Wright Brothers Flight Demonstration at Fort Myer 1909 US Army; JQ Music
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The Wright brothers demonstrating their Model A 1909 Military Flyer on July 27, 1909 for the US Army Signal Corps at Fort Myer, Virginia. This flight lasted over an hour (setting a record), with Orville Wright as pilot, and 1st Lt. Frank P. Lahm, a cavalry officer, as passenger.
Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The film was silent. I have added music created by myself using the Reaper Digital Audio Workstation and the Independence and Proteus VX VST instrument plugins.
The Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps (1907–1914) was the first heavier-than-air military aviation organization in history and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Aeronautical Division procured the first powered military aircraft in 1909, created schools to train its aviators, and initiated a rating system for pilot qualifications. It organized and deployed the first permanent American aviation unit, the 1st Aero Squadron, in 1913…
The Wright Brothers, who had been asking $100,000 for their airplane, then agreed to sell an airplane satisfying the requirements for $25,000 (they also received a $5,000 bonus for exceeding the speed requirement). The airplane was delivered to Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 1, 1908, for trials…
On September 17, 1908, because he was under orders to travel to St. Joseph for the dirigible exhibition, Selfridge [1st Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, Field Artillery] asked to take the place of a United States Navy observer, Lieutenant George Sweet, scheduled for a test flight. During the flight, flying at 150 ft (46 m), a propeller split and shattered, severing a wire to the rudder, and caused the airplane to crash. Wright was hospitalized, and Selfridge—the Army’s only officer experienced in heavier-than-air flight—was killed in the first fatal crash of an airplane.
Orville Wright, along with Wilbur this time, returned to Fort Myer in June 1909 with a new though smaller and faster airplane, powered by the engine from the wrecked 1908 Flyer. The brothers spent the better part of July fine tuning the airplane and warming up for the final tests while bad flying weather hampered much of the month. For 1909’s acceptance trials both Lahm and Foulois were named as official observers.
Lahm flew with Wright on July 27, and on July 30, with President William H. Taft as a spectator, Foulois and Wright in the final acceptance trial made a cross country flight of 10 mi (16 km) around Shuter’s (or Shooters) Hill between Fort Myer and Alexandria, Virginia. This flight broke all of the existing records for speed, duration with a passenger and altitude with a passenger. Pleased with the performance of this airplane the Army purchased it awarding the Wrights $25,000 plus an added bonus of $5,000 ($1,000 for each mile achieved over 40 mph (64 km/h)). The plane’s best speed had been 45 mph (72 km/h) bringing the total sale price to $30,000….
The Wright Model A was an early aircraft produced by the Wright Brothers in the United States beginning in 1906. It was a development of their Flyer III airplane of 1905…
The 1909 Military Flyer was a one-of-a-kind Model A built by the Wright Brothers. With wings shortened two feet and the same engine salvaged from the 1908 Wright Military Flyer wrecked at Fort Myer, it differed from the standard Wright A in size and had a faster speed. The aircraft was demonstrated at Fort Myer, Virginia beginning June 28, 1909 for the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, which offered a contract of $25,000 ($656,204 in 2008 dollars) for an aircraft capable of flying at 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) with two people on board for a distance of 125 miles (201 km). After rigorous trials the Signal Corps accepted the airplane as “Signal Corps (S.C.) No. 1”, August 2, 1909, paying the brothers $30,000 ($787,444 in 2012 US dollars)…
The original Wright Military Model A plane (Signal Corps No. 1) is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC…
An exact reproduction of the 1909 Military Flyer is on display in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio…
