Historic flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk...

CLEVELAND WEEKLY PLAIN DEALER, Cleveland, Ohio, December 25, 1903  

* Historic flight of the Wright brothers 
* Wilbur and Orville Wright :  Kitty Hawk North Carolina

The photo shows the entirety of the page 8 report on the historic flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The report includes: "...the machine flew for three miles in the face of a wind blowing...at twenty-one miles an hour and then gracefully descended to earth...".  About the flying machine, it says in part that: " ...The machine has no balloon attachment but gets its force from propellers worked by a small engine...". 

Irregular and some minor loss at the spine, somewhat pulpish at the edges (typical of newspapers from this period) causing minor tears plus some chipping and flaking including to this report (see photos). A bit uncommon because many papers failed to publish any reports about this event. A relatively nice report & a key newspaper.

 

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867May 30, 1912), are Americans generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, they developed their flying machine into the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft.

The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of "three axis-control," which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method has been used ever since by all fixed wing aircraft.^[1] From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on unlocking the secrets of control to conquer "the flying problem," rather than developing powerful engines as some other experimenters did.

Mechanical skills they gained working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors and machinery contributed to their success, as did their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice, as they had learned with bicycles.^[2]

The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to counter-claims by various parties. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators. See First flying machine for more discussion.