Three-way fight for first in flight
“The Scottish Parliament might vote unanimously that the Loch Ness monster is real, but that doesn’t make it so.”
– editorial in The Hartford (Connecticut) Courant
For years, a battle has waged between Ohio and North Carolina over which state should receive proper credit for The Wright Brothers and their pioneering flight in 1903…billed as the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. The Tar Heel state claims credit because the brothers’ flight took place near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Buckeye state claims credit because Orville and Wilbur hailed from Dayton. This dispute is why North Carolina says that its “first in flight” while Ohio says that its the “birthplace of aviation” (despite Wilbur Wright having been born in Indiana).
Some voices claim that both states are wrong. A number of people in Connecticut say that the Wright brothers shouldn’t get the credit for their flight at all…that actually, the person responsible for the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than air human flight was Connecticut resident Gustave Whitehead in 1901. Those claims are widely criticized, even by many in that state, due to a lack of evidence of any such flight. There were journalistic accounts of Whitehead’s voyage in 1901, but many stories at the time were embellished for the sake of selling newspapers…something that would NEVER happen today <wink>. Also going against the claim, there was no photographic evidence of a Whitehead flight in 1901. There are images from the Wright brothers flight in 1903. Still, some voices in Connecticut persist that their boy Gustave should get the credit.
Connecticut lawmakers in 2013 passed a resolution honoring Whitehead for his “achievement.” This week, the Ohio legislature responded, passing its own resolution by a unanimous vote honoring the Wright brothers. (jj)
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