Le Banquet Wilbur Wright
On 5 November 1908 the Aéro-Club de France held a banquet for Wilbur Wright to celebrate the Wright Brothers' achievement of controlled heavier-than-air flight. (Orville was recovering from an accident on 17 September.) This event represented a significant attempt at reconciliation after the European aeronautics world had mostly snubbed the Wrights, suspected they were bluffing, etc.[1] The banquet and following soirée were held at the party room of the Automobile-Club de France. The 250 classy guests included minister Louis Barthou and senator Paul d'Estournelles de Constant; Aero Club president Louis Paul Cailletet, vice-president Henry de la Vaulx, Ernest Archdeacon; Charles Renard; Cortlandt Bishop of the Aero Club of America; Baron Étienne van Zuylen van Nyevelt, Automobile Club president; and many more, listed here. M. (Édouard? André?) Michelin telegraphed his congraulations[2]
Cailletet awarded the Wright Brothers the grande médaille d'or of the Aéro-Club de France. Barthou and Wright spoke, with senator d'Estournelles de Constant translating Wright's English.[2]
References
- ↑ Hallion, 2003, pp. 234–235.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Le Banquet Wilbur Wright: Organisé par l'Aéro-Club de France" L'Aérophile; vol 16, no. 22; 15 November 2015; p. 441.
