Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-01-31

curious ullagers-when the young
brothers prepared to launch their
plane from shore track made of
2 by scantlings spliced together.
Orville climbed into the seat and
Wilbur steadied the machine as it
moved down the monorail track and
SKINNED of into the air. Thus Or
vile became the first man to fly a
heavier machine under
power, although the fight lasted
only Il seconds and covered 100
feet.
The brothers alternately took the
controls for four flights that day.
One of them, with Wilbur at the
controls, lasted SO seconds and
swooped 852 feet across the dunes.
Terse Telegram Home.
The terse but triumphant tele-
gram which the brothers sent to
their father indicated how closely
he must have followed their efforts
at time when others doubted they
could amount to anything:
-Four flights Thursday morning,
all against 21-mile wind starting
from level with engine power alone
average speed through air 81 miles
longest So seconds"
Orville Wright said later that "the
first flight convinced us our theories
were sound. We could control the
craft, even if it. was largely by
shifting the weight of our bodies
from one side to the other"
Their progress in the next few
years was continuous and marred
only by failures later repaired. They
worked to improve the propellers,
the power plant, and to devise con-
trolls, largely centered about ailerons
on the trailing edges of the wings,
to enable an airplane to virtually
fly itself.
Flew Latest Transport.
Within the span of his lifetime
Orville Wright was to see these
basic concepts built into one of the
worlds most advanced transports
the Lockheed Constellation, which
he piloted for brief period over
Dayton in April, 1914.
It was the first time he had piloted
a, plane in Is years and his first time
aloft since 1899. but the elderly vet
eran seemed at home as he settled
into seat in the instrument
studded cockpit and took over for
a spell.
Later he remarked, II always
knew airplanes would fly themselves
If you let them alone"
First to fly, Orville Wright also
was pilot in the worlds first fatal
aircraft accident. A propeller blade
shattered as he and Army 1t.
Thomas E. Selfridge were flying
above Fort Myer, Va, in Septem-
Der, 1908.
1t. Selfridge was killed and Mr..
Wright suffered broken leg and
internal injuries in the crash.
Passed Government Tests.
Nearly a year elapsed before he
returned to carry on the trials again
near Fort Myer. On July 80, 1909,
his plane passed official Govern
ment speed and other requirements
and Wright aircraft was the first
acquired by the American military
forces. .-
This plane and few models of
the Wrights' earlier efforts are the
only products of their work yet
acquired by the Smithsonian, which
has been designated" by Congress
to collect historic and scientific ma
terial for q great National Air
Museum.
Three years after Wilbur's death
at Dayton from typhoid fever,
Orville Wright, In 1915, sold his
stock in the Wright manufacturing
company the two had established.
Orville, however, continued his
experimental work, perfecting an
automatic stabilizer that found gen.
eral use and striving to increase the
efficiency of aircraft engines. He
remained with the company in a
consulting capacity for a time.
Received Many Honorary Degrees.
Mr.. Wright's formal education
ended with high school In 1890, al
though he subsequently was to re-
ceive honorary degrees from many
colleges and universities, along with
numerous awards from aviation
groups at home and abroad.
Orville Wright never married. He
once was asked, Don't you need a
wife?" and he replied by pointing to
one of his early airplanes and say
ing: you can't support both"
In later years he maintained a
daily routine between his home in
Dayton and his laboratory and
workshop. Most of the time he
drove his own automobile.