100 Years of LF Photography - and Aviation

[David Richhart]

The original Wright flyer and the glass negatives spent several days under water during a terrible flood in Dayton, Ohio in 1913. Fortunately the artifacts survived. The glass 5x7 negative does have a broken corner so it is usually cropped to look like a 4x5. The airplane was restored and the cloth was replaced by Orville Wright. It is now displayed at The Smithsonian in Washington DC.

An extensive collection of original photographs, letters, and drawings can be found at Wright State University in Dayton. The camera, and the 1905 flyer that the Wright's used to perfect the art of flying, can be seen at Carillon Park in Dayton. A 1907 flyer and more artifacts can be seen at the Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton. They still don't allow you to see the flying saucers and the dead aliens though. -Dave

[Jim Galli]

This will be a fun thread Will! Just excellent.

The Wrights didn't fly first, we didn't really go to the moon, Paul didn't write the book of Romans and so it goes ad infinitum ad nauseum. I am struck again by the enormous weight that the photographs add to the Wrights claim. Perhaps they didn't fly first. We'll never know, but they're the ones that knew how to make a photograph! A visible record. Interesting too that they seemed to understand the angle of the wedge view that would slow things down enough to get it onto their slow emulsions. My hat is off to them. I'd challenge anyone to put some APHS Ortho (ASA 2-3) into their 5X7 and try to do what Wilbur and Orville did. They must have had some primitive "fast glass" and knew how to use it.

[Colin Carron]

The Wrights' photos and film are some of the all time great photos IMO. The history of early flight is one of attempts,successes and failures of the development of a viable idea whose time had arrived. Before them Leonardo designed a hang glider and in the 1850's Sir George Cayley in England was supposed to have built a glider and launched it with his coachman on board. (No photos tho) This was the first glider flight. The coachman resigned. Otto Liliental developed the hang glider and when killed in about 1900 he was succeeded by Englishman Percy Pilcher who also developed a powered version. He was killed before he could fly it. Santos Dumont in Brazil was also one of the early pioneers and there were others. The Wrights alone seemed to have worked out 3 dimensional control based on wing warping, rudder and elevator. This was the crucial breakthrough. All the others were hang glider type designs. If the Wrights had not succeeded someone would have done probably within a year or two. But the Wrights got there first.

[John Kasaian]

A little known footnote to early aviation history is the fact that my great grandmother "Sadie" Kasaian was reputed to be the first woman to experience "powered" flight. The flight lasted some 3-1/2 seconds and was powered by the hind end of an especially ill tempered donkey. That was on February 2nd, 1904. Sorry, no photographs or glass plates survived! ;-)

[Matt Miller]

Here is a good read on the Wright brothers' photography.

[Bob Salomon]

I was in the 363rd RT squadron at Shaw AFB and we used RF101 Voodoos and RB66 Widow Makers and then the RF4C Phantom II and shot 5x5, 9x9 and 5" roll panoramics.

Does that count as LF and aerial?

You can see some of the film we shot over Cuba on the TV and at the Aerospace Museum in D.C. we also flew the Universitys of Alabama and Missippi during the intregration demonstrations in the early 60's.