Один из самых известных летательных аппаратов в мире, Wright Flyer, был первым самолетом, способным осуществлять устойчивый полет. На фотографии представлен самый совершенный его вариант Flyer III.
An early Wright biplane, in which the pilot sat by the side of the engine. Note the front elevators and rear rudders.

Wilbur Wright, seen here at the controls of the early 1908 Wright Model A after he had brought it to France later that year. Having achieved so much by 1905, the patent-conscious Wright Brothers decided, at the close of their 1905 flying season, to do no more flying for the moment, while they attempted to exploit the commercial worth of their efforts. In these endeavours they were only partially successful, in selling their designs for others to build, but not stopping the work of people like Glenn H. Curtiss. who insisted that the Wrights held no exclusive rights to the design of the generic aeroplane itself. Thus, somewhat disillusioned and with aviation now gaining far more attention in Europe than in their homeland, the Wrights decided to modify their prone-seated 1905 Flyer III into the Model A, with its 30hp Wright-designed engine and two, side-by-side upright seats, setting sail for a series of demonstration flights in France, the heartland of European aviation. Based in the Le Mans area between August and the end of 1908, Wilbur flew 104 times during this period, taking the French by storm, his last flight of 31 December being of 2 hours 20 minutes duration and covering around 77 miles. Incidentally, the Model A, like the Flyer II and III before it, was actually catapult-launched into the air with the assistance of a weight and pulley system, in which a weight was released to fall from a small mast and whose momentum was transferred via the launching track to accelerate the machine's take-off. The one design feature that the Wright Brothers appear to have picked up from the Europeans is the use of wheels, absent from their Model A. but subsequently adopted on their 1910 Model B. which, notably, still clung to wing warping rather than ailerons for roll control.

Mr. Wilbur Wright flying one of the early Wright biplanes - the first practical development of the 1903 Kitty Hawk experimental machine - at Le Mans, in August, 1908.

National Cemetery on September 3,1908. It was near to this spot that the Wright Flyer crashed on September 17, 1908, killing its passenger Lt Thomas E Selfridge and injuring its pilot Orville Wright Selfridge was the world’s first fatality in a heavier than air flying machine.

Планеры и самолеты братьев Райт (на снимке Wright Model A, 1909 год) управлялись по крену гошированием крыла. Изменение аэродинамической крутки крыла производилось посредством тросов.

A Short-built Wright Flyer.

The Hon C. S. Rolls on his modified Wright Flyer (No 13), the only example of the type at Nice. The new tailplane is just visible behind the starboard lower wing.

The Hon C. S. Rolls flies over Dover Castle in his flotation-bag equipped French-built Wright biplane at the end of his non-stop double Channel crossing on June 2, 1910.

Rolls overhead, showing the newly installed rear elevator.

SC-1 in flight.

Спустя шесть лет после первого управляемого полета "Флаера", аппараты братьев Райт в значительной мере уже были анахронизмами в сравнении с европейскими конструкциями.

Alec Ogilvie at the controls of Short-Wright biplane No 2 at the aviation meeting at Lanark in October 1910. Ogilvie demonstrated the aircraft’s slow-flying capabilities by using minimal throttle, keeping the machine airborne at an average 24 m.p.h. (39 km/h) during a circuit of the airfield. As he passed the finishing line he opened the throttle and, according to a report in Flight, “accelerated like a motor car until she had added 30 per cent to her speed”.

BOURNEMOUTH-1910: The Hon. C. S. Rolls on his Wright biplane flying in the Slow Speed Contest.

Charles Rolls in full flight on the first day of the Bournemouth Meeting, July 11, 1910. The newly-fitted wheel undercarriage of his French-built Wright is conspicuous in this. The flags indicate that the wind is blowing towards the grandstand, as it was on the day of the accident.

2 июня 1910г.: Чарльз Стюарт Роллс готовится к выполнению первого удачного перелета через Ла-Манш и обратно на биплане Wright. Ролле погиб в Борнмуте 12 июля - первый британский авиатор, погибший в авиакатастрофе.
The Hon C. S. Rolls (2 June 1910).

