HISTORICAL ERROR?

For more than a century the world has accepted that the Wright brothers were the first to conquer the skies in a powered flight.

But, now, it appears, a US state has rewritten history… and given the crown to a German-born inventor.

Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy has signed into law a bill recognising that Gustave Whitehead, a former resident of the state, flew in 1901, two years and four months before Orville and Wilbur lifted off in North Carolina.

Gustave Whitehead: Supporters of Mr Whitehead believe he became lost to history and believe it important to correct a historical error, namely that he was the first person to make a powered flight in 1901.

The move is not mere local bravado. There have long been claims about Whitehead and his bizarre-looking contraption, called Condor. But new evidence unearthed by Australian aviation historian John Brown has prompted some experts to concede that Whitehead may have pipped the Wright brothers to the post by quite some way.

It is understood that Mr Brown discovered a blurred newspaper photograph which apparently showed Condor in flight, its propeller whirring as it rose into the air on wooden wheels and canvas wings stretched taut over bat-like wooden arms. It supported testimony from eyewitnesses that the machine first flew at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the early hours of August 14, 1901, covering a mile and a half at a height of 50ft, managing to turn slightly in both directions. The Wright brothers’ first flight lasted just 12 seconds.

Whitehead’s supporters, who hailed Connecticut’s move as an important first step to correcting a historical error, believe he became lost to history because he showed poor business sense and failed to capitalise on his breakthrough.

Advocates for the Wright camp, however, said the photograph of the Condor flight was too fuzzy to prove anything.