Note 5 — The Beginnings

The subject of drawings of the engine is interesting, not only as history but also because it presents several mysteries. Taylor[5] stated, "We didn't make any drawings. One of us would sketch out the part we were talking about on a piece of scrap paper ..." Obviously somewhere in the operation some dimensions were added, for the design in many places required quite accurate machining. Orville Wright's diary of 1904 has the entry, "Took old engine apart to get measurements for making new engine." Finally, no Wright drawings of the original engine have been seen by anyone connected with the history or with the Wright estate. In the estate were two drawings (now at the Franklin Institute), on heavy brown wrapping paper, relating to one of the two very similar later engines built in 1904; one is of a cylinder and connecting rod, the other is an end view of the engine. Thus even if the very ingenious drafting board now in the Wright Museum at Carillon Park was available at the time there is no indication that it was used to produce what could properly be called drawings of the first engine.