A Wright Brother Flies in France

The First Public Demonstration
It was time to demonstrate what their flying machine could do. While Orville went off to Fort Myer, Virginia to demonstrate their flyer to the United States military, Wilbur went to France to face what was perhaps their most skeptical public. These would be their first official public demonstrations!

Late in the summer of 1908, at a horse racing track near Le Mans, France, Wilbur climbed into the flying machine and showed a disbelieving nation what it could do. Not only did the plane fly, but he demonstrated its ability to bank and turn that was wholly lacking in the clumsy French machines. Next, he wowed on-lookers by effortlessly performing figure eights. French aviator Rene Gasner exclaimed, "…Who can now doubt that the Wrights have done all they claimed?...We are children compared with the Wrights!" Over the course of the next five months, Wilbur made a series of more than 100 spectacular flights, captivating the French public. Word of the remarkable flights quickly spread to the rest of Europe and around the world.

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