Wright Brothers
Kitty Hawk, NC, December 7, 1903
Fabric from Wright Brothers' Flyer 1 With Best Provenance, 20pp! Fantastic
Relic

ORVILLE WRIGHT, WILBUR WRIGHT, Swatch of Fabric from Flyer I, December 7, 1903, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. 3/4" x 1" but it appears that the fabric is bunched up and is actually a much larger piece. Much smaller pieces have brought as much as $10,000 in our past auctions and without the large volume of provenance we have here. Period photo case, in a standing frame with photographs of the Wright Brothers and Flyer I in flight, 11" x 12" x 2.5". With 6 pp. of handwritten provenance notes, 6" x 8.75"; reproduction black and white photograph of Flyer I in flight, 8" x 10"; a copy of the Wrights' patent for a "Flying-Machine,' 1906, 10 pp., 8" x 11.25"; postcard photograph of Orville and Wilbur Wright, ca. 1910; reprint of Amos Ives Root, "The First Published Account of the Wright Brothers Flight," 1905, 7 pp., 6" x 9"; and Anthony Wolff, First Flight: the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright's Invention of the Airplane (Philadelphia: The Franklin Institute, 1978), 20 pp. Some wear to frame; very good.

This piece of fabric from the Wright Brothers' original aircraft with which they first achieved powered flight in 1903 has wonderful provenance. It is framed in an upright frame with photographs of the Wright Brothers and their aircraft. The Wrights had purchased the cotton fabric ("Pride of the West Muslin") at the Rike Dry Goods Company store in Dayton, Ohio.

The accompanying notes give details about the fabric that was removed after the Wrights returned to Ohio. Orville Wright gave several pieces of the original fabric to aeronautics pioneer Lester D. Gardner. The fabric is accompanied by several pages of notes created at least 50 years ago regarding the history and provenance of the piece.

Excerpts from Provenance Notes
"Lester Gardner requested a piece of orig. fabric from Orville Wright to cover a model he had made of Flyer I."
"Lester Gardner [?] X at MIT '16 orig fabric removed When he died his X fd lc had preserved some of orig coverings of wings & gave several pieces of this most valuable relic to me for dist. to notable aeronautical friends. I certify that this piece was used in the first successful flight in history by O.W. on 12/7/03 at KH."

"new cover applied in 1928 prior to taking trip to England."

"Garber feels there may be an old piece still on plane-covering vertical rudder"

"fabric called ‘Pride of the West' Muslin made by Morehouse Martin Co. Columbus, Ohio"

"Garber ‘Orville Wright' gave out postage stamp size pieces of original fabric on post card size cards w piece of wood from hanger to group at Mayflower Hotel in 1933."

"P.G. brought Flyer I back from England in '48 in 3 boxes aboard the Mauritania. A military truck was to meet him in N.Y. to carry plane to D.C. & Smithsonian. Because of dock strike, ship landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia and boxes were left on dock. P. G. called Admiral ? requested a ship to pick he & Flyer I up. Admiral said ‘Good God Garber What are you up to now?!' Weather was as ‘cold as a polar bears feet' P.G. After 5 days waiting on dock & guarding Flyer I, the ship appeared in the distance. Music played flags were raised & cannon was shot P.G. thought it a royal welcome for an American ship but it was all to acknowledge the Queen's 1st born—Prince Charles [now King Charles III, born November 14, 1948]."

"P. G. had Orville Wright copy original picture. Had met in '23 Jonathan Daniels-coast guardsman at Kitty Hawk station took picture when told by Wilbur Wright to squeeze bulb. (Daniels being unfamiliar with a camera)"

"P. G. flew kite at Kitty Hawk when winds were 24-27 MPH (same as when Wrights first flew Flyer I)
"852' length of 1st flight?"

"When O. W., at my suggestion, assembled the Kitty Hawk machine for the 1st time in 1916 at the opening of the new building at MIT in 1916 the original fabric was removed.
"When he died his executors found he had preserved some of original coverings of wings and gave several pieces of this most valuable relic to me for distribution to notable aeronautical friends. I certify that this piece was used in the first successful flight in history by O.W. on Dec. 17, 1903 at K.H.
"Lester Gardner"
"Above is text from framed fabric at Natl. Air & Space Museum shown to Carroll & I by Paul Garber April '77."

Historical Background
Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright first achieved powered flight with the Wright Flyer (or Flyer I) at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903. They flew the craft four times, for increasing lengths of time and distance, achieving a flight of 852 feet on the fourth and final flight. It was damaged on landing and further damaged by powerful wind gusts later. It never flew again, and the Wrights shipped it home to Ohio.

Between 1916 and 1928, Orville Wright prepared the original Wright Flyer for exhibition several times. It was briefly exhibited at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1916 and several air and engineering shows between 1917 and 1924. After failing to convince the Smithsonian Institution to recognize his and his brother's achievements, Orville Wright shipped the Flyer I to London for display at the Science Museum. It remained there in a place of honor (except during World War II, when it was stored underground outside of London) until 1948.

