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Wright Brother's Military Flight

Wright Brothers flight in Four Myer, 1908

Wright Brothers at Fort Myers
Image courtesy of
the U.S. Army

After their private experiments at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and in Dayton, Ohio, the Wright brothers held their first public demonstration on the parade ground of Arlington’s Fort Myer. The Signal Corps specifications required that a suitable plane must be capable of carrying a minimum of two passengers at 40 mph for at least 60 minutes of sustained flight. On September 9, 1908 an endurance test took place where Orville Wright circled the field 57 times and later that day flew with a passenger for 1 hour and 12 minutes. In July 1909 the speed trials were held. The Wright plane flew back and forth over a ten-mile course from Ft. Myer to Alexandria at a speed of 42.6 mph. The first planes owned by the United States were accepted after these demonstrations.

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