US state passes bill saying pilot Gustave Whitehead beat Wright brothers to first flight
Connecticut legislators pass bill saying German American beat flight at Kitty Hawk by two years
Connecticut's leading role in aviation has never been disputed, but legislators have now passed a bill insisting that an aviator from the US state flew two years before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, in the state of North Carolina.
The measure is the latest twist in an effort to credit the first successful aircraft flight to German-born aviator Gustave Whitehead.
All we’re trying to do is correct history. There’s nothing in it for us
The legislation is a flight of fancy, say Wright brothers partisans. Governor Dannel Malloy has not committed to signing the legislation, but will review it when it reaches his desk.
The bill honours what it calls the first powered flight by Whitehead in 1901, "rather than the Wright brothers". Whitehead is credited by some for the first flight in August 1901. The Wright brothers lifted off from North Carolina in December 1903.
"We want to correct something that should have been corrected long ago," said state Representative Larry Miller, who spearheaded the legislation. "All we're trying to do is correct history. There's nothing in it for us."
Tom Crouch, senior curator for aeronautics at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, which displays Wilbur and Orville Wright's plane at the National Air and Space Museum, said Whitehead's backers are "absolutely wrong".
"Whitehead's legend has spawned much speculation and hearsay," he said. "People who have looked at this over the years ... almost unanimously reject the claim."