Dayton Aviation What Dreams We Have The Wright Brothers and Their Hometown of Dayton, Ohio

After deciding to discontinue their experiments and direct their attention to the sale of their invention, Wilbur and Orville renewed negotiations with Britain and resumed contact with the United States and France at the end of 1905. With all parties interested in the airplane, the Wright brothers stood their ground that no exhibition flights would occur until a contract was signed. While this sounded outrageous to those who questioned the brothers' claims, the Wrights included a clause to protect the purchaser. If the flying machine was not all they promised, the contract could be dissolved and no payment would be required. Wilbur and Orville felt this arrangement protected the interests of the buyers while also keeping the technological details of their invention from unscrupulous individuals who might steal the Wrights' knowledge. [1]

In the hopes of attracting the attention of England, France, and Germany, the three countries Wilbur and Orville felt were most likely to purchase an airplane, the brothers sent out accounts of their 1905 flights for publication. The letters were addressed to three individuals who the Wrights felt were most likely to disseminate the information contained in the letter. The first went to Englishman Patrick Alexander, who was a prominent member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain; the second to Georges Besancom, editor of L'Aérophile; and the third to Carl Dienstbach, the American correspondent for the Illustrierte Aeronautische Mitteilungen. As the brothers hoped, Alexander read his letter aloud at a meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Besancom and Dienstbach both published their letters. The information served to increase both France and Germany's interest in purchasing an airplane. [2]

The letter published by Besancom piqued the interest of an American, Frank S. Lahm, who was a representative of the Remington typewriter company in Paris. Lahm was raised in Mansfield, Ohio, and was interested in aeronautics, especially balloons. Determined to discover more of his fellow Ohioans, Lahm sent a telegram to his nephew, Henry Weaver, Jr., requesting him to visit the Wright brothers. Henry Weaver, Lahm's brother-in-law, was a manufacturer of overhead cash carriers used in department stores, and his son decided the telegram must have been meant for his father. Henry Jr. forwarded the cable to his father, who was in Chicago on business. The telegram made as much sense to Henry as it had to his son. Thinking it might have something to do with business, Henry sent a cable requesting further information. Since he did not have an address for the brothers, the cable was simply addressed to Wright Brothers, Dayton, Ohio. [3]

The telegram was delivered to The Wright Cycle Company on the morning of Saturday, December 2. Confusing Wilbur and Orville as much as the original cable from Lahm to his relatives, the Wrights sent a message requesting an explanation. Weaver's reply questioned if the Wrights knew F.S. Lahm of Paris. The Wrights had never met Lahm, but they had read of his ballooning feats in France. They replied, "Yes, Lahm the French aeronaut." The word aeronaut stirred Weaver's memory; he recalled hearing of two brothers from Dayton who experimented with gliders in North Carolina. Believing his brother-in-law had ordered a glider from the brothers, Weaver figured Lahm wanted him to assist with negotiations. He replied to Wilbur and Orville that he would stop in Dayton on his way home from Chicago. He planned to arrive in Dayton on the morning of December 3. [4]

Weaver arrived at the Algonquin Hotel at 7:00 in the morning and immediately tried to locate the Wright brothers. The city directory did not include an entry for "Wright Brothers," so Weaver went to the telegraph office and learned his cables were delivered to a bicycle shop on West Third Street. Knowing a bicycle business would not be open on Sunday morning, he returned to the hotel. Luckily, he found Orville waiting for him in the lobby. [5]

Weaver's visit was an opportunity for which the Wright brothers were waiting: an impartial party to convince of their success. The day began with a trip on the interurban to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field. Weaver discussed the brothers' flights with David Beard and Amos Stauffer, the neighboring farmers. Orville and Weaver then returned to West Dayton where they dropped in on William Fouts, who operated a drugstore on the northwest corner of Third and Williams Streets. Fouts, who lived at 113 North Williams Street, had also witnessed the successful flight of October 5. Later that day, Weaver visited with the rest of the Wright family at 7 Hawthorne Street. He found Wilbur "to be even quieter and less demonstrative than the younger. He looked like the scholar and recluse." By the end of the day, Weaver was convinced of the Wright brothers' ability to fly, and he sent a favorable report to Lahm. [6]

