Letter, Wilbur Wright to Octave Chanute concerning the Wright brothers' aviation experiments, 13 May 1900

Reproduction number: A21 (color slide; first page); A22 (color slide; last page); LC-MSS-15560-1 (B&W negatives; pages 1-5)
Engineer Octave Chanute (1832-1910), a friend and supporter of Wilbur Wright (1867-1912) and his brother Orville Wright (1871-1948), is considered by many to be the patriarch of American aviation pioneers. Chanute's correspondence with the Wright brothers consists of several hundred letters touching on every phase and stage of aeronautical development between 1900 and 1910. This literary exchange records the development of practical flight with clarity and candor. And since the Wrights generally kept no copies of their outgoing letters, researchers are indebted to Chanute, who saved virtually everything he received from them. The brothers' correspondence, which provides data on their thinking, experiments, and aerodynamic designs, assists researchers in determining how they produced a successful airplane while others failed.
In the 13 May 1900 letter shown here, Wilbur Wright articulates his belief that manned flight is attainable and states that intelligence and skill are more important prerequisites for success than perfected machinery. Wright declares that flight pioneers need to share insights and successes, and he argues that doing so will cause them no financial harm, since he believes it is unlikely that the inventor of the first flying machine will make a profit. Also contained in the letter is a description of Wright's projected training regimen and a request for advice on geographical locations boasting strong wind velocities and other attributes needed in a test site.