On glider constrution a year prior to Kitty Hawk - photo 1

On glider constrution a year prior to Kitty Hawk

Lot 53
22.04.2021 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 15 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 517699
Lot 53 | On glider constrution a year prior to Kitty Hawk
Estimate value
$ 15 000 – 25 000
WRIGHT, Wilbur (1867-1912). Autograph letter signed (“Wilbur Wright”) to Douglas W. Smeaton, Dayton, 5 April 1902.

One page, 279 x 214mm, on Wright Cycle Company stationery with original transmittal envelope addressed in his hand (letter hinged to a mat, envelope affixed with hinges to bottom portion of letter just below Wright’s signature, lightly toned along mailing folds).

A rare autograph letter signed by Wilbur Wright on glider construction a year before the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. Wright writes to answer his correspondent's question in regard to the contraction of the Wright gliders: "Our frame work in gliding machines is made of spruce and 2nd growth ash. The joints are made by lasing with linen cord. We use no nails at all, except brads to hold pieces in place prior to lashing with cord. Where metal is used it is lashed fast." Orville and Wilbur Wright produced their first glider in 1900 basing their design on Octave Chanute's bi-winged 1896 model. In 1902 they were preparing their third model which would be the first to employ the rear rudder for yaw control and would be the final model prior to the powered 1903 Wright Flyer. (Whether any relationship exists between the recipient of the letter and the British engineer John Smeaton, whose eponymous coefficient regarding lift and drag was famously corrected by the Wright Brothers is not known currently.)
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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08.04.2021 – 22.04.2021
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