Warplanes of the USA: Maine, Owls Head Transportation Museum

Owls Head Transportation Museum Knox County Airport, Route 73, PO Box 277, Owls Head, ME 04854.  Phone: (207) 594-4418, (207) 594-4418, Fax: (207) 594-4410.

The Owls Head Transportation Museum has one of the finest collections of pioneer-era aircraft and automobiles in the world.  More than 100 historic aircraft, automobiles, bicycles, carriages and engines are on permanent display.  The Aircraft Collection contains replicas and originals representing the first century of flight, from Cayley’s unmanned glider (1804) to the legendary Curtiss Jenny of the barnstorming era.  An outstanding collection of automobiles spans the late 19th Century and early 20th century, and includes the 1963 Prototype Mustang and a 1935 Stout Scarab (called the world’s first mini-van, one of only six ever made).

Antoinette monoplane replica, 1909.

Bellanca replica (Serial No. 2), Reg. No. N1911G.

(RAF Photo)

Blériot XI with RFC markings during the First World War.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3388145)

Blériot XI with RFC markings during the First World War.

(Author Photos)

Blériot XI replica, 1903.

The Blériot XI was a French aircraft from the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most famous accomplishments of the pioneer era of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in history but also assured the future of his aircraft manufacturing business. The event caused a major reappraisal of the importance of aviation; the English newspaper The Daily Express led its story of the flight with the headline "Britain is no longer an Island."[1]The aircraft was produced in both single- and two-seat versions, powered by several different engines, and was widely used for competition and training purposes. Military versions were bought by many countries, continuing in service until after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Two restored examples – one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States – of original Blériot XI aircraft are thought to be the two oldest flyable aircraft in the world. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Boeing-Stearman A75N1/PT-17 Kaydet Biplane (Serial No. 75-1795), Reg. No. N55361.

The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman, or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the United States Army Air Forces, the United States Navy (as the NS and N2S), and with the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Kaydet throughout the Second World War. After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civilian market. In the immediate postwar years, they became popular as crop dusters and sports planes, and for aerobatic and wing walking use in air shows. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Boeing B75N1, 1942, VN2S-3 (Serial No. 75-6746), Reg. No. N75980.

Burgess-Wright F replica.

(Author Photo)

Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann.

The Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann (freshman, young man) is a basic biplane trainer aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bücker Flugzeugbau. It was the company's first aircraft, as well as being the final biplane to be produced in Germany. On 27 April 1934, the first prototype Bü 131 performed its maiden flight, which was roughly two years after the company had been founded in Berlin-Johannisthal by Carl Bücker. Anders J. Andersson had led the aircraft's design effort. Comprising both metal and wooden construction, the Bü 131 was designed to be suitable in the trainer role, and even to perform aerobatic manoeuvres. The first deliveries of the Bü 131 occurred in 1934, the Deutscher Luftsportverband (DLV) being a key early customer for the type. Later on, the Bü 131B was selected as the primary basic trainer for the German Luftwaffe. In this capacity, it was operated in large numbers throughout the Second World War. Throughout the 1930s, there had been substantial demand for the Bü 131, multiple large export orders and production licenses were issued as a result. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was the largest pre-war export customer for the type, flying as many as 400 Bü 131s at one point. Hundreds were produced locally by the Spanish aircraft company Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). In excess of 1,300 Bü 131s were operated by the military air services of Imperial Japan under local designations of Kokusai Ki-86 and Kyushu K9W. The Bü 131 remained operation with numerous air forces for decades after the conflict, some choosing to retain the type through to the late 1960s. It has proved to be a relatively popular biplane with private pilots, who have often elected to have their aircraft refitted with modern engines for increased performance. (Wikipedia)

Cayley Glider replica.

(Author Photo)

Cessna CG-2 Glider.

(Author Photo)

Chanute biplane Glider, 1896, ½-scale model.

(Author Photo)

Clark Biwing Ornithopter, original, ca 1900.

James W. Clark, clock maker, bicycle repairman and inventor, of Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, supposedly tested this machine between 1900 and 1910. It failed to fly, was wrecked, then rebuilt and fitted with the present engine about 1907.

(Author Photos)

Curtiss JN-4D Jenny (Serial No. 34094), Reg. No. N94JN.

The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft for the US Army, the "Jenny" (the common nickname derived from "JN") continued after the First World War as a civilian aircraft, becoming the "backbone of American postwar [civil] aviation". Thousands of surplus Jennys were sold at bargain prices to private owners in the years after the war, and became central to the barnstorming era that helped awaken the US to civil aviation through much of the 1920s. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photo)

Curtiss Model D pusher replica, 1912, (Serial No. M-4), Reg. No. N1GJ.

