CHARLES E. TAYLOR: THE MECHANICIAN BEHIND THE FIRST AIRPLANE ENGINE

Charles Taylor has often been referred to as the “unsung hero of Aviation” (Howard, 1987). In preparation for this paper, numerous sources have been reviewed and researched to include, books, essays, television programs, and, of course, internet articles. More often than not, when discussing the first airplane engine, Charlie Taylor is either given praise for his contribution to the first flight or not mentioned at all. In a few of the books that were researched, Wilbur and Orville Wright are given sole credit for the design and construction of the first engine. This paper will only reference those events and recollections that tell of Taylor’s life and his work with the Wright brothers. In 1902, Charlie designed, forged, and assembled an aircraft engine for the Wright flyer (Kirk, 1995). It was everything that the Wrights had hoped and surprised them at how well it performed. This first engine would prove to be the catapult that launched the, then-labelled, hobby of flying to the world stage.

Charlie Taylor was the indispensable factor without whom the Wright brothers could not have made powered flight possible. Although not present for that first flight, his skill and ingenuity helped the Wright brothers to accomplish one of the greatest human achievements in modern history.

Charlie started building the engine in the winter of 1902-03 (Whitman, 2003). No blueprints or technical drawings were made; he or the Wrights would sketch out each part on a piece of scratch paper. After discussing each drawing, Charlie would pin them above his workbench and go to work to complete each part. The only metalworking tools available were a lathe and a drill press, run by belts from the shop engine.

Charlie continued to work for the Wright brothers until 1911, when Calbraith Perry Rogers came to Dayton to pick up his newly built Wright machine. He offered Charlie 10 dollars a day, plus expenses, to be his mechanic on a trip from Long island, New York to California. Charlie travelled by special train to repair the plane every night and after any mishap. The first coast-to-coast airplane crossing of the continental United States took 47 days, with 83 flying hours and 68 stopovers. At the completion of the flight, Charlie returned to Dayton and worked for the Wright-Martin company until 1920 (Kirk, 1995). He eventually moved to California and lost touch with Orville Wright, (Wilbur died of typhoid fever in 1912), but things soon turned bad for him. The Great Depression hit, and the machine shop he had started failed. He had invested in a new land development that never took off and soon after his wife became ill and died (“Engines of Our”, 1988).

Kirk, S. (1995). First in Flight: The Wright Brothers in North Carolina. Winston-Salem: John F. Blair.

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