This looks totally authentic, the captions are in German, but the
uniforms are Italian; the wright brothers planes all had two
propellers, linked by a chain drive to the engine, which was mounted
in the center, not two engines: you can clearly see the (bicycle-chain
like, think about it!) chain drive running out to the propellers in
several of the shots, especially on the flyby!
Pretty neat stuff, thanks for posting it! the shot of the Roman
Aqueduct at the end from the air in 1909 is pretty neat!
Glen
On Mar 1, 2009, at 1:27 PM, Linda Abrams wrote:
Do we have any aviation historians on board who can tell whether this
film is authentic? It is on a European film archives web site, says
it is from 1909, showing Wilbur Wright doing a demonstration flight
in Italy. The aircraft carries 2 people and apparently has 2 engines
(2 props) -- which makes me wonder whether it is authentic. Were the
Wright Bros. building twins then?
http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/322/see-the-film-
wilbur_wright_and_his_flying_machine'
If it IS authentic, it's very exciting to see any motion picture of
the Wrights from so early. All the other pictures I have seen of
their early work are just stills.
Linda
