Tag Archives: Wright brothers

The Flight Claims of Gustave Whitehead

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Gustave Whitehead is back in the news. Whitehead (1874-1927), a native of Leutershausen, Bavaria, who immigrated to the United States, probably in 1894, claimed to have made a sustained powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine on August  14, 1901, two years before the Wright brothers. He further claimed that he had made additional flights of two and seven miles in January 1902. The standard arguments in favor of Whitehead’s flight claims were first put forward in a book published in 1937, and have been restated many times, most recently in a controversial website that persuaded the editor of aviation reference annual, Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft to support the claims.

The evidence in the Whitehead case includes questionable news articles, much testimony both for and against the claims, and a supposed photograph of Whitehead’s Number 22 machine in the air, which, if it ever existed, has not been seen since 1906. Supporters of the claims have been arguing in favor of Whitehead for many years, while the critics, like me, have been vigorously refuting their evidence. I believe that the time has come to move beyond the confusing mass of contradictory detail, rising out of the trees to gain a view of the forest and reach a rational conclusion.

Why do I reject the Whitehead claims? Consider this sequence of events.

  • Fall 1897: In October 1897 a reporter for the New York Herald interviewed Whitehead at his boarding house at 130 Prince Street, where he saw two flying machines. The first was a triplane hang glider clearly based on a similar craft designed the year  before by Chicago engineer Octave Chanute and his assistant, Augustus Moore Herring, and flown by Herring in the dunes ringing the southern shore of Lake Michigan in the summer of 1896, and again in 1897.
    Glider

    1897 Whitehead triplane hang glider

    The fact that Whitehead was flying a copy of the Chanute-Herring original indicates that he was working with the most advanced aircraft structure of the era. But Whitehead showed the reporter a second machine that was under construction. This craft was very different, with bird or bat-like wings that would have been much more frail than the sturdy, braced triplane wings.

Triplane

Chanute Herring triplane, 1896-1897

  • 1901-1902: Whitehead, now living in Bridgeport, Connecticut, claimed that on August 14, 1901 he had flown a machine that he identified as Number 21 for a distance of one-half mile. He later claimed to have flown Number 22, a heavier version of his basic design with a metal structure, for flights of two and seven miles over Long Island Sound.With their birdlike wings, Numbers 21 and 22 had obviously evolved from the original craft shown to the reporter in 1897. They represent a step backwards from the trussed beam structure of his Chanute-Herring glider.

    Whitehead

    Whitehead with his Number 21 machine.

Scientific American

September 19, 1903 issue of Scientific American page 204.

  • September 1903: In the fall of 1903, a reporter for the Scientific American visited Whitehead in Bridgeport.Twenty months after he claimed to have made a seven mile flight in the bird-like Number 22, Whitehead is once again experimenting with a new version of the Chanute-Herring triplane hang glider. The questions are apparent.

 

Why was Whitehead no longer flying Numbers 21, 22, or a more developed version of the configuration in which he claimed to have enjoyed such success?

 

Why did Whitehead abandon a configuration that he claimed had enabled him to make flights of up to seven miles, in favor of returning to a design that was now eight years old and obsolete?

 

Why did Whitehead not call the attention of the readers of the Scientific American to his claim to have flown a very different powered machine over considerable distances less than two years before?

 

Over the next decade, as aviators in American and Europe took to the sky following the pattern established by the Wright brothers, Whitehead would continue to build aircraft for other enthusiasts. Not one of those powered machines ever left the ground.

 

My conclusion–either Whitehead had somehow forgotten the secrets of flight, or he had never flown a powered machine at all.

Helicopter

A Whitehead “helicopter” design of 1908

In its issue of December 26, 1903, just three months after Scientific American had reported Whitehead’s experiments with an obsolete hang glider, the journal noted that the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright had made some “successful experiments” with a powered flying machine operating under the complete control of a pilot.  Unlike Whitehead, who had kept virtually no record his experiments, the Wrights had documented their work in detailed, notebooks, letters, and photographs, including what is arguably the most famous photograph ever taken.

I rest my case.

Wright Flyer

With Orville Wright at the controls and Wilbur Wright mid-stride, right, the 1903 Wright Flyer makes its first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, December 17, 1903.

Tom Crouch is a senior curator in the Aeronautics Department at the National Air and Space Museum.

WINGS: From the Wright Brothers to the Present

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Airplane designers will tell you that the wing is the heart of an airplane. For conventional airplanes, it provides most of the lift generated by the airplane; the fuselage and tail contribute only a few percent of the overall lift of the airplane.

