First Aerial Canoe

Just an interesting link, there is a pretty good photo of the canoe at the bottom of the page.

http://www.first-to-fly.com/History/Wright Story/roundthelady.htm

 

Interesting photo.
Wonder iof the Old Town build records show one being delivered to Kitty Hawk

 

It appears to by quite a nice finish on that canoe as well!

 

A bit more on the canoe from:
http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/symposium/sanford.html

"Ever thoughtful, Wilbur visited the Folsom Arms Company, an outfitters in Manhattan and purchased a red canoe and a relatively watertight canvas cover. He and Charlie suspended the canoe beneath the Flyer's skids.

The canoe thus became the first ever to fly. In later years, Orville Wright treasured the canoe, which was made of wood and very nice indeed. He could have used it at his summer home on Lambert Island, where he had a number of other canoes, boats and launches. Instead, he kept it at Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood, in memory of Wilbur and his flights in 1909. Orville Wright's Estate later gave the canoe to Carillon Historical Park in Dayton where it is well preserved although mysteriously green in color."

 

Well, wouldn’t have been Kitty Hawk in any case, as the Wrights only went there 2-3 times early on. Most of the refinement of the design they did in Ohio. The flight in New York with the canoe on the bottom was done much later than their Kitty Hawk days. I have a recollection that the book identified the canoe as an Old Town and I suspect thus bought in New York (Abercrombie and Fitch?) for the occasion.

I do wonder, had he crashed, if the canoe would have helped or hurt matters.

 

I've seen the boat. It's a Rushton, Indian Girl, 16 ft.

 

The Balloonatic

This thread has reminded me of a VERY funny flying-canoe-related movie featuring Buster Keaton - The Balloonatic. The canoe comes in parts, is suspended from a balloon, and generally serves as a hilarious comic foil for Keaton. Get a copy and see the flying canoe in motion!