Orville Wright at Fort Myer, Va., 1908
The First Balloon Flight Across the British Channel
More than a century before Blériot’s feat, Blanchard crossed from Dover to Calais
The Wright biplane has already been shown (see pages [31], [37], [121], [122]). It was distinguished by the absence of a wheel frame or car and by the wing-warping method of stabilizing. Later Wright machines have the spring frame and wheels for self-starting. The best known aeroplane of this design was built to meet specifications of the United States Signal Corps issued in 1907. It was tried out during 1908 at Fort Myer, Va., while one of the Wright brothers was breaking all records in Europe: making over a hundred flights in all, first carrying a passenger and attaining the then highest altitude (360 feet) and greatest distance of flight (seventy-seven miles).
Wright Motor. Dimensions in millimeters
(From Petit’s How to Build an Aeroplane)
The ownership of the Wrights in the wing-warping method of control is still the subject of litigation. The French infringers, it is stated, concede priority of application to the Wright firm, but maintain that such publicity was given the device that it was in general use before it was patented.
The Fort Myer machine had sails of forty feet spread, six and one-half feet deep, with front elevating planes three by sixteen feet. It made about forty miles per hour with two passengers. The apparatus was specified to carry a passenger weight of 350 pounds, with fuel for a 125-mile flight. The main planes were six feet apart. The steering rudder (double) was of planes one foot deep and nearly six feet high. The four-cylinder-four-cycle, water-cooled motor developed twenty-five horse-power at 1400 revolutions. The two propellers, eight and one-half feet in diameter, made 400 revolutions.