back, you see him walk briskly down the steps, dressed in dark coat and his famous derby hat, stepping into a good looking roadster, making a "U" turn and driving north. Then just as suddenly, you find yourself back in the vault at Hawthorn Hill, just as the door is opened by your tour guide. Embarrassed, you step out, excuse yourself, and head outside. Reaching into your pocket, you draw out the Huffman Prairie map, complete with Orville's sketch. All in all, a good day.

Door to vault at Hawthorn Hill.

Note: This post centers around an actual interview with Orville Wright by John W. Wood, author of Airports, Elements of Design. The interview took place February 15, 1940. The actual comments made by Orville are word for word per the handwritten interview notes in my possession. Rather than just share the notes as written, I thought it would be fun to imagine the time travel event above.  

 

Copyright 2021-Getting the Story Wright

For the second Journey Back in Time, see "Great Scott! It's Wilbur Wright Back in 1909!"

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