May be the Wright brothers were not the first after all…

We all grew up with the certain knowledge that the first powered flight was performed by two bicycle mechanics from Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright in the year 1903. This picture of the Wright Flyer, made by the attendant of the lighthouse several miles away who was invited towatch, is something we all know and revere as the definitive starting point of the machines that made our industry possible.

 

Now it seems that we may have to accept the fact: we have been venerating the second successful attempt rather than the first one. How is that possible?
There appears to be mounting evidence that two years before the Wright’s historic flight, a resident of Bridgeport by the name of Gustave Whitehead had actually taken to the air in an aircraft of his own design. He was a simple mechanic holding various factory jobs but otherwise obsessed with building flying machines.
The August 14, 1901 event was reported in the local press but also in Boston and New York.
There seem to be several witnesses who said that Whitehead was visited by the Wrights and at least one of them remembered Whitehead saying that he had freely discussed his solutions with the visitors.
No account of the Wrights’ life seems to mention this visit… However, there appears to be a contract between the Wright estate and the Smithsonian, custodian of the Wright Flyer, stipulating that the Flyer would have to be returned to the estate if the Smithsonian ever suggested or admitted that another aircraft was the first that performed a controlled, powered flight.

Why did somebody from the Wight estate think that the Smithsonian would ever do such a thing? Why did they think it important to secure that Wrights’ image unless they suspected that it might come under attack? Strange to say the least.
Unfortunately no photo of the Whitehead machine in flight was preserved. If we look at the picture above and compare it wit the Wright Flyer, two important difference are immediately apparent. While the Flyer had pusher props and the horizontal stabilizer is up front, on the “No. 21” as the Whitehead machines was known, the props pull and the horizontal stabilizers are at the back. Add a vertical fin to the “No. 21” and you get an aircraft that looks very much like later models as opposed to the Wright Flyer which had a configuration that was clearly not ideal for later models.

What does this tell us? Whatever information the Wrights may have received from Whitehead, it did not influence them in respect of the overall configuration of the Flyer. Possibly additional insights into the aerodynamics of the thing helped them to get into the air faster than might otherwise have been the case. One other important element might concern the engine. As we all know, the Wrights had to build their own engine for the Flyer since no engine on the market combined the low weight and high power they needed. What kind of engine was Whitehead using? As a mechanics, he may have managed to create an engine that was even more valuable for the Wrights to copy than any extra aeronautical knowledge he may have given them.
It is all conjecture of course at this stage and we may never know all the details of this fascinating story. Like in so many similar cases it is probably not important who was first or second. The important thing is the collective knowledge those early pioneers brought to bear on the future and hence on our present.