Weaver's visit was followed nine days later by Robert Coquelle, a reporter for the Parisian daily L'Auto. Coquelle wrote a series of four articles that described his visit to Dayton. While the Wrights refused to demonstrate their flyer, he interviewed witnesses and believed their claims. Unfortunately, his articles did not convey what he experienced in Dayton but pure fiction. [7]

Despite the problems the brothers had convincing people of their success, except for Weaver, they continued to contact various governments in hopes of selling the plane. For the most part, contract negotiations took place via correspondence, but occasionally governments sent representatives to Dayton to meet with the Wright brothers. The first individual to meet with the Wrights was Arnold Fordyce, a representative for a private French syndicate who planned to purchase an airplane as a gift to their government. The French government was interested in the airplane because of increasing disagreements with Germany over the control of Morocco. In hopes of assisting his country if war resulted, Fordyce traveled to Dayton and met with Wilbur and Orville on December 28, 1905. During this meeting the three agreed on terms for the sale of an airplane, and in the afternoon on December 30 a contract was signed. [8]

The brothers stipulated that the terms of the contract with Fordyce include two clauses: one, that the plane was to be turned over to the French military, and two, that they could continue to negotiate with the United States government. The syndicate members agreed to deposit $5,000 in escrow with the Paris branch of J.P. Morgan & Company by February 5, 1906. They would then have two months to raise the remainder of the $200,000 purchase price. If the entire amount was deposited by April 5, the Wright brothers would travel to France to make the required demonstration flights. If it was not deposited, the brothers would keep the $5,000 and the deal was void. [9]

After depositing the $5,000 down payment, the French government sent a commission to meet with the Wrights. The commission members included Fordyce; Commandant Henri Bonel, Chief of Engineers for the French General Staff; Captain Jules Fournier and Henri Régnier, both of the French Embassy staff in Washington; and Walter V. Berry, an American attorney retained by the French Ambassador to the United States. The group arrived in Dayton on March 30, 1906. Hoping not to attract the attention of the local newspaper reporters, the commission avoided the popular Hotel Algonquin and stayed at the Beckel House. They remained at the hotel without detection until the hotel telegraph operator informed a journalist friend of the coded messages being sent to France by the guests. The reporter questioned Fordyce, as Bonel did not speak English, as to the commission's presence in Dayton. Fordyce thought that a study of the city's water system sounded probable, but in the translation, he told the reporter they were in Dayton studying the "water pipes." This satisfied the reporter, and the presence of the Frenchmen was not covered in the newspapers. [10]

During discussions with the Wright brothers, the French commission requested a demonstration, and Wilbur and Orville refused. Instead they arranged for the commission members to meet with various eye-witnesses to flights and showed them some photographs of the Wright Flyer III airborne at Huffman Prairie Flying Field. [11]

Even without the requested demonstration flight, the Wright brothers convinced the commission of the validity of their claims. Unfortunately, while the commission recommended purchasing the airplane, the crisis in Morocco was passed, and the French government was hesitant to spend such a large amount of money for a plane. The government requested a one-year extension on their exclusive option and a guarantee that a 600-foot altitude would be achieved during the demonstration flights. When Wilbur and Orville refused, the negotiations were canceled. [12]

After the French representatives left Dayton, Patrick Alexander, from England, visited the Wrights. Wilbur and Orville had met Alexander in December 1902 when he called at 7 Hawthorne Street with a letter of introduction from Chanute. Alexander was an aeronautical enthusiast and wished to meet the brothers he had heard were conducting successful glider experiments. The 1906 visit surprised the brothers, but they gleaned the purpose of Alexander's visit when he inquired if the French commission was still in Dayton. When Alexander left Dayton after only one day, the Wrights concluded England was more interested in other European countries' actions than acquiring a plane of their own. But the brothers also took this as a sign of England's interest in a flying machine. [13]

A month after France's option expired, the brothers renewed negotiations with the British. They offered to sell a single flyer along with instruction for $100,000 and for an additional $100,000 they would include the data needed to build other machines. Lieutenant Colonel A. E. W. Count Gleichen, the military attaché, arrived in Dayton on August 8, 1906, to discuss the proposal. Like his predecessor, Capper, Gleichen was impressed with the Wrights and their flyer, but he believed their asking price was exorbitant. With their heaver-than-air aeronautical program making progress on the development of a flying machine, the British chose to spend the money on their research program instead of purchasing a plane from the Wrights. [14]

