House Concurrent Resolution 8 – SponsorTestimony

Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee

September 23, 2015

Chairman Coley, Vice Chairman Seitz and Ranking Minority Member Yuko, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of HCR 8 which repudiates the claim by the State of Connecticut that Gustave Whitehead successfully flew a powered, heavier-than-air-machine of his own design on August 14, 1901.

With Ohio celebrated as the birthplace of aviation, it’s a well-documented fact that Wilbur and Orville Wright were the first ones to successfully make a controlled, powered flight in a heavier- than-air-machine. The brothers from Dayton, Ohio, known for their creative and skilled craftsmanship became famous for building airplanes and testing them at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. With the right plane and right winds, December 17, 1903 became a day the brothers and the rest of the world would never forget, andbegan one of the single greatest historical technological advancements of mankind. Airborne for 12 seconds, Orville traveled 120 feet against the wind, with a clear photograph of their triumph to prove it. Three more successful flights that day proved the first was no fluke. Within two years the Wright Brother’s had refined their aircraft to create, what is considered by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, as the first practical airplane. The 150 flights made over that two year period at Huffman Prairie, just northeast of Dayton, culminated in a 39 minute flight covering a distance of 24.5 miles.

However, that State of Connecticut feels differently about the Wright Brothers’ historic accomplishments. On June 26, 2013, its governor, Dannel P. Malloy signed into law “an Act concerning Government Administration,” which replaced the Wright Brothers with Gustave Whitehead as the person to honor for the first powered flight on that state’s “Powered Flight Day” each year. Connecticut’s claim that Gustave Whitehead was the first to experience controlled powered flight comes from various accounts of witnesses that claimed to have seen Whitehead fly and a blurry photograph of disputed origin and content. The photo of the alleged first flight is extremely blurry and reveals only indistinct shapes. Respected and academically recognized scholars have found no evidence to support the veracity of this photo or the claims of powered flight.

Due to this lack of verification, North Carolina and Ohio have teamed up to repudiate the claims made by the State of Connecticut to restore the honor and legacy to the well deserved, Wilbur and Orville Wright. Again, I thank Chairman Coley for allowing me this opportunity to present HCR 8 to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee. I urge your support of the resolution and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Figure 1: Orville Wright taking flight on December 17, 1903, at 10:35am.

Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

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Figure 2:Gustave Whitehead’s “No. 21” on the ground.

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77 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215