Daniel Rocha <[email protected]> wrote: Why didn't they make a lot of money? Did they just disappear after 1908? >
Well, they did make a lot of money. Not as much as other industrialists, but they were wealthy. Wilbur died in 1912, leaving most of his money to Orville. Orville died in 1948. His estate was worth just over $1 million. That was a lot of money in those days. But Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe), who was their friend and supporter, said they should have earned far more. After 1909 they did not make many contributions to aviation. They were overtaken by European rivals. They were busy fighting patent cases in court. Generally speaking, aviation languished in the U.S. It made leaps and bounds in Europe partly because governments there saw that it would have military value, and they were -- in a sense -- gearing up for World War I. You can read all about this in many biographies. Although, most of the cover events after 1908 as an afterthought. It is not surprising they did not accomplish much after 1908. As one author put it, inventing the airplane is a hard act to follow. - Jed
