Wilbur Wright and Frank Butler in the Flyer, Camp d'Auvours, near Le Mans, France, 1908-1909

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Artifact Overview

After his impressive demonstration flights at Le Mans, France, in 1908, Wilbur Wright became one of the most celebrated men in Europe. Monarchs, politicians and business leaders came to see him fly, as did fellow aviators. Wright took more than 40 passengers up into the sky with him during his French flights, including Frank Hedges Butler, President of the Aero Club of England.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Negative (Photograph)

Subject Date

1908-1909

Collection Title

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2000.53.97

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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    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.