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The Wright Family 

Wright Bicycles  

  Wright Kites    
and Gliders 

Wright Airplanes 

Wright Engines    
And Propellers 

Wright Trivia 

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ave you ever played the game "Telegraph?" A dozen or more people sit in a circle and one whispers a short message to their neighbor. The neighbor whispers the message as they heard it to the next person, and so on until the message makes it's way around the circle. When it arrives back at it's originator, the message is always corrupted.

So it is with history. The story of the invention of the airplane is such a popular part of our culture, and it is so often repeated, that dozens of "myth-conceptions" about the Wright Brothers and early aviation have grown up in the wake of all the retellings. This section is for those of you who wish to separate fact from fiction – brief doses of the unvarnished truth about early aircraft and the folks who flew them.

These facts are divided into several categories:

• The Wright Family – short biographies, genealogy, and other information about members of Orville and Wilbur's immediate family.
  • Wright Genealogy
  • Bishop Milton Wright
  • Katharine Wright
• Wright Bicycles – information about the Wrights bicycle business and the bicycles they made.
• Wright Kites and Gliders – specifications and data on the unpowered aircraft designed by the Wright brothers.
  • 1899 Wright Kite
  • 1900 Wright Glider
  • 1901 Wright Glider
  • 1902 Wright Glider
  • 1911 Wright Glider
• Wright Airplanes – specifications and data on the powered aircraft designed by the Wright brothers.
  • 1903 Wright Flyer I
  • 1904 Wright Flyer II
  • 1905 Wright Flyer III
  • 1907-1909 Wright Model A
  • 1909 Wright Military Flyer
  • 1909-1910 Wright Transitional Model A
  • 1910-1914 Wright Model B
  • 1910 Wright Model R
  • 1911-1912 Wright Model EX
  • 1912-1913 Wright Model C
  • 1912 Wright Model D
  • 1913 Wright Model CH
  • 1913 Wright Model E
  • 1913-1914 Wright Model G
  • 1916 Wright Model L
• Wright Engines and Propellers – specifications and data on the motors developed by the Wrights to power their airplanes.
  • Wright Engines Overview
  • 1903 Wright Engine
  • 1903 Wright Propellers
  • 1904-1905 Wright Engines
  • 1905-1915 Wright Bent-End Propellers
  • 1906-1912 Wright 440 Engine
  • 1911-1916 Wright 660 Engine
• Wright Trivia – Interesting facts about the Wright brothers.

Our thanks to Dr. Joe McDaniel and the Wright Research Group for their help in preparing "Just the Facts." 
 

Joe Friday (played by Jack Webb) never said the line he is most famous for: "Just the facts, ma'am." This is another example of the cultural telegraph that distorts any tale worth retelling. What Joe really said was, "All we want are the facts, ma'am." For those of you who can't quite place Joe Friday, click on the photo for a hint (and wait a moment for the file to load). And for those of you too young to remember, click HERE.

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