The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") is an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era of trial-and-error development and equally important parallel technical development in internal combustion engine technologies.It was also the aircraft type which made the first takeoff from the deck of a ship (flown by Eugene B. Ely off the deck of USS Birmingham on November 14, 1910, near Hampton Roads, Virginia) and made the first landing aboard a ship (USS Pennsylvania) on 18 January 1911, near San Francisco, California.It was originally fitted with a foreplane for pitch control, but this was dispensed with when it was accidentally discovered to be unnecessary. The new version without the foreplane was known as the Headless Pusher.Like all Curtiss designs, the aircraft used ailerons, which first existed on a Curtiss-designed airframe as quadruple "wing-tip" ailerons on the 1908 June Bug to control rolling in flight, thus avoiding use of the Wright brothers' patented wing warping technology. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Curtiss-Wright Travel Air D-4000 Speedwing.

The Travel Air 4000 is an American general-purpose biplane of the 1920s, a member of the family of aircraft that began with the Travel Air Model A. It was later known as the Model 4. Derived from the Model BW, around 100 were built, including two that were converted from Model 2000s. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Deperdussin Gordon Bennett Racer replica, 1913, (Serial No. 01), Reg. No. N78TJ.

The Deperdussin Monocoque was an early racing aircraft built in 1912 by the Aéroplanes Deperdussin, a French aircraft manufacturer started in 1911 and reorganized as the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) in 1913. It is so named because of the method of construction of its fuselage. The aircraft is noted for winning the Gordon Bennett Trophy in 1912 and 1913, and for raising the world speed record for aircraft to 130 mph (210 km/h). (Wikipedia)

Domenjoz Glider, original, 1930.

(Author Photos)

Etrich Taube replica, 1913.

The Etrich Taube, also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who built versions of the type, such as the Rumpler Taube, was a pre-First World War monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in Germany.The Taube was very popular prior to the First World War, and it was also used by the air forces of Italy and Austria-Hungary. Even the Royal Naval Air Service operated at least one Taube in 1912. On 1 November 1911, Giulio Gavotti, an Italian aviator, dropped the world's first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in Libya. Once the war began, it quickly proved inadequate as a warplane and was soon replaced by other designs. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Fokker C.IVA (Serial No. 4127), Reg. No. N439FK, restoration. The Fokker C.IV was a 1920s Dutch two-seat reconnaissance aircraft.

Examples of the C.IV were delivered to both the Dutch Army Air Corps (30 aircraft) and the Dutch East Indies Army (10 aircraft). It was also exported; the USSR bought 55 aircraft and the United States Army Air Service acquired eight. Twenty aircraft were licensed built in Spain by the Talleres Loring company for the Spanish Army's Aeronáutica Militar. After service as reconnaissance machines the aircraft were then operated as trainers into the 1930s.Fokker C.IVA modified with cabin for passengers for planned non-stop flight Tacoma-Tokyo. Preserved airworthy in Owls Head Museum, Maine.The last flying example of a C.IV is C.IVa s/n4127/N439FK with a Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engine, preserved at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. It was used in a trans-Pacific attempt in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Pilots Bob Wark and Eddie Brown took out the seats in the passenger compartment and installed a large fuel tank. They also put a small cockpit just in front of the vertical stabilizer with a hand-powered fuel pump inside. In flight, the crew member sitting there would transfer fuel to the main tank in the wing, where it would be fed by gravity into the engine. In this trans-Pacific attempt they planned not to go straight across the Pacific but up the West Coast of North America to Alaska and down the chain of Aleutian Islands, proceeding down the Chinese coast to Tokyo. They took off from Tacoma, Washington and started to head north, but made it only about 100 miles of the way to Vancouver, British Columbia when the engine vapor locked and forced a landing in a field. They had to dump most of their fuel to bring down the weight in order to take off from the field. When they got back in the air, they started heading for nearby Ladner Field, Vancouver to top off the tanks, but they crashed upon landing and decided to give up. They loaded the C.IV onto a Ford AA flatbed truck and brought it back to Washington State. It ended up in Ephrata, Washington, where it was kept outdoors and was eventually badly burned in a grass fire. It sat until 1970, when one of the museum's trustees found it and restored it and donated it to the museum. (Wikipedia)

(Collectie Van Beek Photo)

Fokker Dr. Is of Jasta 12 on the flightline at Toulis, France, 1918.