During World War II, Charles Abbot, the new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, acknowledged the organization's past biases against the Wright Brothers and promised to give Flyer I "the highest place of honor" in the museum. After exchanging several letters with Abbot, Orville Wright agreed to return Flyer I to the United States. On November 11, 1948, Flyer I arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aboard the RMS Mauretania, where Paul E. Garber of the Smithsonian's National Air Museum took charge of it. The aircraft was transferred to the US Navy's aircraft carrier, the USS Palau, which took it to New York, where it continued its journey to Washington by truck. In December 1948, Flyer I was placed on display in the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building, 45 years to the day after its successful flights. In 1976, it was moved to the National Air and Space Museum and in 1985 was restored by the replacement of fabric added in the 1927 restoration.

Portions of the fabric were taken to the moon in 1969, were destroyed on the Space Shuttle Challenger in its disastrous flight in 1986, and were attached to the Ingenuity helicopter, the first powered aircraft to fly on Mars in 2021.

Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) was born in Millville, Indiana, four years before his brother Orville. Although he finished high school, his family moved from Richmond, Indiana, to Dayton, Ohio, before he could receive his diploma. An injury in an ice-skating game cost him his front teeth, and he became more withdrawn and did not go to Yale University as planned. He and his brother Orville designed and built a printing press and started their own weekly newspaper. After they converted it to a daily in 1890, it lasted only four months. In 1892, they opened a bicycle sales and repair shop and by 1896 began manufacturing their own brand of bicycle. They started aeronautical research and experimentation in 1899 and discovered wing-warping as a means of turning an airplane. In 1900, they first went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to experiment with gliders, achieving powered flight in December 1903. They continued their experiments at Huffman Prairie near Dayton, Ohio, for the next several years. By 1908, they had contracts from the U.S. Army and a French company to build aircraft. In 1909, they formed the Wright Company. Wilbur died in 1912 of typhoid fever.

Orville Wright (1871-1948) was born in Dayton, Ohio, four years younger than his brother Wilbur (1867-1912). He dropped out of high school after his junior year to start a printing business in 1889. He designed and built, with his brother's help, a printing press, and they started their own weekly newspaper, which they converted to a daily in 1890, but it lasted only four months. In 1892, they opened their own bicycle sales and repair shop and by 1896 began manufacturing their own brand of bicycle. They began their own aeronautical research and experimentation in 1899. They eventually discovered wing-warping as a means of turning an airplane. In 1900, they first went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to experiment with gliders. They continued to experiment with wing and rudder design over the next three years with gliders, and first achieved powered flight in December 1903. Although their 1903 patent application was rejected, an Ohio patent attorney assisted them with a successful application for a patent for controlling a flying machine, issued in May 1906. They continued their experiments at Huffman Prairie near Dayton, Ohio, for the next several years, keeping their designs secret to avoid theft by competitors. By 1908, they had contracts from the U.S. Army and a French company to build aircraft. Injured in a demonstration flight for the U.S. Army that killed a passenger, Orville Wright spent seven weeks in the hospital recovering from multiple broken bones. In 1909, they formed the Wright Company. After Wilbur died in 1912 of typhoid fever, Orville became the company's president, but he sold it in 1915. He made his last flight as a pilot in 1918 and spent the next three decades serving with various aviation organizations.

Paul E. Garber (1899-1992) spent his childhood in Washington, D.C., and had memories of flight demonstrations by the Wright Brothers at Fort Myer, Virginia, in 1909. He joined the Army and served as a sergeant during World War I. He transferred from the D.C. National Guard to the Aviation Service in the U.S. Signal Corps. During World War II, he was a commander in the U.S. Navy. In 1920, he joined the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1946, President Harry S. Truman created the National Air Museum as a separate entity within the Smithsonian. Garber played a key role in the museum's creation and was appointed as curator.

Lester Durand Gardner (1876-1956) was born in New York and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1898. He studied administrative law at Columbia University and worked on the editorial staffs of several New York newspapers and magazines. In the early days of radio broadcasting, he gave weekly talks on progress in aviation. In 1915, he organized a publishing company and began publishing Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering magazine in 1916. Gardner served as a lieutenant in the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps during World War I but was soon promoted to captain in the regular Army. In Texas, he organized 89 aero squadrons for overseas service. He was promoted to major and transferred to Washington to serve on the Control Board of the U.S. Air Service. He took flying instruction and was qualified to fly before he was discharged from the Army in 1918. He was a co-founder of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (later Institute of Aerospace Sciences) in 1932 and served as its executive officer until retiring in 1946. In 1947, he received the Daniel Guggenheim Medal for his achievements in advancing aeronautics.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.
11" x 12" x 2.5"