The Odd Couple of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Orville always made sure his socks matched. He made sure they had a bit of color. His mustache was trimmed perfectly. His hands were immaculate. His collar snapped, his eyes clear as water. He inspected his shoes carefully after they were shined. His derby was top of the line and fitted just so. Orville would work on greasy engines and the flyer in a smock and never smudge his starched white shirt. The world was at attention when Orville walked in the room. Unlike his brother.

Wilburs skin was rough from sun and wind burnt. His clothes tended to hang on his lanky frame. His eyes bore right through a person. Some said he had the gaze of a hawk and was always intent on the next thing. He did get dirty from working on the plane. He didn't bother to wash his hands and his nails would get grease stained. His shoes were smudged. His socks matched but they were black. He was more rugged than his brother.

When they returned from Kitty Hawk Orville would bleach his faced with lemon juice to reduce the tan. Within a week he was back to his normal pallor. Wilbur remained dark and tan and could have cared less. He was trying to figure out how to make a plane fly.

Wright Brothers Wrong Story

How Wilbur Wright Almost Died Going to Kitty Hawk

In 1900 Wilbur Wright wanted to go somewhere to test his new glider. He had been working on it above the bike shop and now he had found a perfect place where wind was constant and sand abundant for soft landings. The problem was it the Outer Banks of Kitty Hawk North Carolina, a desolate fishing village of castaways and nerdowells that was  almost impossible to get to. After taking a train to Elizabeth City Wilbur had to get a across Alebmarle Sound. Kitty Hawk was on a spit of land that kept the Atlantic Ocean at bay and was the home of many shipwrecks.

The man in the derby from Dayton Ohio found one Israel Perry to take him across the sound. They set out in a small skiff to get to his boat moored offshore. This was his first inclination there might be a problem. The boat immediately took on water. Wilbur and Perrys son began to bail like mad and when he asked the condition of the sailing schooner Perry told him the skiff was in better shape than the sailboat. They reached the boat and Wilbur found out this was true. They headed across intro the teeth of a lingering hurricane.

Wilbur now was bailing for his life.  When the main sail blew down he had to to out on the top of the boat to retrieve it. The weather turned so bad that Perry headed for a sand bar with only the jib acting as a kite. The boat was in danger of being swamped and Wilbur bailed with Perrys son to keep from gong to the bottom. When they finally reached the other side of the bay in the morning, Wilbur fell asleep on the dock waking to the sleepy isolated community of Kitty Hawk. He had survived. In three years he would look down upon the Albermarle Sound...from the sky.

Wright Brothers Wrong Story

How the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer was Nearly Destroyed in a Flood

In 1914 a monstrous flood hit Dayton Ohio. The streets became rivers with people being rescued with canoes or anything that would float. A levee just outside of town collapsed sending a torrent of water toward the town and the old Wright Cycle Shop. Behind the the shop was a shed and in that shed were the glass plates of the famous 1903 flight in Kitty Hawk North Carolina. Also in the shed were wooden crates. In those wooden crates was the 1903 Flyer itself.

The Wright Brothers had crated it up after the flight and thought nothing of putting the most famous airplane in the world in a storage shed behind their bicycle business. The shed could have been opened by anyone in the eleven years since Orville took to the air for twelve seconds on December 17 1903. Someone could have easily stolen the airplane. It was not even locked. But now it was in danger of being destroyed by the water rushing through the streets of Dayton.

Wilbur Wright had died in 1912. Orville was frantically trying to rescue his father who had been stranded in the family home. After putting his father in a canoe and getting him to safety he had to wait for the flood waters to recede. Hundreds died and the city of Dayton was devastated .Orville reached the shed the next day and opened the door. The glass plates had been submerged but the most famous photo of all taken on December 17 1903 of the First Twelve Seconds of flight had survived. The crates were water logged and he realized they had been under water from the layer of mud over the top.

When he finally opened the first crate he found the 1903 Flyer wet but undamaged. The mud had acted as an insulator and kept the water from pouring in. The most famous airplane in the world had survived and would eventually be given to the Smithsonian for safekeeping.

Wright Brothers Wrong Story