Via a commenter to Language Hat's thread on corrections today comes this correction from the Virginian-Pilot:
A story and headline in the Dec. 18, 1903, Virginian-Pilot contained errors.Orville Wright was the pilot for the first flight of the Wright Flyer. It was not Wilbur, whose name is not spelled Wilber.
The plane’s wing span was 40 feet, 4 inches. The wings were 6 feet 2 inches apart vertically and 6 feet, 6 inches from front to rear. They were covered in muslin, not canvas.
The engine rested on top of the lower wing. It did not hang below it.
The propellers had two blades each, not six. They both were mounted on the rear side of the wings. There was no propeller providing upward force.
Rudders in the front and rear and warping of the wings controlled the plane. There was not a single, huge fan-shaped rudder that could be moved side to side and raised and lowered.
The pilot lay prone on the lower wing. There was no pilot’s car.
The Wrights have always said they were equal inventors of the machine. Wilbur never took credit as the chief inventor. The brothers had no plans to build a much larger machine and never did.
Their success came after four years of work, not three.
They took one trip to the Outer Banks in the summer and two trips in the fall prior to 1903. They did not spend almost the entire winter, fall and early spring on the Outer Banks for three years.
The correction continues at considerable length. Does anyone know if this was a unique case, or were journalistic standards that much lower in 1903?
Posted by Ben Brumfield at February 22, 2006 06:46 AM