1900 Wright Glider

A reproduction of the 1900 Wright glider on display in The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age gallery at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

The Wright brothers recognized this from the very start of their work on flying machines.  The wings of their first gliders in 1900 and 1901 were designed on the basis of the aeronautical data reported by the German aeronautical pioneer, Otto Lilienthal. When, however, they measured the aerodynamic lift on their gliders, they found that the measured lift was only one-third of their calculated lift based on Lilienthal’s data. (We know today that the problem was not with Lilienthal’s data, but rather with the Wright’s misinterpretation of his data, based on lack of information about the wing  geometry of Lilienthal’s test model.) Nevertheless, the Wright’s proceeded to carry out their own tests, using a rudimentary wind tunnel of their own design. They learned from their wind tunnel tests the important effect of wing aspect ratio on the lift and drag. (For their rectangular wings, the aspect ratio is equal to the wing span divided by the chord. A large aspect ratio wing is like a slat from a Venetian blind; a low aspect ratio wing is short and stubby.) Their 1900 and 1901 gliders had low aspect ratio wings, aspect ratios of 3.4 and 3.3 respectively. (Lilienthal’s model aspect ratio was 6.48, and is the main reason why the measured  lift of the 1900 and 1901 gliders did not agree with the Wrights’ calculations based on the Lilienthal’s data.)From their wind tunnel data, the Wrights found that a high aspect wing produced more lift and less drag than a low aspect ratio wing. The aspect ratio for their next glider in 1902 was 6.7, and this glider flew beautifully.  The Wright Flyer had an aspect ratio of 6.4. We note that many conventional airplanes today have very similar aspect ratios.

Otto Lilienthal

Otto Lilienthal in flight (1894 – 1896)

The wings of the Wright’s flying machines had another important feature. The wing tips could be warped in opposite directions, setting up an unbalanced lift force on the two wings, and hence providing a control mechanism to roll the airplane. The Wrights pioneered the concept of lateral (roll) control – one of their most important technical contributions to the airplane. After a few years, ailerons were employed for roll control in lieu of wing warping, but the Wrights’ contribution was seminal.

The cross-section of a wing taken in the flight direction is called an airfoil. The shape of an airfoil is an important design feature of a wing. For example, it affects the lift and drag of the wing, and has a major effect on the stalling angle of attack (the angle of attack of the wing beyond which the lift dramatically drops off and the drag suddenly increases).The airfoils used by the Wrights were very thin because their wind tunnel test indicated that very thin shapes resulted in lower drag than thick airfoils. Most airplanes through World War I followed suit and used thin airfoils. The early wind tunnel results were misleading, however, because the wind tunnel models were small and the airflow speeds of the air in the wind tunnels were low.  We know today that the much larger size and airspeeds associated with full scale flight resulted in the opposite effect. Thin airfoils experienced “thin airfoil stall” at angles of attack much lower than normal stalling angles of attack. This was due to the separation of the flow over the top surface of the thin airfoil, hence creating much higher drag and a loss of lift. In contrast, under the same operating conditions, thicker airfoils did not encounter flow separation until much higher angles of attack, hence producing more lift and less drag at higher angles of attack. This was discovered by German engineers, and thick airfoils were employed on the Fokker Triplane and the Fokker D-7 toward the end of World War I. These airplanes were able to climb faster and maneuver more sharply than airplanes using thin airfoils, and resulted in the Fokker D-7 being one of the most effective fighters of the War.

airfoil

Airfoil is the name for the special shape of airplane wings. A wing’s airfoil shape—like a teardrop on its side—is always designed to create lift. An airplane wing is designed so air flows faster over the wing than it does beneath the wing.

In the 1920s airplane designers moved towards the use of thick airfoils. By the 1930s, efficient wing designs exhibited large aspect ratios and thick airfoils. The famous Douglas DC-3 is an excellent example, with its aesthetically beautiful high wing  aspect ratio of 9.14 and streamlined 15 percent thick airfoil. Thick airfoils had structural as well as aerodynamic advantages. A thicker wing allowed storage space for fuel tanks and retractable landing gear. A thicker wing also allowed a larger and stronger structural spar along the inside of the wing, which in turn allowed the wing to be cantilevered from the fuselage without any external support wires and struts. This helped to encourage the use of the modern single wing (monoplane) instead of the older two-wing (biplane) configuration.

With the advent of jet airplanes in the 1950s pushing speeds close to and beyond the speed of sound, airfoil and wing shapes made another dramatic change. Thinner airfoils allowed subsonic airplanes to fly closer to the speed of sound before encountering adverse shock waves over the wing, shock waves which greatly increased the drag and reduced the lift. For supersonic airplanes, the driving design feature was to reduce the strength of shock waves on the wings, and hence to reduce the supersonic wave drag.  The thinner the airfoils, the weaker the shocks, and the lower the wave drag. The Lockheed F-104, the first airplane to be designed for sustained speeds at Mach 2, is a perfect example. The airfoil shape on the F-104 is very thin, about 3.5 percent thick, and the leading edge is razor thin, all to reduce the strength of the shock waves from the leading edge of the wing. At the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, you can get within a few feet of the F-104 wing, and see the dramatically thin airfoil. It is almost like making a full circle in airfoil thickness,  returning to that of the Wright brothers, but for completely different flight conditions. Also, many  high speed subsonic and supersonic airplanes have swept wings rather than straight wings, also to reduce the strength of shock waves and to obtain a lower wave drag.