The steady stream of visitors to meet with the Wright brothers continued. As knowledge of the brothers' accomplishment spread throughout the world, reporters and individuals interested in aeronautics were frequent guests at 7 Hawthorne Street. These visits interrupted the Wright family routine but all were graciously greeted, and many of the visitors were invited to join the family for a meal. While Katharine continued to manage the household and fulfill the roles of wife and mother, she employed housekeepers to assist her with the daily operations. Carrie Kayler, employed by the family since 1900, left for a short time when she married Charles Grumbach in September 1904. She was lured back with the promise that the Wrights would also employ her husband as a handyman. Milton, in his diary, recorded the many housekeepers the Wrights employed in an attempt to fill the void left by Carrie's departure. [15]

One was Mrs. Katie Smith who quit working for the Wrights on April 14. Milton found her to be "an unusually nice woman in her ways, though not a very good house-keeper." Katharine then hired Lou Lane in August, but it appears she did not stay long. By January 7 of the following year, the next housekeeper, Hattie Williams, departed. This constant cycle of housekeepers continued until Carrie, to the delight of the Wrights, returned to her former position. [16]

Along with the number of visitors in Dayton to meet with the Wright brothers, the growing acceptance of the Wright brothers' invention was also visible through the number of skeptics that began believing Wilbur and Orville's claims. In the summer of 1905, the Aero Club of America was formed to promote the development of aerial navigation. It grew out of the Automobile Club of America, which included many of the most powerful men in America as its members. In January 1906, the club, as part of the Annual Automobile Club exhibition, organized the first large American exhibit to show the past, present, and future of the flying machine. Noted aeronautical researchers, such as Langley and Chanute, contributed models, engines, and gliders for the exhibit. In addition, Wilbur and Orville loaned the crankshaft and flywheel from the 1903 flyer along with several photographs of their glider experiments and the 1903 flyer. Unfortunately, all these items disappeared at the close of the exhibition and were never returned to the Wrights. [17]

The newly formed Aero Club was the first group in the United States to officially support the Wright brothers. In March 1906, following the successful aeronautical exhibit, the club passed a resolution congratulating Wilbur and Orville for successfully developing a practical man-carrying flying machine. This was a noteworthy resolution, for none of the members of the Aero Club had witnessed the Wright brothers fly. The motion was based on a letter from the Wrights outlining their experiments. [18]

Wilbur and Orville sent the letter to the Aero Club on March 12, following a visit to Dayton by William J. Hammer, a leading member of the new club. The letter was the first public announcement in the United States that the brothers had flown distances up to twenty-four miles. What precipitated this public acknowledgment of their achievements was a review published by Scientific American of the Automobile Club exhibition where balloonist Carl Myers remarked that the endeavors of Augustus Herring were superior to those of the Wright brothers. A few weeks later, Scientific American included an editorial that questioned the validity of the 1903-1905 flights. Faced with skepticism and negative publicity, Wilbur and Orville felt they must respond, and they chose to do this through a letter to the Aero Club of America. [19]

The brothers' letter and the Aero Club's resolution succeeded in bringing validity to their story. Scientific American chose to take a second look at the Wright brothers and their claims, but instead of asking the Wright brothers for confirmation, the magazine sent questionnaires to seventeen witnesses that were listed in the letter written to the Aero Club. Aware of the mailings, the Wrights were unsure if the magazine wished "an excuse to correct their former blunder, or whether they are searching for material for another attack." Eleven witnesses returned the questionnaire. While the answers varied to questions such as the speed of the airplane, they left no doubt in the mind of the editor that the Wrights did conduct successful flights. [20]

The April 7, 1906, issue of Scientific American recanted the original story, included the information from the letter the Wrights sent to the Aero Club, and printed a letter from Charles Webbert attesting to the validity of the brothers' claims. The resulting article increased Americans' belief in the Wright brothers' airplane. The awareness and success of their achievements continued to grow, and on November 30 their father noted in his diary, "There is much in the papers about the Wright brothers. They have fame, but not wealth, yet." [21]

