Companion Signed Photographs of Orville and Wilbur Wright in Flight

Signed photographs of Wilbur in flight are great rarities, this being our first ever ~ a wonderful group and symbolic of an era and a major technological advancement

Perhaps the most influential brothers in history, Wilbur and Orville Wright’s creative and technological genius revolutionized transportation on and above planet earth. The two originally owned a bicycle repair shop in Dayton, Ohio, but they were also aviation enthusiasts and followed closely the latest literature and flight attempts of pioneers like Otto Lilienthal. But they were more than spectators, as in 1899 they began spending their spare time scientifically experimenting with the concepts of flight, working towards the dream of creating a powered and controlled flying machine. They labored in relative obscurity, as the plaudits and attention were given to men like the Smithsonian’s Samuel Langley.

The Wrights started out testing gliders at Big Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After over a thousand glides from atop that hill, the Wrights made themselves the first true pilots. It was their genius and vision to see that humans would have to fly their machines while steering and making adjustments in the air, that practical experience in the air was required, and that the problems of flight could not be solved from the ground. In Wilbur's words, "It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill." Through those experiments, they had solved the problem of sustained lift, and more importantly they could now control an aircraft while in flight. Now they needed an engine and propeller, but no adequate models of either existed, so they designed their own. Using their air tunnel data, theirs was the first efficient airplane propeller, one of their most original purely scientific achievements.

By December 14, 1903, their plane was complete. On that day, Wilbur piloted the flyer in its first attempt to fly. However, he oversteered with the elevator after leaving the launching rail. The flyer climbed too steeply, stalled, and dove into the sand. The first flight would have to wait on repairs. On December 17, it was Orville’s turn. At 10:35 am he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter on a preset camera, capturing the historic image of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside. Again the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into the 27-mph wind, the groundspeed had been 6.8 mph, for a total airspeed of 34 mph. The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight – the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds. This was the real thing; the Wright machine had flown.

Thus was modern aviation was born, throwing open the doors for travel, communication, and international commerce. The world was revolutionized, reconfigured as a global community.

Orville died in 1948, full of years and honors. When people asked him for an autograph, he would sometimes send them a signed copy of the photograph of the first flight. But not so Wilbur, who died in 1912 at age 45 of typhoid fever. This was decades before the era when Orville would, at leisure, respond to autograph requests, so autographs of Wilbur of any kind are extremely uncommon.

The first photograph we offer is the famous, historic photograph of the first flight, showing Orville Wright lying in the airplane while piloting it, and Wilbur running alongside, signed by Orville.  The photograph is 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches, and is black and white on semi-glossy card stock.

The second is a postcard photograph, a bit smaller than Orville’s and perfect for side-by-side framing, showing Wilbur at the controls, signed by him and dated “8 Nov. 1908”. The Wright Brothers had been in France for a triumphant series of demonstrations, beginning at Hunaudières on August 8, the technical daring and degree of control of which had overwhelmed the previously skeptical French public. Wilbur won a number of prizes, including that of the Aéro-Club de France for the endurance record of 1 hour 32 minutes set at Camp D’Auvours on September 28. In October he set another such record. On November 5 Wilbur gave a speech to the Aéro-Club de France, and three days later signed this photograph. The postcard says, “Aviation in 1908. Mr. Wilbur Wright flies at a height of 20 meters [about 60 feet] at Camp D’Auvours”.

Signed photographs of Wilbur in flight are great rarities. A search of public sale records turns up only a handful of others in the last two decades. This is our first; in fact we have only had one autograph of Wilbur Wright before, and that was back in the 1990s.