(Luftstreitskrafte Photo)

Manfred von Richthofen's red Fokker Dr. I, (Serial No. 425/17).

(Author Photos)

Fokker Dr.I Triplane replica (Serial No. 2001), Reg. No. N425FK.

The Fokker Dr.I (Dreidecker, "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a First World War fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the aircraft in which Manfred von Richthofen gained his last 17 victories (plus two earlier ones in the Fokker F.I prototype in September 1917), and in which he was killed on 21 April 1918. (Wikipdeia)

(Author Photo)

Gemini Space Capsule 1963.

Project Gemini (IPA: /ˈdʒɛmɪni/) was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual astronauts flew low Earth orbit (LEO) missions during 1965 and 1966.Gemini's objective was the development of space travel techniques to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on the Moon. In doing so, it allowed the United States to catch up and overcome the lead in human spaceflight capability the Soviet Union had obtained in the early years of the Space Race, by demonstrating mission endurance up to just under 14 days, longer than the eight days required for a round trip to the Moon; methods of performing extravehicular activity (EVA) without tiring; and the orbital maneuvers necessary to achieve rendezvous and docking with another spacecraft. This left Apollo free to pursue its prime mission without spending time developing these techniques.All Gemini flights were launched from Launch Complex 19 (LC-19) at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station in Florida. Their launch vehicle was the Titan II GLV, a modified intercontinental ballistic missile.[note 1] Gemini was the first program to use the newly built Mission Control Center at the Houston Manned Spacecraft Center for flight control.[note 2] The project also used the Agena target vehicle, a modified Atlas-Agena upper stage, used to develop and practice orbital rendezvous and docking techniques.The astronaut corps that supported Project Gemini included the "Mercury Seven", "The New Nine", and "The Fourteen". During the program, three astronauts died in air crashes during training, including both members of the prime crew for Gemini 9. The backup crew flew this mission.Gemini was robust enough that the United States Air Force planned to use it for the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, which was later canceled. Gemini's chief designer, Jim Chamberlin, also made detailed plans for cislunar and lunar landing missions in late 1961. He believed Gemini spacecraft could fly in lunar operations before Project Apollo, and cost less. NASA's administration did not approve those plans. In 1969, Lukas Bingham proposed a "Big Gemini" that could have been used to shuttle up to 12 astronauts to the planned space stations in the Apollo Applications Project (AAP). The only AAP project funded was Skylab (The first American space station) – which used existing spacecraft and hardware – thereby eliminating the need for Big Gemini. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Henri Farman III Biplane replica.

The Farman III, also known as the Henry Farman 1909 biplane, was an early French aircraft designed and built by Henry Farman in 1909. Its design was widely imitated, so much so that aircraft of similar layout were generally referred to as being of the "Farman" type.

(Author Photo)

Lilienthal monoplane Glider, 1893, ½-scale model.

(Author Photo)

Milliken M-1 Special, original, 1932.

In 1927, inspired by Lindbergh's flight, 16-year-old William F. Milliken began designing an airplane that evolved into a parasol monoplane with a motorcycle engine. Finally, in 1933, Milliken took the M-1 to Old Orchard Beach for tests. It flew, but landing took three attempts, ending when the M-1 flipped over on its back. Encouraged by this flight, he went on to a long aeronautical and automotive career.

(Author Photo)

Nieuport 28C.1 replica (Serial No. C-1), Reg. No. N27226.

The Nieuport 28 C.1, a French biplane fighter aircraft flown during World War I, was built by Nieuport and designed by Gustave Delage. Owing its lineage to the successful line of sesquiplane fighters that included the Nieuport 17, the Nieuport 28 continued a similar design philosophy of a lightweight and highly maneuverable aircraft.By the time the Nieuport 28 was available, the SPAD XIII had been chosen to equip the escadrilles de chasse of the Aéronautique Militaire for 1918, and this fighter was also the first choice for the projected American "pursuit" squadrons.[2] In the event, a shortage of SPADs led to Nieuport 28s being issued to four American squadrons between March and August 1918, becoming the first aircraft to see operational service with an American fighter squadron.Nieuport 28s saw considerable post-war service: in particular 50 from a later production run were shipped to America, and as well as army and naval service these found civilian use, especially in Hollywood films. (Wikipedia)

Penaud Planaphore replica

(Author Photo)

Piper J-3C Cub (Serial No.), Reg. No. N6496H.