The day following Milton's observation, Ulysses D. Eddy, a New York businessman, visited Wilbur and Orville. With little interest in aeronautics, Eddy was a professional broker who learned his trade from his former boss, Charles Ranlett Flint of Flint & Company. Flint was a well-known investment banker who organized giant mergers such as United States Rubber and the American Woolen Company. Believing the Wright brothers' airplane was a golden investment opportunity, Eddy traveled to Dayton to meet with the brothers in hopes of negotiating a deal to present to Flint & Company. Like everyone else who met the Wrights, Eddy was impressed with the brothers and believed their claim of a practical airplane without viewing a demonstration. [22]

As Wilbur and Orville were traveling with Patrick Alexander to New York the following day for the second Aero Club of America exhibition, Eddy arranged for them to meet with Frank R. Cordley, a Flint & Company executive. Wilbur was optimistic. The day following the meeting with Eddy, he wrote Chanute that "it seems that the favorable conditions we have been awaiting for six months have now arrived and we have some opportunities we would be glad to talk over with you, the best from a financial standpoint that we have had." Throughout the next four years, the brothers would meet with representatives of Flint & Company to discuss a business deal. Originally, Flint & Company hoped to obtain the foreign rights to the Wrights' patents; Wilbur and Orville would retain the American rights. Then, Flint & Company proposed serving as the agent for foreign sales. Wilbur and Orville rejected these proposals, and the two parties continued negotiations. The final deal would not be resolved until 1908 when Flint & Company's European representative arranged a deal with France. [23]

Not all the brothers' time was devoted to business. In September 1906, Captain Thomas S. Baldwin, the famous operator of a powered airship, was in Dayton to give a demonstration flight in conjunction with the Montgomery County Fair. On September 5, Wilbur and Orville went to the Montgomery County Fairgrounds to view his dirigible airship, "The California Arrow." While there, the Wrights met Baldwin and Glenn H. Curtiss, who constructed the engine Baldwin used to power his machine. Wilbur and Orville were familiar with both Baldwin and Curtiss although they had never met them. Curtiss had contacted them earlier in regards to the lightweight engines he constructed, but the Wrights had their own engine design and were not interested in Curtiss offer. After meeting the two at the fairgrounds, Wilbur and Orville invited both of them back to the bicycle shop for a visit. [24]

At the bike shop, the Wright brothers were open about their successful airplane. They even showed Baldwin and Curtiss photographs of the 1903, 1904, and 1905 flyers in the air. Fascinated with flying machines, Curtiss asked many questions in regards to their airplanes. In fact, he asked so many questions, when they left, Baldwin chided him for being so curious about the machine. [25]

The following day, Wilbur followed Baldwin's California Arrow as it left the Montgomery County fairgrounds at 4:30 in the afternoon and traveled westward. After a two-hour journey, the airship landed at Crown Point. Efforts were made to sail the airship back to the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, but the wind forced the ship further westward instead of in the direction of the fairgrounds. Thus, an automobile was sent from the city to pick up Baldwin. Wilbur did not return home from his adventure until 10:30 that night, and both he and Orville returned the next day to assist Baldwin in bringing his airship back to the fairgrounds. [26]

Near the end of 1906, Wilbur and Orville focused on making headway in interesting the United States government in purchasing their invention. Up to this date, the government refused to believe that the Wrights already possessed a practical airplane, responding to their proposals as if they were requesting funding to develop a flying machine. In order to convince the U.S. government, the brothers considered making an exhibition flight. In the spring of 1907, an event was planned in Virginia to celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Thousands were projected to attend the festivities in Jamestown including President Theodore Roosevelt and important Army and Navy officers. The celebration plans included part of the Atlantic Fleet traveling through Hampton Roads and up the James River, and Wilbur and Orville discussed the idea of flying a plane over the anchored fleet and disappearing to the south as quickly as they appeared. They believed this was a way to definitely capture the attention of the United States government, as well as the rest of the world. [27]

If Wilbur and Orville decided to make this flight, most of it was over water, so they would need to equip the flyer with pontoons to enable it to take-off and land on water. These modifications required experiments. The brothers constructed a model equipped with propellers and an engine on pontoons to determine if taking off and landing on water was practical. Wilbur and Orville borrowed air-tight cast iron cylindrical floats to use for the pontoons from Henry Booher who had a gasoline engine shop at 432 South Williams Street. They tested the model on March 20 in the Great Miami River near the foot of the Third Street bridge, and local residents lined the bridge to observe the event. After two days, Wilbur and Orville considered abandoning the experiments, for they found that while the airplane model showed that taking off from water was practical, when they added a passenger the machine tipped into the water, damaging the propellers. The following day the dam near their experiment location broke, and they were forced to halt their tests. Subsequently, their father wrote to tell Wilbur and Orville that their hydroplane knocked the bottom from the temporary dam, but it was being repaired at private expense under public direction. With the unsuccessful results, the idea of the flight at Jamestown was also abandoned. [28]

