What was the US Military Response to Wright's Offer to Sell Them a Flyer?

[Larry Dighera]

Here's a little trivia quiz on this eve of the 100th anniversary of
powered flight:


1. What was the military response to the Wright brothers'
offer to sell them one of their Flyers?

2. Which military personnel responded to the Wrights' offer?

3. What was the Wright brothers' response to the military's
decision?

4. On what date did the Wrights first make this offer?
4a. At what price was it offered?

5. On what date was the first airplane purchased by the US
military?
5A. What price did the military pay for their first airplane?

6. On what date did the first fatal airplane mishap occur?

7. What was the cause of that mishap?

[Les Matheson]

See answers below

"Larry Dighera" > wrote in message ...
>
> Here's a little trivia quiz on this eve of the 100th anniversary of
> powered flight:
>
>
> 1. What was the military response to the Wright brothers'
> offer to sell them one of their Flyers?

Government bureaucrats thought they were crackpots; others thought that if two bicycle mechanics could build a successful airplane, they could do it themselves.
>
> 2. Which military personnel responded to the Wrights' offer?

France
>
> 3. What was the Wright brothers' response to the military's
> decision?

concentrated efforts to sell aircraft in Europe
>
> 4. On what date did the Wrights first make this offer?

Late 1905 to US

> 4a. At what price was it offered?

No clue French balked at a $200,000 price tag
>
> 5. On what date was the first airplane purchased by the US
> military?

2 August 1909

> 5A. What price did the military pay for their first airplane?

$30,000
>
> 6. On what date did the first fatal airplane mishap occur?

17 September 1908 Ft. Meyer, VA
Lt. Thomas Selfridge, fatal
>
> 7. What was the cause of that mishap?

A new, elongated propeller, never before tested, had been installed on the aircraft prior to the fateful flight. Excessive vibration caused the propeller to strike a guy wire on the aircraft, tearing the wire from its fastening in the rudder and breaking the propeller off about 2 feet from the end, then sending the aircraft crashing to the ground from an altitude of about 110 feet.
>
>


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