The Fascinating History of 1906 Article On The Wrights Flyers

Welcome to another journey through aviation history! In this article, we explore some incredible early developments in aeronautics.

Key Takeaways

• 1906 article on the Wrights "Flyers or liars?". In years to come, Dayton newspapers would
• proudly celebrate the hometown Wright brothers as national heroes, but the local reporters somehow missed

The Full Story

1906 article on the Wrights "Flyers or liars?". In years to come, Dayton newspapers would proudly celebrate the hometown Wright brothers as national heroes, but the local reporters somehow missed one of the most important stories in history as it was happening a few miles from their doorstep. J. M. Cox, who published the Dayton Daily News at that time, expressed the attitude of newspapermen – and the public – in those days when he admitted years later: "Frankly, none of us believed it." A few newspapers published articles about the long flights, but no reporters or photographers had been there. The lack of splashy eyewitness press coverage was a major reason for disbelief in Washington, D.C., and Europe, and in journals like Scientific American, whose editors doubted the "alleged experiments" and asked how U.S. newspapers, "alert as they are, allowed these sensational performances to escape their notice." In October 1904, the brothers were visited by the first of many important Europeans they would befriend in coming years, Colonel J. E. Capper, later superintendent of the Royal Balloon Factory. Capper and his wife were visiting the United States to investigate the aeronautical exhibits at the St. Louis World Fair, but had been given a letter of introduction to both Chanute and the Wrights by Patrick Alexander. Capper was very favorably impressed by the Wrights, who showed him photographs of their aircraft in flight. The Wright brothers were certainly complicit in the lack of attention they received. Fearful of competitors stealing their ideas, and still without a patent, they flew on only one more day after October 5. From then on, they refused to fly anywhere unless they had a firm contract to sell their aircraft. They wrote to the U.S. government, then to Britain, France and Germany with an offer to sell a flying machine, but were rebuffed because they insisted on a signed contract before giving a demonstration. They were unwilling even to show their photographs of the airborne Flyer. The American military, having recently spent $50,000 on the Langley Aerodrome – a product of the nation's foremost scientist – only to see it plunge twice into the Potomac River "like a handful of mortar", was particularly unreceptive to the claims of two unknown bicycle makers from Ohio. Thus, doubted or scorned, the Wright brothers continued their work in semi-obscurity, while other aviation pioneers like Santos-Dumont, Henri Farman, Léon Delagrange, and American Glenn Curtiss entered the limelight. == European skepticism == In 1906, skeptics in the European aviation community had converted the press to an anti-Wright brothers stance. European newspapers, especially those in France, were openly derisive, calling them bluffeurs ('bluffers'). Ernest Archdeacon, founder of the Aéro-Club de France, was publicly scornful of the brothers' claims despite published reports; specifically, he wrote several articles and, in 1906, stated that "the French would make the first public demonstration of powered flight." The Paris edition of the New York Herald summed up Europe's opinion of the Wright brothers in an editorial

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This article was adapted from public domain historical archives to bring you accessible, plain English history.