ARMY AL&T
In 1870, for example, the Signal Corps established a congressionally mandated national weather service, the Division of Telegraphs and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.
The electric telegraph had become the responsibility of the Signal Corps in 1867. Within 12 years, the Corps had constructed, maintained, and was oper- ating some 4,000 miles of telegraph lines along the country’s western fron- tier. The weather bureau became part of the Department of Agriculture in 1891 while the Corps retained responsibility for military meteorology. For more than a century, the term “Signal Corps” referred to units involved in visual signaling, telephone and telegraph wires, and cable communications. Shortly after the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Signal Corps constructed the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, developing the first wireless telegraph in the Western Hemisphere.
Contracting with the Wright Brothers
The Wright brothers’ first flight, per- formed in a powered heavier-than-air machine near Kitty Hawk, NC, on Dec. 17, 1903, marked the dawn of a new age. But a trip of 59 seconds for a distance of 852 feet did not convince anyone, let alone the military, of the commercial viability of air travel.
By late 1907, the U.S. Army showed renewed interest in the Wright brothers, however. Rather than offering them a contract, the U.S. Signal Corps announced an advertisement for open bids to contract and fly an airplane. The design and performance specifications
SSG Dennis Hoffman of the 112th Signal Battalion (Special Operations, Airborne), Fort Bragg, NC, explains the func- tion of the Special Operations Forces Deployable Node-Medium. (U.S. Army photo.)
were such that the Wright brothers were the only responsible bidder. A price of $25,000 was established for the airplane if the brothers could meet the design specifications in actual flight trials.
On Aug. 1, 1907, an Aeronautical Division was established within the Corps. The first Army contract within the division was in December 1907 for the purchase of an aircraft. The contract was awarded by U.S. Army Signal Corps CPT Charles S. Wallace, on behalf of the United States of America, to Wilbur and Orville Wright, trading as Wright Brothers of 1127 West Third Street, Dayton, OH.
The Corps and the Wright Brothers entered into an agreement for the purchase of one heavier-than-air flying machine, in accordance with Signal Corps Specification No. 486, dated Dec. 23, 1907. The contract called for a machine that could fly at a speed of 40 miles per hour (mph) and could carry two people a distance of 125 miles. It had to be steered in all directions without difficulty, stay aloft for a 1-hour endurance demonstration,
For more than a century, the term “Signal Corps” referred to units involved in visual signaling, telephone and telegraph wires, and cable communications.
and land undamaged at the takeoff point. The machine had to be disassembled easily and transportable. The agreement was two pages long and included 12 articles.
The Wright Brothers’ trials began in late summer 1908 at Fort Myer. Orville Wright did the flying accompanied by an Army observer, 1LT Thomas Selfridge. Unfortunately, the plane crashed, causing fatal injuries for Selfridge and injuring Wright. The Wrights returned to Fort Myer in 1909 to complete the Army trials. Over several weeks, the brothers fulfilled each requirement in Signal Corps specifications, the final one being a flight of 10 miles with a passenger. This flight also served as the official speed trial. The contract stipulated that the Wrights would receive a 10-percent bonus for every full mph above 40.
Their average speed was 42.5 mph, which brought them a $5,000 bonus. That made the final purchase price of the airplane $30,000.
The Wrights presented the Army with an entirely new airplane in 1909. The Army purchased it that year, used it to train pilots in 1909–1910, then donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1911 after acquiring other aircraft. Designated as Signal Corps No. 1 by the Army, it was generally referred to as the Wright Military Flyer, the world’s first military airplane.
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