BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut officials who say a hometown aviator beat the Wright brothers (above) in being the first in flight by two years are honoring him in a ceremony.
A Bridgeport ceremony is scheduled Monday to recognize Gustave Whitehead and the 116th anniversary of what state officials have called the “first manned, controlled flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft.”
A replica of Whitehead’s aircraft will be displayed.
Connecticut officials say the German-born Whitehead, who lived in Bridgeport and Fairfield, took off from Fairfield on Aug. 14, 1901, and flew about a half mile at a height of about 50 feet. The Wright brothers’ flight was in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The brothers from Dayton flew approximately 582 feet during their 59-second flight.
Officials in Ohio and North Carolina dispute the claims about Whitehead.