Despite what appeared to be a setback, new hope appeared the following week. Flint & Company requested that the brothers travel to Europe to meet with Hart O. Berg, who was in charge of Flint's marketing operation in Europe. Since Wilbur and Orville were just completing a new engine, they decided only one of them should travel to Europe. In a letter to his father, Wilbur explained his reasoning behind his decision that Orville should make the trip.

When the telegram came from Flint's asking that one of us go to Europe at once, I saw instantly what was involved, and asked Orville to go. I did this for two reasons: (1) Because I wished the job of putting the final touches to the engines, and preparing the machine for shipment. I am more careful than he is, at least I think so. (2) Because it was evident that the man who went to Europe would have to act largely on his own judgement without much consultation by letter or cable. I felt that I was more willing to accept the consequences of any error in judgement on his part than to have him blaming me if I went. [29]

Orville disagreed and Wilbur realizing that Orville was "set on finishing the machine himself," left Dayton on May 16. Orville planned to follow as soon as the new engine was completed. [30]

Upon Wilbur's departure, Orville spent his time completing a new two-man flyer as well as the engine. He informed Chanute that he was assembling the machine in order to perfect some of the controls. Orville shared the brothers' belief that "[by] placing the two men side by side in a sitting posture, with the controlling levers so arranged that either man alone, or the two together, can manage the machine. In this way we think it will not be difficult to train others to operate." Wilbur had urged Orville to employ an assistant to help him and let Charlie Taylor work on the engines to get the job done quicker, but Orville decided to complete the airplane himself. In addition to the first plane, Orville completed four other planes that would be used for the upcoming European and American flights. Therefore, he remained in Dayton for two months before meeting Wilbur in Europe. Based on Wilbur's high hopes that an agreement would be reached and a contract signed, Orville prepared an airplane for shipment to France prior to his departure. If a contract was signed, they would need to make the required demonstration flights. After all of Orville's preparations, no demonstration flights were needed when, after several weeks, negotiations were stopped when no agreement could be reached. [31]

Approximately the same time the Wrights received the message from Flint & Company that asked for the brothers to come to France, the United States War Department, Board of Ordnance and Fortification wrote the brothers requesting additional information on their invention. With Wilbur departing for Europe, Orville dealt with the United States government. In his response, he informed the board that the Wrights had some airplanes under construction that they would sell if agreeable terms could be reached. [32]

These two inquiries began negotiations that finally led to the sale of Wright airplanes. As a consequence, over the next two years, Wilbur and Orville spent very little time in Dayton. They did not return from their first European trip until November 1907. After leaving France, Wilbur met with prospective buyers in Germany and, at the suggestion of Flint & Company, Orville traveled to England and then Germany. On his return to Dayton, Wilbur stopped in Washington to meet with representatives of the United States War Department. Finally, the United States was interested in their airplane. At the meeting, Wilbur shared with the representatives from the Board of Ordnance and Fortification and the Signal Corps that the brothers would sell a plane for $25,000. Based on Wilbur's terms, the Signal Corps advertised for bids for an airplane on December 23. [33]

The request for proposals stipulated that the airplane must be demonstrated for Army officers, fly for one hour carrying the pilot and a passenger, maintain an average speed of forty miles per hour, and carry enough fuel for 125 miles. While the Wright machine was the only airplane which could meet the specifications, surprisingly forty-one proposals were received. Most of them were fakes and were eliminated when they did not put up the required ten percent of the proposed price as a sign of good faith. Three bidders deposited ten percent of the asking price: the Wright brothers whose asking price was $25,000; Augustus M. Herring who bid $20,000; and J.F. Scott who had the lowest price of $1,000. The three bids created a problem. While it was believed that the Wright brothers were the only bidders with a practical airplane, there were two other lower bids, and the government was required to accept the lowest. To solve the problem, the Board of Ordnance and Fortification arranged to accept all three bids. J.F. Scott, who submitted his low bid of $1,000 based on the amount of bond he could submit, recognized his inability to produce a practical airplane and immediately withdrew his proposal. Wilbur and Orville's proposal was accepted on February 8, 1908, and after more than four years, the Wright brothers finally sold their invention. [34]

