Preparing for a Demonstration Flight of the Wright Flyer, France, 1908-1909

01

Artifact Overview

Because the Wright brothers' early airplanes had no wheels in their landing gear, the planes required smooth, flat surfaces for takeoffs. The brothers created a wooden monorail track over which their airplanes could ride during launch. This photo shows sections of the track being moved during Wilbur Wright's successful demonstration flights in France in 1908-1909.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Negative (Photograph)

Subject Date

1909-1909

Collection Title

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2000.53.110

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

Preparing for a Demonstration Flight of the Wright Flyer, France, 1908-1909