Across the Miami Valley, everyone knows aviation started here with the Wright Brothers, as noted by a monument across from RiverScape MetroPark in downtown Dayton. Wilbur and Orville Wright accomplished the first powered flight on Dec. 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Tributes to them are literally stamped all over the area. Their faces are painted in murals, their famous Wright Flyer III in sketches and sculptures, their names used in schools and military installations, all honoring their mark on American and world history.
“I really believe that Dayton is the home of flight. We have the (University of Dayton) Flyers, we have Wright-Patt(erson Air Force Base). I think it’s a big deal here and people take a lot of pride in that,” said UD student Ryan Muskin.
When Brazil laid claim to its countryman Alberto Santos-Dumont as the first in powered flight, many in Dayton did not take it well.
David Pace of Dayton called it “anti-American,” and said it’s “really taking a slight slap at America,” while Muskin said he was surprised Brazil would make such a boast.
“I think it’s kind of weird that they’re trying to take claim to something that has such an established connection to this area,” Muskin said.
At the opening of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilians — where many have never heard of the Wright Brothers — celebrated Santos-Dumont as the first in flight.
“I think one reason that the Wright Brothers aren’t better known is that at the time Santos-Dumont flew in 1906, the Wright Brothers had been flying but they hadn’t made public demonstration flights the way he did,” Gaffney said.
However, by the time of Santos-Dumont’s first flight in 1906, the Wright Brothers had already made several powered flights. In fact, by 1905 they were traveling up to 25 miles in the Wright Flyer.
“Alberto Santos-Dumont was an aeronautical pioneer. He deserves a place in history, he deserves to be honored, but he didn’t make the first flight,” Gaffney said.
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