See if you can find the best lift-to-drag ratio for the F-104 airfoil, and learn more about how wings work, in this fun online activity.

F-104

Lockheed F-104A Starfighter on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flew this F-104A for 19 years as a flying test bed and a chase plane.

Wing and airfoil shapes are still evolving today, driven by new and challenging flight conditions. The drive for more and more fuel economy in flight is driving new and better wing configurations and airfoil shapes to obtain higher lift-to-drag ratios. Also, future hypersonic flight vehicles flying at Mach 5 and higher will require innovative new wing and airfoil shapes. So the evolution marches on.

John Anderson is a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the National Air and Space Museum.

 

The Real Wright Flyer

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The Smithsonian literally has millions of objects in its vast collections.  Everything from specimens of flora and fauna from around the globe, to machines that have shaped the modern world, to cultural artifacts that reflect our rich diversity, to important works of art.  Even live animals at the National Zoo.  Every aspect of human endeavor and creativity and the natural world can be found at the Smithsonian.

Among this great store of history, science, and art objects, some stand above the rest for their uniqueness, historical importance, and cultural value.  In addition, they are objects that are powerfully associated with the Smithsonian.  I like to call these “signature Smithsonian objects.”  Things such as the Hope Diamond, the Star Spangled Banner, the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington, and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis airplane are good examples—one-of-a-kind items, familiar to all, and widely known to reside at the Smithsonian.  Also in this subset of signature objects is one of the most significant in the entire Smithsonian collection—the Wright Flyer, the world’s first airplane.

Wright Flyer

The original 1903 Wright Flyer at the National Air and Space Museum

The flying machine with which Wilbur and Orville Wright made those historic first flights at Kitty Hawk on a cold December morning in 1903 represents a moment when the world changed.  The ability to fly has so dramatically refashioned human existence that the achievement of the Wright brothers defies measure.  When the Wright Flyer was installed in the Smithsonian in 1948, a visiting dignitary at the ceremony remarked, “It is a little as if we had before us the original wheel.”

For the last 25 years, I have had the great privilege to be the curator of the Wright Flyer.  During that quarter century I have pored over every detail of the airplane, studied every aspect of its design, written three books about the Wright brothers, mounted a major exhibition, and given countless lectures about this artifact.  I have spent a career with this object and at this point have a very personal connection with the Flyer.   I’ll even admit to a bit of an emotional attachment to this machine.  Needless to say, I never tire of talking about the Flyer and sharing its wonderful story.  But there is one thing that always frustrates me when I hear it—when people say the airplane in the Smithsonian is not the real Wright Flyer!  Let me assure you, the airplane on view at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is indeed the actual machine with which the Wrights made their pathbreaking first flights at Kitty Hawk.  IT IS THE REAL WRIGHT FLYER.

So how could anyone doubt this?  Most of the reasons are simple.  First, the Flyer currently doesn’t look old.  The near pristine white fabric on its wooden framework doesn’t look to be a century old.  Well, it isn’t.  In 1984 and 1985, the museum did conservation work on the Flyer.  It was disassembled, inspected, cleaned, and documented inside and out.  The most important decision we had to make was whether or not to save the tattered fabric.  There was much internal debate about this, but in the end we put new fabric on the Flyer.  Critical to that decision was that the fabric then on the airplane was not on it when it flew in 1903.  In 1928, Orville Wright loaned the Flyer to the London Science Museum, where it stayed for 20 years.  In preparation for the trip to England, Orville recovered the Flyer entirely.   So when the Smithsonian received the airplane in 1948, none of the fabric on it dated from 1903.  Considering its condition and that the airplane never flew with that fabric, for the long-term preservation interest of the artifact, new fabric was put on in 1985, precisely to the specifications of 1903.  So to the uninitiated, the Flyer currently doesn’t look old and people sometimes make the assumption that it is not the original airframe.

Fabric

New fabric being sewn on to the original framework of the 1903 Wright Flyer.

Another reason visitors sometimes think the Wright Flyer in the Smithsonian is not real is because so many modern reproductions of the Flyer are on view in other museums.  Especially leading up to the centennial of the first flights in 2003, many reproduction Flyers have been built.   With so many copies out there and the real Wright Flyer having relatively new fabric on it, one can see how visitors might get confused.

Finally, many people know that after the Wrights made their last flight on December 17, 1903, the Flyer was upturned by a strong gust of wind and severely damaged.  Thinking the airplane was destroyed, some of these folks are under the impression that the original 1903 Wright Flyer doesn’t exist at all.

