The Dayton Flight Factory by Timothy R. Gaffney

Author:Timothy R. Gaffney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2014-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

A postcard shows a view of a parade honoring the Wright brothers in Dayton’s Welcome Home celebration. Author’s collection.

The celebration resumed the next day at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, where 2,500 schoolchildren dressed in red, white and blue assembled in the pattern of an American flag. Wilbur and Orville received a pile of medals, including the Congressional Medal presented by General James Allen, Signal Corps chief. More events followed, including another parade, and the second day closed with an illuminated parade of automobiles.12

Wilbur and Orville left for Fort Myer the next day to complete the demonstration flights. Milton and Reuchlin joined them to watch preliminary flights. Katharine went in time for the official trial flight. The previous day, Orville had demonstrated a passenger flight with Lieutenant Frank Lahm; for the final flight, he stayed aloft for more than an hour and averaged 42.583 miles per hour, beating the contract’s requirements. President Taft, his cabinet, other top government officials and a crowd of some ten thousand people witnessed the flight. Taft personally congratulated Orville after he landed. On August 2, Allen approved the purchase of the Wright airplane.

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