Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
This collection consists of a series of 68 "Field Reports" completed by Frank T. Coffyn logging flight activities of Wright (Brothers) aircraft, for the period from May 5, 1910, through February 24, 1911
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a series of 68 "Field Reports" completed by Frank T. Coffyn logging flight activities of Wright (Brothers) aircraft, for the period from May 5, 1910, through February 24, 1911. (One report is for March 26, 1917, and appears to list Coffyn's flights for that day.) The reports were completed on preprinted forms with columns for "Machine Number, Operator [pilot]," "Passenger," "Time of Flight," "Wind Direction," "Wind Velocity," "Length of Flight (Time and Distance)," and "Remarks." Spaces were also provided for Date, Gasoline Used, and Oil Used, and a signature. Fifty-six of the reports are signed by Frank Coffyn; the remaining sixteen appear to be in Coffyn's handwriting. Most are carbon copies. The reports cover flights made at Huffman Prairie, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Montreal, Canada; Atlantic City and Asbury Park, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; and Augusta, Georgia. Besides Orville and Wilbur Wright, most of the pilots and passengers listed were students who became members of the Wright Exhibition Team. Pilots and passengers include: Griffith Brewer, Walter Brookins, William Starling Burgess, Frank Coffyn, Arch Hoxsey, Ralph Johnstone, Duval LaChapelle, Albert B. Lambert (President St. Louis Aero Club), Phillip O. Parmalee, Norman Prince, Frank H. Russell (first manager of the Wright Co.), Charlie Taylor, and Arthur L. "Al" Welsh [spelled by Coffyn throughout as "Welch"], and Lorin Wright. Most notable is the report of May 25, 1910, which lists the only flight Orville and Wilbur Wright made together, and the first and only flight taken by their father, Bishop Milton Wright. Remarks include notes on modifications and damage to the aircraft, reasons for takeoff failures, and (in some cases) altitude attained in flight. Additional notes on the earlier reports record total flight hours to date for several of the pilots.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged at the item level; pages from log are displayed chronologically.
Biographical / Historical:
Wilbur Wright was born April 16, 1867, his brother Orville Wright on August 19, 1871. They, along with sister Katharine and brothers Reuchlin and Lorin, were raised near Millville, Indiana and in Dayton, Ohio by their mother, Susan Wright, and father, Milton Wright, bishop of the United Brethren Church. As young men, Wilbur and Orville launched a printing business and a bicycle shop. An interest in aeronautics, spurred by the accounts of the experiments of Otto Lilienthal, prompted Wilbur to request information on the subject from the Smithsonian Institution in 1899. In August of 1900, Wilbur built his first glider and that year and the next the brothers tested gliders at Kitty Hawk. The Wrights constructed a wind tunnel to gather accurate aeronautical data and, benefiting from this new information, another glider was built in 1902. In 1903, the brothers were ready to began construction of a powered craft. With the assistance of mechanic Charles Taylor, they added a 4-cylinder, 12-horsepower engine and propellers to the 1903 Flyer and it was sent to Kitty Hawk for testing. At 10:35 am, December 17, on Kill Devil Hill, Orville achieved a flight of 12 seconds--traveling a distance of 120 feet. By 1908 the Wrights were demonstrating their machines in Europe. The U.S. Army Signal Corps advertised for bids for a two-seat observation aircraft and in 1908 and 1909, the Wrights flew at official Army trials at Fort Myer, Virginia. (It was here that powered flight's first fatality occurred: the tragic death of Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.) The Army was to purchase the Military Flyer (Signal Corps No. 1) for {dollar}30,000 in 1909. In that same year, The Wright Company was established to manufacture Wright aircraft. Wilbur died in Dayton, Ohio on May 30,1912. Orville Wright would live until January 30, 1948
Provenance:
Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, NASM.XXXX.0641
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
This collection consists of four 3.5" x 5.5" black and white photographs of the Wright Type A Transitional in flight at Huffman Prairie during May of 1910.
Provenance:
Joseph Estabrook and Jane Marlow, Gift, 2004
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 consists of two newspapers put out by the printing firm of Orville and Wilbur Wright. Included here is one copy of volume 1, number 18, July 13, 1889 of West Side News, a weekly newspaper of which Wilbur was the editor and Orville the publisher. Also included is one copy of volume 1, number 5, November 17, 1894 of Snap-Shots at Current Events, another weekly newspaper. Both periodicals were put out by Wright and Wright printers, located in Dayton, Ohio. Also included is a June 22, 1954 letter from the Dayton Public Library concerning these two publications.
