First Flight Not UJright?
Commentary by George W. Earley
Conventional wisdom says that on December 17,
1903, Orville Wright flew the first manned, heavier-
than-air craft o ff a beach near K itty Hawk, N.C.
If that is so, why do the Germans celebrate
August 14, 1901 as the day of the first such flight?
Because, say a small group of Connecticut Yankees
who call themselves the Whitehead Research Society,
that's the day, a German-American named Gustave
Whitehead made four flights [the longest about one
and one-half miles] in a flying machine powered by a
motor that, like his aircraft, was self-designed and
built.
So who was Gustave Whitehead and what do we
know about his role in early aviation?
Born Gustav Weisskopf on January 1, 1874, his
childhood fascination with the idea of flying caused
his school chums in Bavaria to nickname him "the
Flyer." At 13, using a glider of his own design — his
grandmother sewed the wing fabric -- 'the Flyer'
made an unsuccessful flight from the roof of his
grandfather's barn.
When Weisskopf emigrated to America in 1895
and Anglicized his name to Gustave Whitehead, the
world was poised on the brink of successful manned
heavier-than-air flig h t.
In the 189O's, such men as Otto Lilienthal, Sir
Hiram Maxim, Octave Chanute and Professor Samuel
Pierpoint Langley, among
many others, were flying man-carrying gliders and
experimenting with motor-driven models.
When, on May 6, 1 896, Langley's
steam-powered unmanned "Aerodrome #5" flew over
one-half mile [the first such flight of a powered
heavier-than-air c ra ft], it seemed all the great
scientist needed to do was to scale up his model to
carry a pilot.
But it took Langley over 7 years [and more than
$50,000 taxpayer dollars, for the Smithsonian was
funding his experiments] to build a full-sized aircraft.
In fairness to Langley, it must be noted that, as
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and one of
Amenca's leading scientists, he had many responsi
bilities other than building flying machines.
And that was equally true of the other experi
menters. Flying was only a hobby and its practition
ers, Whitehead included, had other demands on their
time and money.
After arriving in the U.S., Whitehead worked at
various jobs in several eastern states, finally
settling in Bndgeport CT in I900 where he began his
spare-time aeronautical pursuits in earnest.
Photos exist of some of the airplanes, gliders,
motors and other devices built by Whitehead - there
are even photos of Whitehead aloft in his gliders —
but there are no in-flight photos of him flying
Aircraft No. 21, the plane in which he allegedly made
four flights on August 14, 1901.
Unlike the Wnghts, who meticulously recorded
their every attem pt in journals, diaries, and letters
to other experimenters, Whitehead stored his data in
his head and applied for no patents.
What records do exist consist mainly of the
photographs already mentioned, brief accounts in
Dmerican Inuentor and aeronautical World
magazines, newspaper articles on both his
experiments and his frequent problems with various
financial backers, affidavits of those claiming to have
witnessed his flights and an awkwardly-wntten book
which attempted, a few years after his death in 1927,
to pull all these disparate parts together. It is not
the sort of documentation likely to impress museum
archivists and those at The Smithsonian Institution,
where the Wright Flyer occupies a place of honor, are
not impressed with claims [including those advanced
by Connecticut politicians] on Whitehead's behalf.
Recognizing this, a small band of aviation enthu
siasts — several of them pilots and/or engineers --
came together a few years ago to build a replica of
the flying machine that allegedly made that historic
flight on August 14, 1901.
Their replica is a bat-winged monoplane,
constructed, as was the original, from wood, canvas,
Japanese silk, steel tubing, bamboo, and wire. The
fuselage is boat-shaped - Whitehead allegedly made a
successful water landing after a seven-mile flight
over Long Island Sound on January 17, 1902. Unlike
the Wnghts, whose Flyer ran down a wooden track
and dropped its wheels as it went aloft, Whitehead
designed his plane with powered wheels to assist in
getting up to flying speed. With its innovative
powered wheels and folding wings, No. 21 was
roadable - Whitehead could drive it from his house to
the field from which it allegedly flew on August 1 4,
1901.
To date, the Whitehead Research Society has not
duplicated that flight, though their replica has flown
both as a glider and when powered by chain-saw
motors driving modern propellers. Such flights, they
feel, clearly demonstrate the inherent soundness of
the Whitehead design but they won't be fully satisfied
until they fly it using propellers and a motor
replicating his designs.
Lacking plans, the propellers and motor, as was
the aircraft itself, have been designed using the few
photographs that exist of the plane and its parts.
That means the authenticity of their replicas can, and
have been, challenged by aviation experts.
And, indeed, the Whitehead fans recognize that
the Wrights place as pioneer aviators and the fathers
of aviation as we know it today, cannot be effectively
challenged over 90 years after their flights in 1903.
But, they say, give Whitehead his due. Add him to the
list of pioneers whose efforts preceded the successes
of the Wrights. Let the name of Whitehead be added to
those of Langley, Lilienthal, and others whose experi
ments kept alive Mankind's burning desire to share
the skies with the birds.
Columbus was not the first European to arrive in
the New World, say the Whitehead enthusiasts, but
knowing that the Vikings and others preceded him
does not detract from the fact that it was his voyage
that changed history. So let it be with Whitehead and
the Wrights - recognizing Whitehead's work does not
dim the luster o f the Wrights achievement. ’ ’ *
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