Confident that they knew how to construct a reliable flying machine, the brothers turned their attention to finding practical applications for it. They believed that airplanes eventually would be useful for recreation and transportation. But they realized that the first useful employment of airplanes would be in military capacities. So, they wrote to the U.S. War Department with a proposal to sell their aircraft.
Wilbur and Orville negotiated a contract with the War Department. They promised to develop a plane that could seat two people, fly 40 miles per hour, remain in the air for one hour, and carry enough fuel to travel 125 miles. The two parties agreed on a price of $25,000. The War Department offered a bonus if the plane exceeded the requirements.
In the summer of 1908, the brothers headed to Fort Myer, Virginia, with their Flyer. They completed nine flight trials successfully. On the 10th test flight, however, one of the propellers cracked and broke. The aircraft crashed and was wrecked. Orville was gravely injured and was hospitalized for seven weeks. Worse, his passenger, Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge, was killed in the first aircraft casualty.
The War Department agreed to postpone the trials until the following summer. In June 1909, the brothers returned to Virginia with yet another version of their Flyer. The U.S. Signal Corps, part of the U.S. Army, was eager for the Wright brothers to succeed. It knew that European countries, such as France and Germany, were building aerial fleets. The Signal Corps wanted the United States to develop modern aeronautical equipment for the nation’s defense.
This story is from the November/December 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
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This story is from the November/December 2023 edition of Cobblestone American History Magazine for Kids.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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Putting the Pieces Together
Americans needed to begin to put the past behind them, come together, and plan for the future in the spring of 1865. But Abraham Lincoln, the man best equipped to lead them and who had hoped to restore the country as smoothly and peacefully as possible, had been assassinated.
LAST SHOTS
The last Confederate forces in the Civil War didn’t surrender in the spring of 1865 or on a battlefield.
AND IN OTHER 1865 NEWS
A group of African Americans stop at the White House’s annual public reception on January 1, where they shake hands with President Abraham Lincoln.
A Plot to Kill President the
For several months, actor John Wilkes Booth’s band of conspirators had plotted to capture President Abraham Lincoln and hold him hostage in exchange for Confederate prisoners.
Let the Thing Be Pressed
In June 1864, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant began a nearly 10-month campaign in Virginia.
HEALING THE NATION
President Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office for the second time on March 4, 1865.
A Helping Hand
The spring season is hard in any agricultural society. Plants and animals are too small to eat.
WAR SHERMAN-STYLE
As far as Union Major General William T. Sherman was concerned, the Civil War had gone on long enough.
PEACE TALKS
The fall of Fort Fisher made clear that the Confederacy’s days were numbered. Southerners were tired and hungry.
FORT FISHER'S FALL
Outnumbered Confederate soldiers inside Fort Fisher were unable to withstand the approach of Union troops by land and the constant Union naval bombardment from the sea.
