Orville Wright Doubts Viable Alternatives to the Flying Machine Invented by Himself and Brother Wilbur

“I am so strongly of the opinion that soaring flight is possible only in ascending trends of air that I do not expect any new type of machine to be developed from experiments along this line.”

The Wright Brothers breakthrough in inventing the airplane was to realize that if the wing on one side of the aircraft met the oncoming flow of air at a greater angle than the opposite wing, it would generate more lift on that side. In response, that wing would rise, causing the aircraft to bank. If the pilot could manipulate the wings in this way, he could maintain balance and turn the aircraft as well. The brothers had considered using a system of gears and pivoting shafts to angle the wings in opposite directions, but they quickly realized such a system would be too heavy and complex. Then they conceived the elegant concept of twisting, or warping, the wing structure itself to take advantage of air currents, a method they called wing-warping. They were aware of gliders, and used some technology from them, but saw them as limited and no competition for the airplane.

Richard R. Blythe was an early aviator whose PR firm promoted Lindbergh’s flight. He went on to become the president of the Aeronautic Executives of the United States. He was mainly interested in the commercial possibilities in aviation. Blythe was also a prolific writer on aviation. In 1922 he wrote an article on sky sailing, something along the lines of a sailplane.

Typed letter signed, on his letterhead, October 7, 1922, to about another flight invention, ”sky-sailing.” ‘Your letter enclosing a clipping of your article in the New York Tribune on sky sailing is received. I understand there are several projects on foot in America to encourage experiments in soaring flight. I am so strongly of the opinion that soaring flight is possible only in ascending trends of air that I do not expect any new type of machine to be developed from experiments along this line. However, this kind of flight does furnish a very good sport, as well as good training to those who engage in it, and for these reasons is to be encouraged….Orville Wright”. Vestige of old mounting on back with some show through to front.
Thus did Orville Wright defend his airplane and its mechanics, and dismiss other flying machines predicated on different principles than the Wright Brothers had discovered that were proven to work.

An uncommon letter of Wright about flight and the principles the Wright Brothers used in their great invention.