Introduction
Orville and Wilbur Wright were the initiate air travel engineers. They developed their first motorized engine flight in June 1903. The US exclusive rights office arranged the Wright brothers patent for a flying machine in the year 1906. This was after they had applied for it in 1903 with detailed information of their organization system. It then meant that no one could copy their designs without their consent and without paying them according to the accord they choose. The success of Wright’s designs was noticed as their achievements were well revealed. This became very tempting that even the other aircraft designers could not keep off. The fact of apprehension was that the lateral control contained wrights design was so basic that no aircraft design could fly successfully without it (Christy & cook, 1994).
Main body
The main target of wright’s suits was an individual known as Glenn Curtiss. He was an associate of “Aerial Experiment Association” (AEA). It is noteworthy that AEA was established in 1907 by “Alexander Graham Bell”. This involvement constituted aviation enthusiasts who were supposed to construct a realistic air plane. Wrights had a lot of trust in Bell and thus they believed their patent was not going to be violated. Aerial Experiment Association then issued a notice to the wrights asking about statistics and pertinent concerns in their designs. The wrights replied and quoted many documented source, as illustrated by their patent (Lafontaine, 2000).
Curtis designed, calculated and piloted the next AEA venture called “June bug”. AEA wanted to go into this plane for the honor offered by “Aero Club of America” and a periodical called “scientific American”. The AEA made up their mind and decided to partake in the rivalry. They even contacted the wrights and asked them to take part. The wrights’ were too active, and they preferred to do it by them selves instead of teaming up with AEA. It is noteworthy that Curtiss then flew the “June bug” on his subsequent effort on July 4 and won the” scientific magazine” award. The truth was that, all this planes being made and flown by the AEA were part of the wrights’ designs. Orville Wright then contacted Curtiss of the AEA. He warned him that they have not given their consent for their control system to be displayed at exhibitions or any commercial function. This was how the conflict happened, and it set the platform for legal suits (Gollin, 1984).
It is noteworthy that additional flights were built by AEA. The most successful one, which was, the first to be flown in Canada was the “silver dart”. AEA then got disbanded and Bell applied for patent of all the AEA designs. It is evident that this was granted in December 1911, a concept that annoyed the Wrights. Curtiss then moved in to business activities. He formed Herring Curtiss Company with herring who was a former associate. They built the golden bug and in an attempt to avoid wright’s designs, they made some modifications. Using this design, Curtiss won the” scientific magazine” award for the second time. This prompted the wrights to file a copyright violation court case in opposition to Curtiss and Herring-Curtiss Company. They stated that Curtiss and his corporation had used their designs without their assent. Aeronautic society had purchased Curtiss designs and was displaying them during exhibitions. They settled on paying the Wrights a proportion from the exhibitions. Curtiss on the other hand decided to contest the suit (Lafontaine, 2000).
The battles that followed made both parties spend enormously in court as illustrated by legal fees and related charges. Lawyers tried to make them have an agreement out side court, but this failed to work in accordance with the plan. Wilbur Wright surrendered to typhoid fever in 1912 and the Wright family attached the blame of his demise on Curtis. They said his physical condition depreciated as Curtiss had refused to back down. The ultimate outcome came out in 1913 consequently awarding success to Orville Wright. In the end, Curtiss was forbidden from making planes using any of Wright’s designs (Christy & cook, 1994).
Conclusion
The disagreement between the wrights and AEA was brought about since the AEA and in particular Curtiss who used the Wright designs for his pecuniary gains. This did not go down well with the wrights who decided to lawfully challenge these actions.
References
Christy, J & Cook, L. (1994). American aviation. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Gollin, A. (1984) No longer an island: Britain and the Wright Brothers, 1902-1909.California: Stanford university press.
Lafontaine. B. (2000). The story of the Wright brothers. New York: Dover publications Inc.