"For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will cost me an increased amount of money if not my life."

-Wilbur Wright, inventor and aviation pioneer, 1867-1912

Wright wrote this in a letter to Octave Chanute, an aviation pioneer and civil engineer by trade. The letter is dated May 13, 1900, and it gives us a window into Wright’s internal thoughts on human flight.[1] The rest of Wright’s initial thoughts follow:

”For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money if not my life. … It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge & skill. This I conceive to be fortunate, for man, by reason of his greater intellect, can more reasonably hope to equal birds in knowledge, than to equal nature in the perfection of her machinery.”[2]


[1]: Tobin, James. To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight. New York: Free Press, 2003. 69-70.

[2]: East, Omega G.. Wright Brothers National Memorial: National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 34. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1961. 14.