Is It True About Ohio?

The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp honoring the one hundredth anniversary of the first flight by the Wright Brothers.

The first man in powered flight was from Ohio.

The first man ever to orbit the Earth was from Ohio.

And, the first man on the Moon was from Ohio.

It sounds like a lot of people are trying to get out of Ohio.

But, really, congratulations to Orville, John and Neil and Ohio.

--CootOutofHere

Wright Brothers' Niece Recalls Family Stories-- Part 3

Orville Wright had a pre-lunch routine that he followed precisely.  He entered the back door at noon, placed his hat on a chair, ate one cracker then sat and read until the housekeeper called him for lunch.  He would leave and return minutes later to retrieve the bowler hat he'd left behind.  In other words, the man who discovered the secrets of manned flight could not remember his hat according to Amanda Wright Lane.

Lane has appeared on TV and visited dignitaries and presidents.

When she took the role as family ambassador during the 2003 centennial at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, she saw nearly 40,000 people gathered to see a replica of their plane attempt a take-off.

--Cooter

Wright Brother's Niece Recalls Old Family Stories About Her Uncles-- Part 2

Great grand-niece Amanda Wright Lane was born in 1953,five years after Orville died and she used to listen intently to family stories, especially the ones told by her great aunt Ivonette Wright Miller who knew the brothers well and in 1911 became one of the first female airplane passengers.

Neither of the brothers ever married and Wilbur died in 1912 of typhoid fever at age 45.  Wilbur was the older of the two and took things more seriously.  Orville was more of a cut up and never graduated from high school.

The brothers would discuss each others' ideas and change them for flight.  Many changes came about from these sessions.

--Fly-Boy Cooter

Wright Brothers' Niece Recalls Old Family Stories-- Part 1

From the October 19, 2014, Goldsboro (N.C.) News-Argus by AP.

Amanda Wright Lane Says Loved Ones Always Believed They Would Achieve Flight.

About 50 years ago, Amanda Wright Lane's third-grade teacher told the class that the Wright brothers were the first to achieve flight.  She thought to herself that that wasn't right..  The first to fly were Uncle Wil and Uncle Orv.

She remembers that her extended family would gather every Sunday to tell stories about her famous uncles who ran a bicycle shop in Dayton and were fond of practical jokes.  And, they had the conviction that one day, they would fly.

The family supported them, but neighbors thought they were wasting their time.

She is the Wright brothers' great grand-niece and has been traveling the world since the 2003 centennial celebration of the historic December 17, 1903, flight at Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina.  She was born in 1953 and is the descendant of Wilbur and Orville's older brother Lorin.

More to Come.  --"Air" Cooter.

Wright Brothers Mechanic Honored-- Part 2

Charles Taylor was a self-taught mechanic who hand-built the first airplane engine after many automakers rejected the Wright Brothers' requests to build one for them.

The San Diego-based Aircraft Maintenance Technicians Association raised $6,000 to have the bronze bust made and displayed at the museum.Founder of the association, Ken MacTiernan, said, "Charlie was a very humble person, never sought the limelight and over history, history kind of forgot the men and women behind the scenes who maintained the aircraft.

Besides the engine on that famous plane, Charles Taylor was also the first airport manager, beginning at Dayton's Huffman Prairie where the Wright brothers perfected controlled flight.  He also was the first mechanic of a cross-country flight and the 49-day flight from New York to Los Angeles in 1911.

Someone I Had Never Heard of before.  --Cooter

Wright Brothers Mechanic Honored-- Part 1

From the July 22, 2014, Goldsboro  (NC) News-Argus.  AP.

CHARLES TAYLOR created the engine that made historic flight.

And, a guy most, including myself, have never heard of before.  Without him, no amount of Wright designing would have resulted in that historic flight.

DAYTON, OHIO.  "The man who built the engine for Orville and Wilbur Wright's first powered flight has finally gotten his due."

Charles Taylor, a mechanic in the Wright brothers' bicycle shop in Dayton, built the engine that took them on the flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, on December 17, 1903.

On Monday, a bronze bust of Mr. Taylor  was unveiled at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton.  I went right by the place yesterday in my trip to North Carolina.

Something Else to See at the Museum.  --Cooter