This collection consists of drawings of the 1903 Wright Flyer executed at various times during the life of the aircraft: Science Museum of London Drawings -- commissioned when the aircraft was on loan to the Museum; Ford Drawings -- sponsored by the Ford Motor Company which were supervised by Orville Wright and Charles Taylor; Christman Drawings -- drafted by Louis Christman who consulted with Orville Wright and other sources; and the National Air and Space Museum Drawings -- commissioned by the Museum during the 1985 restoration of the Wright 1903 Flyer. These drawings include three view drawings as well as both the airframe and engine components.
Biographical / Historical:
The Wright 1903 Flyer holds a special place in aviation history as the vehicle in which mankind first achieved controlled, powered, and sustained flight. The Wrights made no drawings of the aircraft when they originally built it and they continuously modified the craft during flight tests. The aircraft also underwent modifications due to damage suffered following its last flight, and the reconstruction work of 1916 and 1925-1927. Thus, there will always be some doubt about the exact configuration of the aircraft during the 1903 flights.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
NASM, Science Museum of London, Ford Museum, Gift/Transfer, 1986-0152, Some NASM
Restrictions:
Some restrictions on distribution.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Ceremonies attending the presentation of the Wright brothers' aeroplane of 1903 by the estate of Orville Wright : the forty-fifth anniversary of the first flight by Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 17, 1948, ten a.m., North Hall, Arts and Industries Building, United States National Museum, Washington, D.C
This accession includes Taylor's correspondence with his son, Rueben W. Taylor, (1928-1948), and the Garrison Machine Works, (1953-1956), makers of gears used in the Wright flyer engines. The letters to Rueben Taylor are originals, while the Garrison Machine Works correspondence are mostly xerox copies. Also included are brief biographical sketches of Taylor.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Edward Taylor (1868-1956), sometimes referred to as 'the first airplane mechanic,' worked intermittently from 1901 to 1920 for Orville and Wilbur Wright and the Wright-Martin Company. Born in Nebraska in 1868, Taylor built the first engine that powered an airplane in flight, a little four-cylnder, gasoline engine which was used in the Wright 1903 Flyer at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Charles Edward Taylor, II, Gift, 1986, 1987-0006, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
This collection documents the history of College Park Airport, the conservation of the airport and the establishment of the museum on the airport grounds. The material includes correspondence, photographs, news clippings, a scrapbook, and other mixed media.
Biographical / Historical:
College Park Airport, in College Park, MD, is the oldest continually-operated airport in the world. Flight operations at College Park began in 1907 when the Wright Brothers gave flight instruction to United States Army Signal Corps personnel at the site. The airport continues to operate as a single-runway general aviation airport. The grounds also include a small museum and the site has been designated as a historic landmark. Fred C. Knauer was instrumental in the formation of committees to preserve the airport against encroachment by developers and to publicize the airport's historic nature.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Fred C. Knauer, gift, 1986, 1987-0087, unknown
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings, armed service memorabilia, invitations and one large photograph of Commander Sweet. The clippings are about Commander Sweet and also about the Wright Brothers.
Biographical / Historical:
Commander George C. Sweet (1877-1953) was a US Navy officer significant in promoting the early use of aircraft by the Navy. In September 1908, Commander Sweet, serving as a Naval observer, reported favorably on the Wright Brothers airplane demonstration at Fort Meyer, near Washington, DC. Following his appointment to the Naval Aeronautical Board, Commander Sweet received an opportunity to fly with the Wright Brothers, becoming the first Navy officer to travel in an airplane.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
No donor information, Gift, unknown, XXXX-0017, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Chanute, Octave, 1832-1910 -- Correspondence Search this
Wright, Orville, 1871-1948 -- Correspondence Search this
Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912 -- Correspondence Search this
Extent:
1 Volume ((various pagings), 28 cm.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Volumes
Date:
1900-1910
General note:
Title transcribed from spine.
Carbon copy of the original typewritten transcript housed in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
Leaves are printed on the recto side only.
"The letters from the Wright Brothers to Mr. Chanute are not available to the public by direction of Mr. O. Wright. Aeronautical Archives of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, New York, 1944. Missing numbers refer to letters from Wilbur Wright to Mr. Chanute"--P. 1.
A subject index (including personal names), having the typed title "Index of Octave Chanute letters to Wilbur and Orville Wright, May 17, 1900-January 23, 1910", is bound in at the front of the volume.
Local Notes:
NASMRB copy 39088013423348 has bookplate: Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences. Presented by the Library of Congress to the Aeronautical Archives. With the printed label for the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences mounted on the front covers and its embossed stamp on p. 1. Accession no.: 11127.
NASMRB copy has a blue cloth binding with gilt-tooled red spine label and gray endpapers
