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Mattos, B.S. The Wright brothers were unable to convince the US Army to purchase the flyer because no convincing flight demonstration was performed. Thus, Wilbur went to Europe where Aviation was very famous after the flight of Santos-Dumont. Orville remained in the United States to continue the pursuit of a contract to sell Armed Forces planes. They intended to improve their plane and secure European investors to open an assembly line. In France, Wilbur Wright set up a shop in a field near Le Mans that the French automobile manufacturer Leon Bollée provided. Wilbur began working on the planes they had shipped to France at the end of 1907. They were in terrible shape — French Customs had repacked them poorly. It took him six weeks to assemble an airplane, even with the help of the mechanics provided by Bollée. When it was completed, it became flyer A, incorporating a series of modifications, among them a new 30-hp engine. The new airplane weighed 544 kg, characterized by a weight-to-power ratio of 17.7 kg/hp. The first flight was delayed due to bad weather. Finally, on August 8, 1908, the weather cleared. In front of a small crowd, which included the aviators Louis Blériot, Ernest Archdeacon, Henry Farman, and Hubert Latham. At that time, Wilbur made a brief but perfect flight that astounded his audience. He followed-up with several more flights — each longer than the previous one. The flightworthiness of his airplane and his skill as a pilot were impressive. By October 15, he had taken up 30 passengers. These flights took place at a landing ground at Auvours.

On December 8 1908, Wilbur established a world record flying at a height of 115 m. In the same month he performed a flight covering impressive 124.7 km. In France, an agreement was made between the Société Ariel and in Britain with Short Brothers of Eastchurch. Both companies produced the passenger carrying machine that Wilbur had demonstrated at Le Mans. The design was a biplane in every sense for it had double elevators, main plains, and rudders. The rudders were placed further aft than in the brothers’ 1905 design for better controllability. The pilot sat on the wing edge with the elevator control on his left. On his right, there was another stick that controlled both the rudders and wing-warping (independently). As with previous Wright’s designs, there were no wheels, and so takeoffs continued to be from a wooden rail, assisted by a weight and derrick mechanism. After landing, the machine had to be carried back to the rail on a wheeled trolley. During the demonstration flights in Europe in 1909, the Wright brothers also met the wealthy businessman J.P. Morgan, Later that year, Morgan introduced the Wrights to a group of New York financiers who were interested in backing the fledgling aviation industry. They helped the Wright brothers establishing the Wright Company, which was founded in November, in 1909. In January, 1910, the Wright Company set up a factory in Dayton, Ohio. They also established a flying field and a flight school at Huffnan Prairie, site of the Wrights’ flights after their history-making Kitty Hawk flight. Orville Wright and Charlie Taylor, their longtime mechanic, also set up a flying school in Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1910, where Maxwell Air Force Base would later be located. Orville immediately began the instruction of the first five men who became members of the Wright exhibition team.

Meanwhile in the United States, on December 23, 1907, the U.S. War Department issued Specification number 486 for a “Heavier-than-air Flying Machine.” It stated that the aircraft should be able to carry two men for a distance of 201 km at a minimum speed of 64 km/h. It should be able to stay aloft for one hour between refueling, land without damage, be transportable on an Army wagon, easily steerable in all directions, and at all times be under perfect control and equilibrium. These were, in fact, the specifications that the Wrights had earlier told the War Department they could meet. On January 27, 1908, the Wrights submitted their formal bid to the War Department for one aircraft that would cost US$ 25,000. This was considerably less than the US$ 200,000 they had wanted to charge the French government the year before. Only one other bid would be considered, the one from Octave Chanute’s old partner and their acquaintance, Augustus Herring. Back in Dayton, Orville was busily working on the plane for the Signal Corps with his two helpers — Charlie Taylor and Charlie Fumas. He was also writing letters and articles for the Scientific American, Aeronautics, Century magazine, and other journals. On May 14, 1908, the mechanic Charlie Fumas became the Wrights’ first airplane passenger in history. Orville and Furnas made several flights that day, but in a solo one, Orville made an error with the elevator lever, and the plane dove into the ground at 64 km/h, He was unhurt, but the plane was wrecked. Some months later Orville demonstrated a Model A to the US Army at Fort Myer. From September 3, 1908, he made ten flights, but on September 17 he crashed after the starboard propeller blade broke. His passenger, Lt Thomas Selfridge was fatally injured and Orville suffered a broken hip. Military trials were postponed until the following year, when a replacement aircraft would be available. The 1909 Signal Corps Flyer successfully completed the Army’s acceptance trials and in July it became the world’s first military airplane accepted into military service. 374 J. Aerosp. Technol. Manag., São José dos Campos, Vol.4, No 3, pp. 355-379, Jul.-Sep., 2012