[4k, 50fps, colorized] (1908) First Airplane Flight filmed: The Wright Military Flyer

This footage was thought to be from 1909, but very recently it has been discovered that it's actually a mixture of the 1908 and 1909 tests. In this way, they become the first moving images of an airplane, prior to the footage of Orville's flights in Europe in late 1908.

Wilbur and Orville Wright, five years out from their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, decided to make a bid for the government contract. Tests of the Wright Flyer were first held at Fort Myer, Virginia, in September 1908, ending with a tragic crash that killed Army Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge and gravely injured Orville Wright. A recovered Orville resumed tests at Fort Myer with a new aircraft in July 1909.

Music: Schumann - Adagio & Allegro op.70

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[XIXbacktolife]

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[Pihlalorjoone]

In the eighties I had a 4 week stint in hospital and with me in the room was a very nice 92 yr old man. He remembered seeing the first car and seeing the first plane. And he had served in the cavalry in the first war, taking care of the horses. The conversation with this man are still one of the highlites in my life. It was so amazing to get his perspective on life.

[kingnaga]

61 years later we’d be on the moon. The young people in this clip lived to see space travel. That’s amazing.

[Rondoooo]

The impact and meaning of this indescribable. Also the fact that this was filmed, another technology that just a few years earlier was invented.

[badwolf]

This was the Wright Flyer 3 and was a vast improvement over the first 2 models. The Wrights increased the performance and reliability of the engine, increased the size of the various control surfaces which gave better handling, and instead of the pilot laying prone, they added a seat so the pilot could sit upright. The entire airframe was made stronger.

[thurin]

in this age where air travel has become mundane, its difficult to imagine the thrill and amazement most of the onlookers are feeling having previously seen nothing bigger than a large bird or perhaps a hot air balloon moving through the sky suddenly seeing this machine wrought by the hand of man moving through the air with as much ease as any bird.

[gordonslippy]

Within a year of this film, the elevator and rudder moved permanently to the rear of an aircraft.
This design was incredibly hard to fly, as you can see from the wild porpoising just after takeoff.

[sfperalta]

Growing up, the clearest sign of old footage was the jerky/fast motion and black & white tones. They've done some amazing work standardizing the speed and consistency (even filling in missing frames, wow!). Adding color just makes the scene so much more "present" -- these were people just like you and me, living in a different year, but pretty much recognizable even today. I think if they could fix the "blooming" (or whitening of the images) and clean up all the scratches, you might even believe this footage was a modern re-creation of historical events rather than the events themselves. Peter Jackson's documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old" is a prime example of pulling footage from the past and giving it a modern feel. I can't wait to see what else they do in the future!

[alexs]

This footage is truly a world heritage. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[abundantYOUniverse]

I am an aviation historian and I have seen this a thousand times. Today I saw it for the first time. Incredible work, thanks!

[odom]

It must have been quite a sight to behold! And what a thrill for the brothers- to show everyone your success at one of the most important achievements ever.

[TheRyujinLP]

This was amazing. Seeing it not only in motion but in high definition makes events like this form our past feel like more then some half forgot blerb from a poorly written school book. Things were so different for them at that time it's like it's footage from another universe.

The team behind this cannot be praised enough for this contribution, thank you.

[hibiscusvera]

And 61 years later, men went to the moon.
It’s so freaking weird how fast time can go.

[bardo]

It's amazing that only 10 years later they had war planes with bombs attached, and 30 years later big passenger planes. This invention is bigger than cars or trains, to be able to carry humans up in the air is just a crazy idea that still today is a unique experience.

[CeuAzulll]

The Wright brothers began to publicly present their aircraft and their experiments in 1908, about three years after Santos Dumont's flight on his 14-bis in Paris

[Nikolapoleon]

"I must admit I fail entirely to recognize the utility of your "Wright Flyer" project. From what I have observed, these crafts cost a great deal more than the signal corps' balloons, require more infrastructure to launch, and 'fly' not half as high, and for not half as long. Respectfully, these machines are a waste of the military's resources. Please do not order any more of them."

- General Joseph Huntley, in a letter to Chief Signal Officer James Allen, 1908.

[NickvonZ]

I am familiar with this amazing footage, but to see it in living color ROCKS!

[tomray]

In 1946, not 40 years later, Orville took his turn at the wheel in the cockpit of a quite modern 4 engine CONSTELLATION. (Check it out) . He was picked up in Dayton and invited to fly it for a few minutes while airborne. Then he quit and turned on the autopilot, saying "I have always thought that an airplane should fly it self." The last plane he flew before his death in 1948. Talk about amazing progress!

[paulazemeckis]

Thank you for this vid. I am very impressed that 100+ year old vids can be corrected as such. Thank goodness for the early aviators.

[markjones]

Incredible footage and history! And how far we advanced a few short years after this.