Beschreibung:

WRIGHT, WILBUR and ORVILLE WRIGHT. Typed letter signed by Orville ("Wilbur and Orville Wright, per O.W."), to Carl Dienstbach, Dayton, Ohio, 17 November 1905. One full page, 4to, single-spaced, on printed stationery of the Wright Cycle Company, with the original stamped and postmarked envelope (torn open), the letter slightly age-browned at edges. THE SECOND SEASON OF POWERED FLIGHT: THE WRIGHT'S ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORIC HUFFMAN PRAIRIE FLIGHTS An extremely important letter, reporting on the second season of test flights made near Dayton, Ohio with a rebuilt Flyer which incorporated modifications based upon their experiences in the first Kitty Hawk experiments the previous year. While their longest flight at Kitty Hawk had been only 850 feet in 59 seconds, during this second series of tests, known as the Huffman Prairie flights, the Wrights made flights of astonishing distance and duration. While engaged in these revolutionary experiments, the brothers deliberately refrained from making their remarkable successes public until it was cÿear that they had attained the best record possible: a flight of 38 minutes which covered a remarkable 24 miles (achieved on October 5). Then, the Wrights communicated the results of these flights to three persons in the three countries where they hoped eventually to sell their aircraft. One, the present letter, was to Carl Dienstbach, the New York correspondent for the Illustrierte Aeronautische Mitteilungen , with whom they had corresponded immediately after their Kitty Hawk flights (see lot ). "As you requested...an account of the progress made with our flyer, we take pleasure in sending you the following particulars, now that the season is over. Our field of experiment in l905 was situated eight miles east of Dayton, on what is known as the Huffman Prairie. A number of changes in the machine since l904 made it necessary to almost relearn the art of management [piloting], so that for some time the flights were not equal to our best of last year; and it was not until the 6th of September that we succeeded in equalling our former record. Progress from that day on was rapid, and on the 26th of September we made a flight of l7,961 meters in l8 minutes and 9 seconds; September 29, l9,570 meters in l9 minutes and 55 seconds; September 30th, a flight of 17 minutes and 15 seconds; October 3rd; 24,535 meters in 25 minutes and 5 seconds; October 4th, 33,456 meters in 33 minutes and 17 seconds; and October 5th; 38,956 meters in 38 minutes and 3 seconds. "The flights of September 26th, 29th and October 5th were terminated through the exhaustion of the fuel supply; those of September 30th, October 3rd and 6th through the heating of transmission bearings which had no oil cups. On October 3rd we increased the size of the gasoline reservoir so as to carry enough fuel for an hour's run of the engine....On this day [October 5th], after giving the engine a test run of about 20 minutes, the machine was put in flight. Unfortunately, we neglected to refill the gasolene reservoir and the flight was stopped at the end of 38 minutes for lack of fuel. But besides the gasolene carried were several iron bars, which represented in weight fuel enough for a flight of more than an hour and a half additional. "The machine was now in excellent condition, and we intended to put the record above the hour, but at this point we were compelled to suddenly discontinue the experiments on account of the attention they were beginning to attract, in spite of our efforts to maintain secrecy. It was not our desire that the construction of our machine should become public. These flights were witnessed by several hundred persons altogether, among whom were the farmers working on the surrounding farms, and many well known citizens of Dayton. We were sorry that your business engagements prevented you from making us a second visit last Summer, as you had intended...." At the same date, the Wright's communicated the news of the Huffmann Pr