Crowd Gathered for Demonstration Flights by Wilbur Wright, France, 1908-1909

Summary

Wilbur Wright's many demonstration flights in France in 1908 and 1909 were spectacular events. Some in Europe had begun to doubt the Wrights' achievement at Kill Devil Hills. When Wilbur took to the skies over Le Mans, demonstrating more control and achieving more distance than his rivals, crowds flocked to watch his apparent mastery of the airplane. The skeptics were silenced.

Wilbur Wright's many demonstration flights in France in 1908 and 1909 were spectacular events. Some in Europe had begun to doubt the Wrights' achievement at Kill Devil Hills. When Wilbur took to the skies over Le Mans, demonstrating more control and achieving more distance than his rivals, crowds flocked to watch his apparent mastery of the airplane. The skeptics were silenced.

Artifact

Negative (Photograph)

Subject Date

1908-1909

Collection Title

Leon Bollee Photographs 

 On Exhibit

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2000.53.87

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Glass (Material)

Technique

Gelatin dry plate process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 5.000 in

Width: 7.000 in

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