Everyone knows the Wright Brothers spent some quality time in North Carolina and Ohio. But few people know they spent an important semester in Alabama.
In 1910, Wilbur came South, looking for a place to start the nation’s first civilian flying school. In January of 1910, the Wrights’ patents had grounded all airplanes in the nation other than their own. The only Wright Flyer actually in the air was in San Antonio, where U.S. Army officers were learning to fly the one airplane that the government had rather reluctantly bought.
However, the Wright Brothers hoped to sell airplanes to wealthy society sportsmen (aviation was a sport back then), and aside from the military officers in San Antonio, the only people who could fly a Wright airplane in the United States were the Wrights themselves. Unless they wanted to teach all the wealthy sportsmen, they’d have to teach young men to fly so that they, in turn, could teach the buyers of airplanes to fly. Dayton was far too cold in the winter to hold such a school, so Wilbur went South. He finally found a receptive city in Montgomery, Alabama.
For its part, Montgomery saw aviation as a way to get past its image as the cradle of the Confederacy. The city was anxious to make itself known as a place of progress. What better way to advertise that concept than by the worldwide attention that would be drawn by an airplane?
Young businessmen in Montgomery saw to it that Wilbur got everything he needed to form a flight school, and soon Orville came down to teach the class of five.
The story that ensued, of the city’s attempt to capitalize on the airplane and the Wrights’ attempt to teach the five young flyers in peace, made for some interesting clashes and often humorous reading in the local newspaper.
Historian Julie Hedgepeth Williams has written a book about the flight school, “Wings of Opportunity: The Wright Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama, 1910,” published by NewSouth Books. Roger-Wilco blog called the book a “must-have.” Read the review here.
You can read the press release announcing the publication of “Wings of Opportunity” here.
Dr. Williams will speak to groups of people interested in aviation and would appreciate hearing from them. She has a 45-minute PowerPoint slideshow which has been well-received in three states and is scheduled to be shown in three more. The show gives the little-known history of the Wright Brothers in Alabama. After the show, she answers questions and signs copies of the book for those who are interested.
If you’d like to schedule a talk for your group, you may contact Julie Williams at joldnews@bellsouth.net. She is based in Birmingham, Alabama.