Biographical / Historical:
Before their historic part in the development of aircraft and before the establishment of their bicycle company, the Wright brothers were involved in the printing business. Beginning as a hobby, Orville Wright's interest in printing soon caught his brother Wilbur's attention, and in 1888 they established a printing company in Dayton, Ohio. The Wright brothers' printing firm produced local periodicals such as: The Midget, West Side News, The Dayton Tattler, church pamphlets, and bicycle parts catalogs. The Wright brothers sold their printing business in 1899.
Provenance:
C.G.B. Stuart, Gift, 1960
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 consists of two scrapbooks kept by Glenn H. Curtiss and filled with photographs of himself and Samuel Langley. The photos show the two men and their experiments with Langley's aircraft, the Langley Aerodrome. The trial flights were conducted on Lake Kewka, near Hammondsport, NY. Each photo is labeled with a caption and a date. The second (chronologically) book of the set is a continuation of the photos of the Langley experiments by Glenn H. Curtiss, and while the photos are numbered, they have no captions or labeling on them. Some dates are available on the photos. Curtiss' autograph appears inside the cover of one scrapbook.
Biographical / Historical:
Nine days before the Wright brothers' first successful flight, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Langley had the trial for his steam-powered machine, called the Great Aerodrome. Heavily funded by the United States government, the Aerodrome broke apart almost immediately upon takeoff in a highly-publicized event, and Langley and the Smithsonian Institution suffered embarrassment over the incident. After Langley passed away in 1906, his successor, Charles Walcott, claimed that although Langley may not have flown that December morning the Aerodrome was certainly capable of it. Walcott's "proof" was in a rebuilt version of Langley's Aerodrome, which was later successfully flown by American airplane manufacturer Glenn Curtiss. Curtiss, who was engaged in a patent suit with the Wright brothers, rebuilt and flew Langley's Aerodrome with 1914 modifications with the hope of showing the courts that the Wrights did not invent the airplane. While Curtiss eventually lost the patent suit, the flight was used by the Smithsonian to redeem Langley's role in the history of flight.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Glenn H. Curtiss, gift, unknown, XXXX-0294, 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 scrapbook is one of three prepared by the Aero Club of America in honor of the presentation of the Aero Club of America medals to Orville and Wilber Wright by President William Howard Taft. The book consist of photos, editorials, articles, and cartoons published on 16 June 1909, the day of the presentation, and given to the club for inclusion in the book. Also included are several copies of speeches made at the presentation as well as letters from ten governors and 13 scientific bodies.
Biographical / Historical:
Wilbur Wright was born April 16, 1867, his brother Orville Wright on August 19, 1871. They, along with sister Katharine and brothers Reuchlin and Lorin, were raised near Millville, Indiana and in Dayton, Ohio by their mother, Susan Wright, and father, Milton Wright, bishop of the United Brethren Church. As young men, Wilbur and Orville launched a printing business and a bicycle shop. An interest in aeronautics, spurred by the accounts of the experiments of Otto Lilienthal, prompted Wilbur to request information on the subject from the Smithsonian Institution in 1899. In August of 1900, Wilbur built his first glider and that year and the next the brothers tested gliders at Kitty Hawk. The Wrights constructed a wind tunnel to gather accurate aeronautical data and, benefiting from this new information, another glider was built in 1902. In 1903, the brothers were ready to began construction of a powered craft. With the assistance of mechanic Charles Taylor, they added a 4-cylinder, 12-horsepower engine and propellers to the 1903 Flyer and it was sent to Kitty Hawk for testing. At 10:35 am, December 17, on Kill Devil Hill, Orville achieved a flight of 12 seconds--traveling a distance of 120 feet. By 1908 the Wrights were demonstrating their machines in Europe. The U.S. Army Signal Corps advertised for bids for a two-seat observation aircraft and in 1908 and 1909, the Wrights flew at official Army trials at Fort Myer, Virginia. (It was here that powered flight's first fatality occurred: the tragic death of Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.) The Army was to purchase the Military Flyer (Signal Corps No. 1) for {dollar}30,000 in 1909. In that same year, The Wright Company was established to manufacture Wright aircraft. Wilbur died in Dayton, Ohio on May 30,1912. Orville Wright would live until January 30, 1948.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Aero Club of America, Gift, 1915, XXXX-0324, 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 collection consists of two manuscripts by Octave Chanute, "Conditions and Success in the Design of Flying Machines" and "Recent Experiments in Gliding Flight;" and three series of correspondence. The first series, Miscellaneous Correspondence, dates from September 21, 1891 to November 2, 1911. The second series, Correspondence with Louis P. Mouillard, consists of originals and three sub-series of copies, none of which are complete runs. The originals date from April 1891 to May 1897; the first sub-series of copies dates from April 1890 to June 1894; the second sub-series of copies from April 1891 to April 1894; and the third sub-series of copies from July 1891 to July 1894. The last major series is Correspondence with Wilbur Wright, dating from May 1900 to October 1911.