The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Piper Aircraft's most-produced model, with nearly 20,000 built in the United States. Its simplicity, affordability and popularity invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile.The aircraft is a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with a large-area rectangular wing. It is most often powered by an air-cooled, flat-4 piston engine driving a fixed-pitch propeller. Its fuselage is a welded steel frame covered in fabric, seating two people in tandem.The Cub was designed as a trainer. It had great popularity in this role and as a general aviation aircraft. Due to its performance, it was well suited for a variety of military uses such as reconnaissance, liaison and ground control. It was produced in large numbers during World War II as the L-4 Grasshopper. Many Cubs are still flying today. Cubs are highly prized as bush aircraft.The aircraft's standard chrome yellow paint came to be known as "Cub Yellow" or "Lock Haven Yellow". (Wikipedia)

(Author Photo)

Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub (Serial No. 18-7809185), Reg. No. N703ES.

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the PA-11 Cub Special, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 Cub to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close to 40 years of production, over 10,000 were built. Super Cubs are commonly found in roles such as bush flying, banner towing and glider towing. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Pitcairn PA-7S Mailwing, Reg. No. N13158.

The Pitcairn Mailwing family is a series of American mail carrier and three-seat sport utility biplane aircraft produced from 1927 to 1931.  The Pitcairn Mailwings were developed to carry air mail for the United States Post Office Department. Of simple and robust construction, they had relatively benign flying characteristics.[1]They were constructed using chrome-moly steel tube and square-section spruce spars with spruce and plywood built-up ribs. The fuselage was faired using wooden formers and covered with fabric. The tail sections were built up from steel tube and fabric-covered. The Pitcairn Mailwing had a ground-adjustable fin and in-flight adjustable tailplane.The undercarriage was of outrigger type with Oleo-Spring shock absorbers and disc brakes on the mainwheels. All versions looked very similar and changes were minor, with several fuselage extensions being the most obvious.The mail was carried in a fireproof metal-lined compartment forward of the pilot's cockpit. The Mailwings were flown extensively by the U.S. Air Mail service from 1927 until the end of dedicated Air-Mail routes.Pitcairn also built the same aircraft in sport versions for private use. These aircraft had the mail compartment removed, and a side-by-side two-seat cockpit was fitted. (Wikipedia)

Rhon Ranger Glider (Serial No. 1), Reg. No. N306V.

(The National Archives UK Photo)

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 in flight during the First World War.

(Author Photos)

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 replica (Serial No. 298), No. 2, 1916, Reg. No. N928.

The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 is a British single-seat fighter of the First World War designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It could not escape the drag penalty imposed by its tail structure and was no match for the Albatros fighters of late 1916. The F.E.8 was an early British "scout" aircraft, designed from the outset as a single-seat fighter. In the absence of a synchronization gear to provide a forward firing machine gun for a tractor scout such as the S.E.2, it was given a pusher layout. The second prototype had a spinner mounted when it was sent to No. 5 Squadron RFC at Abeele for evaluation on 26 December 1915, but had been removed by January 1916. It became the nearly exclusive mount of Captain Frederick Powell.A few early production F.E.8s were briefly used by No. 29 Squadron RFC alongside its DH.2s in June 1916, but it was not until August that No. 40 Squadron became fully operational on the type. The only other unit to be completely equipped with the type, No. 41 Squadron, arrived in France in October.After a fairly good start, the F.E.8 units quickly ran into problems with the new German fighters. The only ace on the type was Edwin Benbow who was credited with shooting down a German fighter on 6 March 1917, probably that of Manfred von Richthofen, who force landed with a holed fuel tank and narrowly escaping incineration.Just three days later, on 9 March, 40 Squadron was again involved with Jagdstaffel 11, when nine F.E.8 were engaged by five Albatros D.IIIs led by Richthofen. Four F.E.8s were shot down, four others badly damaged, and the survivor caught fire when landing. After this disaster No. 40 Squadron was re-equipped with Nieuport 17s but No. 41 kept their pushers until July 1917 – becoming the last single-seat pusher fighter squadron in France, using them for ground attack duties during the Battle of Messines.Two F.E.8s were sent to Home Defence units in 1917, but the type was not adopted as a home defence fighter. (Wikipedia)

(RFC Photo)

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8

(Author Photo)

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a replica (Serial No.).

