In an Unpublished Letter to the First Civil Employee of the Army Air Force, Orville Wright Describes in Detail the Final Test Flight of the First Military Aircraft – Airplane “No. 1″ – Which He Built

“The motor made 1310 r.p.m. in flight, de­veloping 32 horse power. The ten mile course from Fort Myer to Alexandria and return was covered in 14 minutes, 4O seconds–an average speed of 42.58 miles.”

The first military airplane in the world was built by the Wright brothers for the Army Signal Corps. The Army placed the idea of military aviation in the Signal Corps in August 1907 because observation and reconnaissance were the only functions for the airplane imagined by the military at that time. In December 1907, the Chief Signal Officer requested bids for a flying machine with requirements generally thought to be impossible. The specification required the “Heavier-than-air Flying Machine” to carry two people, fly 40 miles per hour, make a one-hour endurance flight and be portable by Army wagons. Flying instruction for two officers was also required. Many in the aeronautical community predicted that the Army would not receive any bids, but the Wright brothers signed a contract on February 10, 1908, and delivered the airplane to Fort Myer in August 1908.

Orville Wright was the pilot for the flights required to demonstrate performance. Less than a thousand people witnessed the first flight at Fort Myer, Virginia, on September 3, 1908, because the general public was still skeptical about the utility or practicality of powered flight. The public was unimpressed — the news story was buried on page 3 of the Washington Evening Star.

But they did not remain unimpressed for long. Orville’s subsequent flights during the next two weeks were watched by thousands, and they began to get longer and longer. By September 9, Orville was breaking records almost daily and remaining aloft for over an hour at a time. He also began taking passengers, flying the aviation experts that the Army had assembled to review the Wright airplane. The American public saw that “man could fly,” and the military was now convinced that airplanes must be an element in their arsenals.

The flights at Fort Myer established a number of new world records for endurance, but the last flight on September 17 ended in disaster. A crack in the right propeller caused the plane to crash, seriously injuring Orville and killing Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge. Delivery of the new flying machine was postponed until the following summer, while the Wrights improved the design. On June 3, 1909, the Wrights returned to Fort Myer with a new airplane to complete the trials begun in 1908.  On July 30, Orville flew the last test – the speed test – with Lt. Benjamin D. Foulois as his passenger. The Army formally accepted Signal Corps Airplane No. 1, the world’s first military airplane, on August 2, 1909. The Wright brothers fulfilled their contract in October and early November when Wilbur Wright provided flying instruction for three Army officers at College Park, Maryland. They received $30,000 from the Army for the airplane.

Henry Molineu was the first civilian employee of the newly created Army Air Force and was the mechanic for its airplanes.

Typed letter signed, on his personal letterhead, September 10, 1919, to Molineu, describing the flight of Airplane No. 1 in detail, and referring to the 1908 flight that crashed. “My dear Mr. Molineu: I have your letter in regard to the No. 1 aeroplane purchased by the United States Government. The flight from Fort Myer to Alexandria was made on July 30, 1909. (The aeroplane which I used in the flights of September, 1908, at Fort Myer, was de­stroyed in an accident on the 17th of September of that year.) Lieutenant Benjamin D. Foulois (now General Foulois) was the observer on this test flight.

“The motor made 1310 r.p.m. in flight, de­veloping 32 horse power. The ten mile course from Fort Myer to Alexandria and return was covered in 14 minutes, 4O seconds–an average speed of 42.58 miles. The timing of this flight varied a good deal. Foulois’ time taken on the machine with a stop watch gave a speed of a little over 42.9 miles. At College Park on October 9, 1909, the machine showed a speed of 45.8 miles, over a course with and against the wind. The flight to Alexandria was made in a quartering wind, so that there was a loss in both directions.”  This letter was acquired by us directly from the Molineu descendants and has never before been offered for sale.

The airplane referred to in this letter was given to the Smithsonian in 1911. It hangs today in the Air and Space Museum.