The Board of Ordnance and Fortification also accepted August Herring's bid. The members of the Board did not believe Herring could meet the terms of the contract, but he was the lowest bid after Scott withdrew. At the time, Herring was not involved in aeronautics; he had stopped his experiments after his powered glider experiments in 1898. Convinced that he should be recognized for his successful work prior to 1900, Herring believed the United States contract was a way to stay in the public eye as an aviation expert. In the course of fulfilling the requirements of the contract, Herring would make claims and receive extensions, but he never produced an airplane for demonstration flights. The Board was correct in their first belief that Herring would never be able to produce an airplane that met the contract requirements. [35]

Three weeks after the United States Army accepted their bid, the Wright brothers signed a contract with Lazare Weiller from France to form a syndicate to purchase the rights to manufacture, sell, or license Wright airplanes in France. The deal was arranged by Hart O. Berg of Flint & Company. After successful demonstration flights, the Wrights would receive a large payment, a block of stock, and royalties from the syndicate. [36]

With both the recent agreements with the United States and France requiring demonstration flights, the brothers immediately began to prepare. By the spring, they were ready to test their 1905 plane, modified to meet the passenger requirements, and brush up on flying. Instead of returning to Huffman Prairie Flying Field, the brothers chose the isolated location of Kitty Hawk. Since both brothers would be away from Dayton, they made arrangements with Lorin to keep their financial records. Wilbur left for Kitty Hawk on April 6, and Orville left shortly thereafter on April 21. In addition, Charles Furnas, a Dayton mechanic who was interested in the Wright brothers' experiments, traveled to Kitty Hawk as a volunteer to assist the brothers. [37]

After successful flights in Kitty Hawk, Wilbur left for France on May 17. Since he did not return to Dayton, Katharine packed his trunk and sent it to New York on May 16. Wilbur's trunk and hatbox were waiting for him when he reached New York on May 19. However, he shared with Katharine: "I do sometimes wish though that you had raised the lid of my hatbox, which was not locked, and put some of my hats in it before sending it on. However, a man can buy hats almost anywhere." [38]

Orville returned home to Dayton, arriving on May 23, to prepare for the United States government demonstration at Fort Myer, Virginia. In addition, Orville, with Charlie Taylor's assistance, finished constructing and crating airplane parts to send to Wilbur in France. Orville shared with Wilbur that he had a few volunteers ready to work for the brothers to prepare for the flights. Someone he referred to as "Crane" stopped by the bicycle shop asking for work, and he was also interested in joining Wilbur in France as an assistant no matter what the brothers were able to pay him. Charles Furnas, who had worked for the Wrights previously, stopped by the shop every few days looking for work. And, Orville reported, "Chas. Taylor is crazy to get into the experimenting again." [39]

Orville felt he and Charlie Taylor were able to get the job completed without any assistance, and they worked together to ship the airplanes to Wilbur. When they arrived, Wilbur was disappointed with Orville's lack of attention to detail. He complained to Orville,

I opened the boxes yesterday and have been puzzled ever since to know how you could have wasted two whole days packing them. I am sure that with a scoop shovel I could have put things in within two or three minutes and made fully as good of job of it. I never saw such evidence of idiocy in my life. Did you tell Charley not to separate anything lest it should get lonesome?...To be brief, things must be packed at least ten times as well as they were last time. [40]

Orville realized that the customs inspectors must have opened the crates and created the mess Wilbur received. Aware that Wilbur was under stress as he prepared for the trials, he chose not to continue the argument in an attempt to defend himself but instead let the issue rest.

As Wilbur and Orville readied for the demonstration flights in France and the United States, their fight for recognition was nearing an end. During the preparations, most individuals throughout the world still questioned the assertions of anyone who claimed to have solved the problem of human flight. The scientific research and experiments the Wrights conducted that led to their solving the problem of flight were soon to be recognized. With the first successful demonstration flight, the news of human's ability to fly would spread throughout the world.