The New Wright Plane

Charles Nesensohn American

Not on view

In the years following Orville Wright's first successful sustained flight in 1903, air shows provided the public with an opportunity to experience this breathtaking new technology firsthand. This photograph was probably made at a meet held in Atlantic City, July 4-11, 1910, and records the flight of a Wright Brothers' Model A/B Transitional of 1910, almost certainly piloted by Walter Richard Brookins, a member of the Wright Exhibition Team. Brookins, whose arm and foot are just visible, set a new altitude record at this meet, flying more than a mile above the earth. The sight of this kitelike plane, possibly setting out on its historic flight, is as extraordinary today as it must have been for Nesensohn and his fellow photographer, who observed it from the beach almost a century ago.

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