NASM Press Kit - The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age

In Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright build their first powered airplane, essentially a larger and sturdier version of their 1902 glider with the addition of a propulsion system: a 12-horsepower engine linked by chain-and-sprocket transmission system to two propellers to generate thrust. The airplane is never fully assembled in Dayton.

Wright brothers apply for their first patent for a flying machine (patent issued March 22, 1906).

The Wright brothers and the Flyer leave Dayton for Kitty Hawk, N.C., arriving Sept. 25.

Wrights begin construction of hangar to house Flyer. Structure completed Oct. 5.

Wrights assemble Flyer but experience difficulties with propeller shafts. Orville Wright makes trip to Dayton to build new shafts, leaving Kitty Hawk on Nov. 30 and returning Dec. 11.

At Kitty Hawk, Wilbur Wright wins a coin flip between the brothers and takes pilot’s position in first attempt to fly Flyer. Trial lasts 3.5 seconds, Flyer stalls and is slightly damaged.

At Kitty Hawk, Flyer makes four flights:

Flight # 1—10:35 a.m.;12 seconds/120 feet; Orville Wright pilot
Flight # 2—11:00 a.m.; 12 seconds/175 feet; Wilbur Wright pilot
Flight # 3—11:40 a.m.; 15 seconds/200 feet; Orville Wright pilot
Flight # 4—12:00 p.m.; 59 seconds/852 feet; Wilbur Wright pilot

After lunch break, while Wrights prepare for fifth flight, wind gust overturns Flyer breaking nearly all wing ribs; one spar and several struts snapped; engine crankcase fractured; propeller transmission chain guides badly bent.

At Kitty Hawk, Flyer dismantled and shipped to Dayton. Still in crates, Flyer stored in shed behind Wright bicycle shop.

Wrights leave Kitty Hawk, arriving back in Dayton on Dec. 23.

Flyer’s crankshaft and flywheel displayed in New York at Aero Club of America exhibition, held in conjunction with Sixth Annual Automobile Show of the Automobile Club of America. Both pieces were never returned and have never been found.

Wilbur Wright dies at age 45 after being diagnosed with typhoid fever.

For several weeks, Flyer sits in its crates beneath almost a dozen feet of water and mud after Miami River overflows its banks and floods Dayton.

Flyer, in crates, moved to nearby barn when storage shed is torn down.

Orville Wright and assistants uncrate and reassemble Flyer for first time since Kitty Hawk. Rudder and forward elevators almost entirely rebuilt. Main spars of upper and lower wing center sections replaced. Several other parts repaired, including wing ribs and chain guides. Wing center section fabric replaced with new Pride of the West muslin; outer wing panels retain 1903 covering. Engine rebuilt using parts from similar 1904 engine and 1903 components. New propellers replace damaged originals.

Flyer moved to new brick building in Dayton built by Orville Wright for laboratory.

Flyer exhibited at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Flyer exhibited at Pan-American Aeronautic exhibition, New York City.

Flyer exhibited at Midsummer National Meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Dayton.

Flyer exhibited at Aeronautical Exposition, New York City.

Flyer assembled at South Field near Dayton for purposes of obtaining testimony for patent suit involving Wright Martin Aircraft Company. No engine or propellers were mounted on the airplane.

Flyer exhibited at International Air Races at Wilbur Wright Field near Dayton.

Because of a dispute in which the Smithsonian Institution failed to properly credit the Wright brothers as the true inventors of the airplane, Orville Wright prepares to send the Flyer to England for display at the Science Museum in London “as a means of self-protection in overcoming propaganda in disparagement of us broadcast by the Smithsonian at Government expense.” He begins covering Flyer with new cloth.

Flyer is shipped to England, arriving on Feb.21.

Flyer installed at Science Museum in London.

Public display of the Flyer begins at Science Museum.

As the threat of war spreads across Europe, the Science Museum removes the Flyer from display. It is disassembled and placed in its crates for storage in the museum’s basement. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s “peace in our times” declaration prompts the museum to reassemble the Flyer and resume its display Oct. 27.

Two weeks after Germany invades France, Flyer is disassembled and stored in the museum’s basement.

Flyer is moved for protection to a storage chamber maintained by the Royal Army beneath a quarry near Corsham, England, about 100 miles west of London.

Flyer moved to new storage area with improved climate control at Corsham 2(b) near Copenacre.

Satisfied that the Smithsonian Institution finally acknowledges the Wright brothers as the first to fly, Orville informs that Science Museum that he plans to return the Flyer to America “when transportation is less hazardous than at the present.”

Flyer reassembled at Science Museum after returning from underground storage.

Orville Wright dies at age 76 after suffering heart attack.

Flyer removed from exhibit at Science Museum for return to United States.

Flyer, aboard U.S.S. Palau arrives from Halifax, Nova Scotia, at New York Naval Shipyard Annex, in Bayonne, N.J. Flyer placed on Navy truck for drive to Washington.

Flyer arrives at Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Flyer is formally presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Milton Wright, a nephew of Wilbur and Orville, on the 45th anniversary of the first powered flight. Flyer hangs in the Arts and Industries Building of the U.S. National Museum.

Flyer is removed from Arts and Industries Building; undergoes general cleaning and minor repairs to fabric only before being moved into new National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington.

Flyer moved to new National Air and Space Museum building.

Flyer given first major treatment since it was prepared for loan to the Science Museum. Airplane is completely disassembled, the parts thoroughly cleaned and preserved, and all new fabric covering applied. A careful search was made to locate new fabric that matched the original as closely as possible. When the fabric was replaced in 1927, it was sewn on in a slightly different way than originally done by the brothers in 1903. When stitching the new fabric in 1985, a large section of original flown 1903 wing covering was available and used as a pattern, ensuring accuracy.

Flyer is brought down from central hanging position in museum’s Milestones of Flight Gallery and hung the next day in west end Gallery 104 as repair work is made to museum’s window walls and sky lights.

Flyer is rehung in Milestones of Flight Gallery in time for museum’s 25th anniversary celebrations on July 1.

Flyer lowered from central hanging position in museum’s Milestones of Flight gallery and moved to Gallery 209 for “The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age” exhibition. It is the first time the Flyer is displayed at eye level in its history at the Smithsonian.