Orville Wright and Lt Thomas Selfridge about to take-off on the fatal flight.

Катапульта для обеспечения запуска самолета Райтов

Man-power start: Preparing the starting rope, operated by a weight dropping from a tower, for the historic Wright biplane at Pau.

Ogilvie’s Short-Wright No 2 is returned from the beach at Camber Sands during 1909-10. Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, all six Short-Wright biplanes were fitted with engines built by Leon Bollee at Le Mans.

Army Aircraft No.1 (SC-1), a Wright Model A.

Hon. C. S. Rolls with his Wright biplane at the first International Aviation Meeting at Bournemouth, 1910, where he met with a fatal accident whilst taking part in the landing competition. His death robbed Great Britain of one of its most honoured and enthusiastic pioneer airmen and balloonist. He was one of the first group of "experimenters" who began flying at the Royal Aero Club's aerodrome at Eastchurch.

Rolls dismounts after a flight. The bentwood chair seats are curious.

За рычагами самолета Уилбур Райт

Н.Е.Попов за рычагами управления самолета "Райт"

Во время своего пребывания во Франции в апреле 1910 г. Александр Караджорджевич (справа), в то время принц и престолонаследник Сербии, а позже король Югославии, совершил полет на самолете "Флайер 1". Александр стал первым сербом, летавшем на самолете.

Offset position of the engine in the Wright Models B and C.

Chandler poses with machine-gun (2 June 1912).

Полет самолета "Райт" в Ле Мане в 1908г.

Показательные полеты Попова в Петербурге пользовались большим успехом у публики

"Райт" на военном аэродроме в Гатчине, 1910г.

Самолет отличался хорошей маневренностью, но летать на нем было сложно

Самолет де Ламбера на выставке в Петербурге, 1912г.

Tom Summer’s "Hansen Special” Formula I racer, parked in front of a Wright Flyer and a Fokker Triplane.

"Флайер" в Национальном Аэрокосмическом музее в Вашингтоне

The DEUTSCHES MUSEUM'S plate shows the Messerschmitt Me 262, Fokker D VII, Bleriot XI, Wright Model A, Grade monoplane, Lilienthal glider and Junkers Ju 52/3m.

Эта авария "Райта" оборвала летную карьеру Н.Е.Попова

Первая в мире авиакатастрофа, унесшая жизнь Томаса Селфриджа.
Lifting the Wright biplane to rescue Orville and Selfridge.

17 января: лейтенант войск связи США Томас Селфридж стал первой жертвой катастрофы самолета, когда пилотируемый Орвиллом Райтом аппарат разбился около Форт-Майера. Сам Орвилл получил тяжелые ранения в этой аварии.
The wreck of the Wright biplane (17 September 1908)

Just after the crash, the author's grandfather, sixth from right, rushes towards the wreckage. One of the two boys behind him is George Morley, the author's father, then aged ten.

В этих обломках нашел свою смерть Ч.Роллс.

The wreck of Rolls' Wright lies inverted on the Bournemouth soil. After the accident, flying was cancelled for the rest of the day. The moveable tail that caused the disaster is prominent in this view.

Officials cordon-off the wreckage of the Astra-Wright while St John's Ambulancemen attend to Rolls.

INTERESTING MODEL: This model, made by the Models Mfg. Co., of Newington Causeway, S.E.1, show the 1906 Wright biplane.

ALTHOUGH, strictly speaking, the early Wright biplane, shown herewith, had advanced a little beyond the "hopping" stage at the time we open our Twenty-one Years' review, it is only proper - we nearly said "Wright" - to include it, for the improved version figured prominently during the first two or three years of "our" life. Original Wright-type biplanes were, it will be remembered, constructed in England by Short Bros, at their Eastchurch factory, and several British aviators owned or flew them, including the Hon. C. S. Rolls, Hon. M. Egerton, T. McClean, Alex. Ogilvie, Colin Defries, and others. The first models employed the starting rail gear for getting into the air, but subsequently wheels were fitted to the skids, and a horizontal tail was also added.