The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fastest aircraft of the war, while being both stable and relatively manoeuvrable. According to aviation author Robert Jackson, the S.E.5 was: "the nimble fighter that has since been described as the 'Spitfire of World War One'".In most respects the S.E.5 had superior performance to the rival Sopwith Camel, although it was less immediately responsive to the controls. Problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly the geared-output H-S 8B-powered early versions, meant that there was a chronic shortage of the type until well into 1918. Thus, while the first examples had reached the Western Front before the Camel, there were fewer squadrons equipped with the S.E.5 than with the Sopwith fighter.Together with the Camel, the S.E.5 was instrumental in regaining allied air superiority in mid-1917 and maintaining it for the rest of the war, ensuring there was no repetition of "Bloody April" 1917 when losses in the Royal Flying Corps were much heavier than in the Luftstreitkräfte. The S.E.5s remained in RAF service for some time following the Armistice that ended the conflict; some were transferred to various overseas military operators, while a number were also adopted by civilian operators. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Sopwith Pup replica (Serial No. 83213), Reg. No. N5138, No. 4.

The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good manoeuvrability, the aircraft proved very successful. The Pup was eventually outclassed by newer German fighters, but it was not completely replaced on the Western Front until the end of 1917. The remaining Pups were relegated to Home Defence and training units. The Pup's docile flying characteristics also made it ideal for use in aircraft carrier deck landing and takeoff experiments and training. (Wikipedia)

(National Archives and Records Administration Photo, NAID 530773)

First Lieutenant E. V. (Eddie) Rickenbacker, 94th Aero Squadron, American ace, standing up in his SPAD fighter.

(Author Photos)

SPAD XIIIC.1 replica (Serial No. C-1), Reg. No. N14574.

The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII.During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béchereau, spurred by the approaching obsolescence of the S.VII, decided to develop two new fighter aircraft, the S.XII and the S.XIII, both using a powerful new geared version of the successful Hispano-Suiza 8A engine. The cannon armament of the S.XII was unpopular, but the S.XIII proved to be one of the most capable fighters of the war, as well as one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice. By the end of the First World War, the S.XIII had equipped virtually every fighter squadron of the Aéronautique Militaire. In addition, the United States Army Air Service also procured the type in bulk during the conflict, and some replaced or supplemented S.VIIs in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), pending the arrival of Sopwith Dolphins. It proved popular with its pilots and numerous aces from various nations flew the S.XIII. Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which marked the end of the First World War, surplus S.XIIIs were sold to both civil and military operators throughout the world. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Standard J-1 (Serial No. 581), Reg. No. N22581.

The Standard J is a two-seat basic trainer two-bay biplane produced in the United States from 1916 to 1918, powered by a four-cylinder inline Hall-Scott A-7a engine. It was constructed from wood with wire bracing and fabric covering. The J-1 was built as a stopgap to supplement the Curtiss JN-4 in production. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photo)

Waco UBF-2 Biplane (Serial No. 3766), Reg. No. N13442.

Developed from earlier WACO models, the "new" UBF was a 3-place, open cockpit, all-purpose biplane. One of the few models to actually be named by the Waco Aircraft Company at Troy, Ohio, the UBF was known as "The Tourist." During 1932-1933, at least 11 aircraft were built. Considered a high performance utility airplane, it quickly became a favorite of businessmen, flying services, and sportsman pilots.

(Author Photo)

Waco YMF-5 biplane.

The Waco F series is a series of American-built general aviation and military biplane trainers of the 1930s from the Waco Aircraft Company. The YMF-5F could be equipped with Aerocet 3400 amphibious floats.

(John T. Daniels, Library of Congress Photo)

First successful flight of the Wright Flyer, by the Wright brothers. The machine traveled 120 ft (36.6 m) in 12 seconds at 10:35 a.m. at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. Orville Wright was at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with his hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright ran alongside to balance the machine, and just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing in the photo. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine. This is described as "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air, powered flight" by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, but is not listed by the FAI as an official record.

The Wright Flyer (also known as the Kitty Hawk, Flyer I or the 1903 Flyer) made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane, on 17 December 1903. Invented and flown by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, it marked the beginning of the pioneer era of aviation.The aircraft is a single-place biplane design with anhedral (drooping) wings, front double elevator (a canard) and rear double rudder. It used a 12 horsepower (9 kilowatts) gasoline engine powering two pusher propellers. Employing 'wing warping', it was relatively unstable and very difficult to fly. The Wright brothers flew it four times in a location now part of the town of Kill Devil Hills, about 4 miles (6 kilometers) south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The airplane flew 852 ft (260 m) on its fourth and final flight, but was damaged on landing, and wrecked minutes later when powerful gusts blew it over.The aircraft never flew again but was shipped home and subsequently restored by Orville. The aircraft was initially displayed in a place of honor at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the resolution of an acrimonious priority dispute finally allowed it to be displayed in the Smithsonian. It is now exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Wright Flyer, 1903, replica.

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