Flight Log: 1905 Huffman Prairie, Simms Station, Dayton,

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1905 Huffman Prairie, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio
Wright 1905 Machine

A total of 50 flights were made during the year, with a total flying time of about 3 hours 40 minutes. The Wrights successfully achieved banking, turning, and circling and made figures of eight. The flights were made over a circular course of about three-fourths of a mile to the lap. The design of the 1905 machine was similar to that of the 1903 and 1904 machines. The horizontal control and rudder areas were enlarged and the whole structure increased in strength. Modifications were introduced in the course of year's experiments, including three different sets of propellers, the "bent end" type proving most successful.

DATE	FLIGHT	PILOT	TIME	DISTANCE	ALTITUDE	REMARKS
Jun 23
	1	OW	9-1/2 sec.	272 ft.		Left wing was struck in landing, and four ribs were cracked at rear left corner.
Jun 24
	1	WW	5-9/10 sec.	160 ft.
	2	OW				Pilot scraped right wing tip all the way down the track and failed to get a start.
	3	WW	3-1/2 sec.	136 ft.		Machine suddenly turned to left and struck left wing tip. Rear spar of left lower wing was broken and end bow was cracked.
Jun 30						On last flight, machine dropped very hard when power was shut off by mistake, breaking rear center and front center spar and two uprights. Engine was torn loose and several wires were broken. Further experiments were delayed for two weeks.
	1	OW	6-3/5 sec.	240 ft.
	2	WW	3 sec.	96 ft.
	3	OW	13-1/2 sec.	664 ft.
	4	WW	19-1/2 sec.	744 ft.
Jul 14
	1	OW	ca. 12 sec.	568 ft.		Machine damaged in landing when it suddenly turned downward, breaking front skids, front rudder, upper front spar and about a dozen ribs, and lower front spar and one upright. Orville was thrown out through the broken top surface but suffered no injury. Repairs and heavy rains delayed further experiments several weeks.
Aug 24
	1	WW	31-3/5 sec.	480 m.
	2	WW				Speed insufficient to get start.
	3	WW	45-3/5 sec.	690 m.
Aug 28
	1	WW	31 sec.	505 m.
	2	WW	49-4/5 sec.	841 m.		Rear ends of skids broken in landing.
	3	WW	1 min. 184/5 sec.	1,250 m.		Complete circle made and landing made at starting point. George Feight and six farmer witnessed the flight.
Aug 30
	1	OW	12 sec.	170 m.		Rear end of four ribs broken in landing.
Aug 31
	1	WW	1 min. 5-1/5 sec.	1041 m.		Flight witnessed by Torrence Huffman and three children and by Alfred W. Morley and two daughters.
	2	WW	34-3/5 sec.	543 m.
	3	OW	14-4/5 sec.	95 m.
Sep 6
	1	OW	40-1/5 sec.	620 m.
	2	OW	4 min. 54 sec.	4,730 m.		Field was circled 4 times, and landing was made at starting point.
Sep 7
	1	OW	52-1/2 sec.	756 m.
	2	OW	2 min. 48-3/5 sec.	2,700 m.		Two complete circles of field were made.
	3	WW	4 min. 45-3/5 sec.	4,751 m.
Sep 8
	1	OW	2 min. 46-1/5 sec.			One complete circle of the field and a figure eight were made.
Sep 9
	1	OW	9 sec.	80 m.
	2	WW	10-2/5 sec.	105 m.
Sep 12						"Little Jokers" (small surfaces resembling an elevator) were mounted on the propeller tips to reduce their pitch.
	1	WW	4 min. 19-3/4 sec.	3,900 m. (3-1/2 circles of field)
	2	WW	2 min. 26-3/4 sec.	2,310 m.
	3	WW	5 min. 31 sec.	5,056 m.
Sep 14
	1	OW	31 sec.	475 m.
	2	OW	4 min. 23-2/5 sec.	4,146 m.		More than three circles of field were made.
Sep 15
	1	OW	1 min. 10-3/4 sec.	1,161 m.
	2	OW	2 min. 34 sec.	2,270 m.		Flight witnessed by Ivonette and Lorin Wright.
Sep 25
	1	WW	7 sec.	65 m.
Sep 26
	1	WW	18 min. 11-2/5 sec.	17,961 m. (11-1/8 miles)		Approximately 16 circles of the field were made. Flight ended when fuel was exhausted. Bishop Wright present.
Sep 27
	1	WW		90 m.		Bishop Wright and Lorin, Ivonette, and Horace Wright witnessed flights.
	2	WW	3 min. 11-1/2 sec.	3,061 m.
Sep 28
	1	OW	9 min. 44 sec.	9,441 m.		A little more than eight rounds of the field wee made. The flight is a memorable one because the Wrights at that time became more acutely aware that a more skillful operation of the machine, i.e., tilting the machine forward a little to restore the flying speeding, would help prevent stalling.
Sep 29
	1	WW	1 min. 33-2/5 sec.	1,451 m.
	2	OW	19 min. 56 sec.	19,570 m (12 miles)		Fourteen circles of the field were made. Flight ended when fuel was exhausted. Torrence Huffman witnessed the flight.
Sep 30
	1	OW	4 min. 19-4/5 sec.	4,325 m.		Flight witnessed by Mr. Dornbusch.
	2	OW	17 min. 15-1/2 sec.	12 rounds of field		Flight witnessed by Lorin Wright, his son Milton, William Fouts, and William Weber.
Oct 3
	1	WW	2 min.
	2	OW	26 min. 11-1/5 sec.	24,535 m. (15-1/4 miles)		Flight witnessed by William Fouts, Frank Hamberger, O. F. Jamieson, and Howard M. Myers.
	3					Machine flown from flying field to shed.
Oct 4
	1	OW	33 min. 17 sec.	33,456 m. (20-3/4 miles)	ca. 40-60 ft.	Flight witnessed by Charles Webbert, Henry Webbert, C.S. Billman, Mrs. Salts, Ruth Salts, William H. Shank, Bernard H. Lambers, William Webbert, Katherine Wright, and Bishop Wright.
Oct 5
	1	WW	40-3/5 sec.	630 m.
	2	WW	59 min. 23-4/5 sec.	38,956 m. (24-1/5 miles)		This flight was the best of the year and longer than the 105 flights of 1904 together. Flight covered about 30 rounds of the field. Flight ended when fuel was exhausted. Witnesses included Edgar W. Ellis, Theodore Waddel, Torrence Huffman, William C. Fouts, and about a dozen others including Bishop Wright and David Beard, of the Dayton Journal.
Oct 16
	1	WW	1 min. 4-3/5 sec.	970 m. (one circle of field)		Late start prevented extended flight.