Biographical / Historical:
Octave Chanute, born in Paris in 1832, was one of America's leading civil engineers, specializing in railroads and railroad bridges with the first bridge across the Missouri River to his credit. After developing a reputation as a scientist, writer and speaker, Chanute's interests turned to the possibility of flight. Beginning in 1891 he wrote a series of articles on his research and published them in book form, making him the first aviation historian. In 1896 he designed and constructed four gliders aided by William Avery and Augustus Herring, testing them on the Indiana shores of Lake Michigan. The Chanute team made more than 1,000 manned flights without accident, and with a few modifications his 2-surfaced glider was to become the prototype of all modern biplanes. As he grew older, Chanute turned to writing, speaking and corresponding with inventors to encourage them to continue where he had left off. He died at the age of 78 in 1910, one of the foremost pioneers in aviation.
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
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 consists of two scrapbooks and several folders of correspondence, bills and accounting information involving early attempts to develop a flying machine, the flights of the Langley Aerodrome, and the flights of the Wright Brothers at Fort Myer in 1904 and 1908. Covered in detail are the unsuccessful attempts of Emile Berliner and his son Henry to construct a helicopter capable of stable, controllable, forward flight. Also covered is helicopter development in Europe during the same period.
Biographical / Historical:
Emile Berliner (1851-1929) was an inventor best known today for his innovative helicopter designs. He began experimentation with rocket propulsion as early as 1903 and began exploring the possibilities of vertical flight shortly thereafter. After his service in World War I, Emile's son Henry Adler Berliner (1895-?) joined his father in his helicopter experiments. During the early nineteen-twenties, the Berliners produced several helicopter designs. Henry Berliner later became involved in the development of fixed-wing aircraft and in 1929 joined with Temple-Joyce to form Berliner-Joyce.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Col. Henry Berliner, gift, XXXX-0247, 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
Frank Coffyn (1878-1960) was a pioneer flyer and aviation consultant. Coffyn learned to fly from the Wright Brothers in Dayton Ohio, and was a member of the original Wright Flying Team. This collection consists of scrapbooks and photo albums documenting his career.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of five scrapbooks. Scrapbook A contains photographs and newspaper clippings relating to Coffyn's visit to the aviation meet of the Michigan Aero Club on June 19-23, 1911. Scrapbook B is comprised of newspaper clippings pertaining to Coffyn's flights in various parts of the U. S. during the year 1912. Scrapbook C is a photo album covering the years 1910-1932, with photos labeled by subject and date. This scrapbook contains some images of a model B Wright Biplane. Book D includes photographs of Coffyn in New York harbor, images of the Lachapelle Gliding Boat, a photo and letter from portrait artist Lewis Eugene Thompson, and a Halcyon Caravel ship photo. Book E is a photo album containing images of Coffyn and a Burgess Flying Boat in 1913.
Arrangement:
Scrapbooks/photo albums have been arranged according to size of enclosure required to safely house each item.
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Coffyn (1878-1960) was a pioneer flyer and aviation consultant. Coffyn learned to fly from the Wright Brothers in Dayton Ohio, and was a member of the original Wright Flying Team.
Provenance:
Frank Coffyn, Gift, unknown, NASM.XXXX.0065
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
