Flight Journal - August 2013

Gustave Whitehead poses with his daughter beside the No. 21 airplane. The hand-built gas pressure motor is visible in front of young Rose.

In the field of history, where objectivity is treasured,;the;Smithsonian’s;position;emerges;as;a catch- 22,;as;both;the;mission;and;vision;statements emphasize;dissemination;and;discovery;of;new knowledge.;If;Whitehead;flew;before;December 1903,;where;does;that;leave;the;institution?

Taking;the;lead;in;the;Smithsonian;response;to Brown;is;Dr.;Tom;D.;Crouch;of;the;Smithsonian’s National;Air;and;Space;Museum.;A;leading;Wright scholar,;Crouch’s;credentials;include;at;least;16 books;including;three;dealing;with;the;Wrights. He;has;been;senior;aeronautics;curator;since;1999.

Brown expressed sympathy for Dr.

Crouch’s;situation;on;his website: “It’s impossible not to feel the greatest sympathy for the diligent staff historians at the Smithsonian — a prominent center of scholarship. That’s because in the matter of;‘first;aeroplane;flight’ they find themselves condemned to quote verbatim—under threat of legal action—from Orville;Wright’s;own;version;of;Orville;Wright’s magnificent contribution to aviation. In a situation;unparalleled;in;the;annals;of;historical scholarship,;a;previous;generation;of;Smithsonian trustees;has;forbidden;its;successors;from;ever questioning;or;investigating;a;crucial;aspect;of aviation;interest.”

Addressing;the;1901;Bridgeport Sunday Herald article,;Crouch;reposts,;that;Dickie,;one;of;the

witnesses,;“told;a;subsequent;interviewer;that;he was;not;there,;did;not;witness;any;flight,;did;not believe;that;there;had;been;a;flight;and;suggested that Howell’s story was based on Whitehead’s description;of;the;capabilities;of;his;machine.” Crouch;also;noted;uncertainties;in;Whitehead’s and;others’;accounts,;leading;to;possible;confusion between;the;1901;and;1902;experiments.

However,;other;researchers;were;free;to;pursue the subject, including the late Charles Gibbs-Smith,;a;leading;scholar;of;early;aviation.;In;a lengthy;1969;paper,;Gibbs-Smith;said;he;analyzed the;1901;material;and;dismissed;the;idea;that Whitehead;had;done;what;he;claimed.;However, some;Whitehead;advocates;observe;that;Gibbs-Smith;largely;drew;upon;Orville’s;criticism.

High-quality, framable drawings of the Wright Flyer are downloadable free on FlightJournal.com

An unresolved controversy The;Whitehead-Wright;controversy;is;bound;to remain;a;continuous;issue.;Apart;from;conflicting claims and interpretations, the subject affords aviation;students;a;case;study;in;historiography— how;history;is;recorded;and;how;it;gets;written. In;that;regard,;it;has;much;in;common;with;other aero;mysteries,;from;the;death;of;Manfred;von Richthofen;in;1918;to;Amelia;Earhart’s;world flight;attempt;in;1937,;to;the;disappearance;of Flight;Nineteen;off;Florida;in;1945.;Whichever side individuals may support, the lingering question of who was first to fly may still be unresolved;in;the;21st;century.