So let me make clear for all, when you visit the National Air and Space Museum and stand before the Wright Flyer you will be just a few feet away from the original, real, world-changing 1903 Wright Flyer—not a copy.  There is also a good chance you’ll find me in the gallery spending time with my old friend, the endlessly fascinating world’s first airplane—a signature Smithsonian object.

Peter Jakab

Peter Jakab seated in front of the 1903 Wright Flyer

Peter L. Jakab is the associate director for collections and curatorial affairs at the National Air and Space Museum

The World’s First Military Airplane

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The 1909 Wright Military Flyer on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian image 2005-20387

This summer, the world is marking the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest milestones in aerospace history, and one of the most remarkable of all human achievements—the first Moon landing by Apollo 11.  But the summer of 2009 also marks another meaningful event in aerospace history.  It is the centennial of military aviation.  Almost from the outset of successful human flight following the Wright brothers’ breakthrough flights in 1903, the application of this new technology for military purposes was discussed and speculated upon.  Just as most recognized the airplane would change the world in general, many foresaw, with a fair degree of accuracy, that the airplane would have profound implications for warfare and military defense.

The National Air and Space Museum famously has in its collection the original 1903 Wright Flyer, but the Museum also possesses the 1909 Wright Military Flyer, the world’s first military airplane.  After bringing their design to a level of practicality in 1905, the Wright brothers set about finding a customer for their invention.  An obvious choice was the U.S. Army, who had already been developing an aeronautical program with lighter-than-air vehicles.  In 1908, the U.S. Army Signal Corps advertised for bids for a two-seat observation aircraft, and Orville Wright came to Fort Myer, Va., with a Wright machine to demonstrate and attempt to meet the Army’s performance requirements.  Midway through the trials, on September 17, 1908, the Wright airplane malfunctioned and crashed, severely injuring Orville and killing his passenger, the Army’s official observer, Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge.  Both Wilbur and Orville returned to Fort Myer in 1909 with a new airplane and successfully completed the trials.  On August 2, 1909, the Signal Corps officially accepted the Wright airplane, the first purchased and put into service by any government.  The 1909 Wright Military Flyer served until 1911, training Army pilots, and was then transferred to the Smithsonian Institution for public display.  It is the seed that spawned the military aerospace industry, and a significant portion of aviation history.

In these modern times, when it is almost impossible to talk about military actions without an aviation component, I often think of a quote from Orville Wright, who during World War II was asked if he had any regrets about inventing the airplane in light of the massive destruction then being wrought from the air.  He replied: “I don’t have any regrets … .  I feel about the airplane much the same as I do in regard to fire.  I regret all the terrible damage caused by fire.  But I think it is good for the human race that someone discovered how to … put fire to thousands of important uses.”  Of course, when reflecting upon the military applications of flight technology, its destructive and somber elements must never be dismissed.  But we must also appreciate and admire the skills, goals, and accomplishments with which military aviators have employed the Wrights’ invention.  In 2009 we observe a century of military aviation, and it all began with that frail Wright machine that hangs in the National Air and Space Museum.

Peter L. Jakab is Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs at the National Air and Space Museum.

1909 Alexander Graham Bell Letter

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One hundred years ago, on May 14, 1909, Alexander Graham Bell wrote to Charles D. Walcott, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, detailing his plans to donate C. H. Claudy’s photographs of the Wright brothers’ 1908 Army Trials at Fort Myer, Virginia.

This historically profound two-page letter speaks for itself

In this short letter, Bell provides historians a virtual treasure trove of key words, “Aerial Experiment Association”, “Lt. Thomas Selfridge” (for whom Selfridge Field in suburban Detroit is named), “C. H. Claudy”, “Eastman”, “Winfield Cline”, as well as “Orville Wright”, “Charles D. Walcott”, and “Alexander Graham Bell”. Bell also notes that he is shortly taking an extended tour of Europe (of interest to biographers), and thoughtfully provides us his forwarding address while there.

Also of note are the markings on this letter. They give us a detailed `biography’ as it were, of the letter itself. We see that the letter was stamped `Received’ by the Smithsonian on May 17, stamped again by `R.R.’ on the 19th, answered on the 20th of May, and then turned over to the Registrar’s Office, where it has since resided throughout a very tumultuous century.

This letter is now stored in a set of bomb-proof and fireproof safes, along with other papers and accession files which document the legal title, the provenance and the significance of the roughly 57,000 objects in the Museum’s collections.

The Wright brothers’ 1909 Military Flyer itself is on display at the National Air and Space Museum, in the Early Flight gallery on the ground floor.

The Wright 1909 Military Flyer as it appears today. SI#2009-4949 Eric F. Long, Photographer

Gregory K. H. Bryant is Museum Registrar in the Office of the Registrar at the Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum.