Aviation History and Wright Hydroaeroplane Testing Near Dayton, Ohio, circa 1912 to 1913

Aviation Wright Brothers

Photograph

Unknown photographer, Wright hydroaeroplane and early biplane models photo archive, circa 1912 to 1913, documents early American seaplane experimentation during the period when the Wright Company adapted its pusher aircraft technology for water takeoff, alighting, and military use. The photographs capture a hydroaeroplane on or near water, a dramatic water-impact or alighting scene, and a hangar interior where men work over the open framework of a Wright-type machine, providing visual evidence of experimental aircraft handling, float design, rigging, and workshop adjustment. Wright State University’s Wright Brothers Collection identifies a 1913 photograph of Orville Wright standing in the Miami River between the pontoons of a Wright Model CH Flyer, confirming the Great Miami River as a documented site for Wright Model CH hydroaeroplane testing in this period.

Six pieces total, comprising three silver gelatin prints, each approximately 7 x 5 inches, and three contemporaneous negatives, including two large-format film negatives and one smaller glass or film negative, likely made in the Dayton, Ohio area and a Wright Company hangar. The largest print shows a pusher-type biplane with forward elevator and floats partly submerged near a piling, giving the aircraft an unmistakable hydroaeroplane profile. A second sepia-toned print captures a tall column of spray in open water as a small aircraft passes overhead or just beyond the splash, likely recording a hard alighting, water-impact, or test-run sequence. A third print shows an interior hangar scene with two mechanics or engineers in caps and a man in a straw boater leaning over the exposed structure of a Wright machine; visible details include struts, bracing wires, control runs, open framework, and fittings along the central bay. The three negatives correspond to the water-impact and hangar views, preserving additional technical detail of the rigging geometry, float or skid attachments, and pusher layout.

The visual evidence aligns closely with Orville Wright’s 1913 Model C-H hydroaeroplane work on the Miami River south of Dayton, though attribution to a specific flight or photographer should remain cautious without inscriptions or provenance beyond the images themselves. Contemporary and local Wright histories describe the Model C-H as a hydroaeroplane tested by Orville on the Miami River in 1913, and one Dayton aviation history account states that in May 1913 he resumed testing the Model C-H at a secluded Miami River site and made 100 flights, carrying up to 800 pounds of payload. The photographs matter because they show the Wright enterprise after Wilbur Wright’s death in 1912, when Orville continued technical experimentation even as competitors, especially Glenn Curtiss, pressed forward in flying-boat development. Light edge creases and small corner bumps to the prints, one print with faint silvering and toning, negatives with light emulsion scuffing and edge tape remnants but strong density and detail, very good overall. Focused early aviation archive preserving both river testing and workshop evidence from the moment Wright biplane design was being adapted to hydroaeroplane use on the eve of World War I.

Item #22524

Price: $450.00