WILBUR WRIGHT - COLLECTION WITH ORVILLE WRIGHT - HFSID 350550

WILBUR WRIGHT
Rare checks signed by the aviation pioneers.
Collection consisting of 1.) Check filled out and signed: "Wright Brothers/W.W.," 8 x 2¾. Dayton Ohio, January 10, 1910. Drawn on The Winters National Bank, payable to M. A. Culp for $78.85. Fine condition. 2.) Check filled out and signed: "Wright Brothers/OW.", 8 x 2¾. Dayton, Ohio, February 1, 1908. Drawn on The Winters National Bank, payable to Ladaskie Miller for $6.00. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 31½ x 21½.

During 1904 and 1905, the Wrights built and tested new planes and engines. An improved Flyer II was flown near Dayton, Ohio in 1904. They began designing Flyer III. At Simms Station, Ohio, on October 5, 1905, Wilbur flew for 24 miles in 38 minutes, landing only when their new Flyer III gas tank ran dry. The Flyer III was powered by a 15-horse powered engine. This was the Wright brothers' first flight of more than a half hour and renewed their confidence in man's ability to sustain flight. They had invented the first fully practical airplane that could turn, bank, circle and fly figure eights. On May 30, 1912, Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever at the age of 45. In 1909, the Wrights had filed suit against aircraft manufacturer Glenn Curtiss, for patent violation. This lawsuit was finally resolved (in the Wrights' favor), two years after Wilbur's death. The New York law firm of Nicoll, Anable, Lindsay & Fuller represented the Wrights in their suit, and also handled the incorporation of the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company (1910), capitalized by some of the biggest names in finance, including Cornelius Vanderbilt. The firm had previously represented notable shareholders in the new company, including August Belmont.