Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Moose
I don't think it was ever offered to the Smithsonian in 1910, the feud was too bitter.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench
The Smithsonian was just the old castle and likely a few storage warehouses back in 1910 but it had been around since the Mexican war era so a lot of icons have been offered up over the many years of its existence. Both of the Wright brothers were still alive in 1910 and it was likely collecting dust in their digs. I don't doubt the museum's information much. They like to be on the up and up about American History.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench
The Smithsonian didn't want the original Wright Flyer back in 1910 when it was offered due to the Langley bias. Charles Walcott was dead set that Langley's old Aerodrome should have been the first successful powered airplane. The Smithsonian finally accepted it in 1948 and it is as original as it gets.
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitio...ght%20aircraft. |
It doesn't completely surprise me the Smithsonian is still glossing over this event.
From Kill Devil Hill by Harry Combs, one of the best books written on the Wrights pg 346-7:
"This whole ugly [Langley] episode cast a shadow over the real accomplishments of the Wright brothers, a burden Orville was forced to carry alone for many years. This was the main reason Orville had refused to place the The Kitty Hawk Flyer in the Smithsonian. Instead, he kept it in storage; then in 1928 he sent it to the Science Museum in South Kensington London, on loan....
Eventually as a result of many concerned individuals and a concerned Congress, Orville accepted the Smithsonian's official apology, and The Flyer came home to rest..."
Feud was not the only word used to describe the Smithsonian's actions against the Wrights, fraud also has come to be written in the history. It is not a good page in the history of the Smithsonian.