1908 Wright demonstration in France

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In August 1908 Wilbur Wright traveled to France and demonstrated his aircraft at the Hunaudieres racecourse near Le Mans, France. With members of the Aéro-Club de France in attendance, this was the first Wright flight observed by members of an official aeronautics organization.

On Saturday, 8 August, he flew for 1 minute and 47 seconds, traveling 1.25 miles. On the following Tuesday he flew for (less than) four minutes and demonstrated navigational maneuvers. Quoth M. Delagrange, "Eh bien. Nous n'existons pas. Nous sommes battus."[1] Only a few spectators attended the first flight; two thousand, including newspaper correspondents, attended the second.[2]

To fulfill his agreement with the Compagnie générale de navigation aérienne (the French syndicate for Wright planes, backed by Lazare Weiller), Wright was obliged to make two 50 km flights, with a passenger, in one week. After a series of flights in August and September he accomplished this feat on 6 and 11 October. On the 6th he flew for 1 hour, 4 minutes, 26 seconds, with Arnold Fordyce and on the 11th he flew with M. Painleve for 1 hour, 9 minutes, 45.4 seconds. He thereafter made flights with C. S. Rolls, F. Hedges Butler, B.F.S. Baden-Powell, and Griffith Brewer.[1]

Wilbur Wright in August 1908 photographed by Jules Beau.

Apparently this was Wilbur's first test of his (version of the?) "universally pivoted" wing warping and rudder system.[3]

The Manchester Guardian (14 August 1908) wrote the following about these demonstrations:[4]

Even the description and photograph published a few months ago of a prodigious flight in America was by no means convincing; the photograph looked as if it might easily have been "faked"; there was a suspicious absence of corroborative testimony, and even now we find it hard to believe that the description was accurate in regard to times and distances.

But the Le Mans flights, which are said to have been made only for the purpose of familiarising Mr Wright with the control of his aeroplane, make it very difficult to know how much it is safe to disbelieve. Certainly the fundamental problem of flight has been solved, and the remaining difficulties incidental to the weight, fuel economy, and cooling of motors lie in a sphere in which there are innumerable able workers and in which great progress would certainly be made even if there were no "aviators."

Wilbur wrote to Orville:

Blériot & Delagrange were so excited they could scarcely speak, and [Henry] Kapperer could only gasp, and could not talk at all. You would have almost died of laughter if you could have seen them.[5]

The responses actually ranged widely, from athlete Franz Reichel, who wrote that the European airplanes were "rudimentary" compared to the Wrights's, to Victor Tatin, who called the Wright flyer poorly designed and subject to unnecessary air resistance.[6]

Wright set records for altitude and distance in December 1908, winning the Michelin Cup for distance on 18 December and securing the record on 31 December. He won the Prix de Hateur from the Aéro-Club de Sarthe for a flight reaching 115m.[7]

Publications referring to 1908 Wright demonstration in France

Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Berriman, 1913, Aviation, p. 223–225.
  2. ↑ Wohl, 1994, Passion for Wings, p. 5.
  3. ↑ Berriman, 1913, Aviation, p. 224. "Few people knew, nor is it even generally known today, that Wilbur Wright was himself to all intents and purposes learning on his own machine. Although surpassing all others in his experience of riding the air, nevertheless it happened that he was strange to the precise system of control embodied on his own aeroplane. When, after their gliding experiments, the two brothers built their motor-driven aeroplane, they arrived at a point at which their opinions differed. Each preferred a different arrangement of levers for manipulating the same system of control, and just before Wilbur Wright packed up his machine, which thereafter remained in its crate during the long period of negotiations in foreign countries, he had introduced the universally pivoted warping and rudder lever that characterized all the early Wright biplanes. This control he considered to be best suited to his requirements, but he had not nhad time to become expert in its use, which very simple explanation accounts for a great deal that was often mystifying to the good spectators of Le Mans."
  4. ↑ "From the archive, 14 August 1908: French impressed by Wright brothers' flying machine", The Guardian, republished 14 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Wohl, 1994, Passion for Wings, p. 21, citing Kelly, Miracle at Kitty Hawk, p. 292.
  6. ↑ Graffigny, 1909, Les Aéroplans, pp. 22–23.
  7. ↑ "Les grandes journées de l'aviation: merveilleuses performances de Wilbur Wright", L'Aérophile Vol. 17, No. 1, 1 January 1909, pp. 12–15.

See also


Event names 1908 Wright demonstration in France
Event type exhibition
Country FR
Locations Le Mans
Start date 1908-08-8
Number of days 64?
Tech focus Airplane
Participants Compagnie générale de navigation aérienne, Arnold Fordyce, Paul Painlevé, Charles Stewart Rolls, F. Hedges Butler, B.F.S. Baden-Powell, Griffith Brewer, Aéro-Club de France, Wilbur Wright
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