Future of Wright Brothers’ Airplane Factory Jeopardized After Fire

The damaged Wright Brothers factoryScreenshot: WHIO

A fire has damaged the Dayton, Ohio factory built in 1910 by Orville and Wilbur Wright, the pioneers of powered, heavier-than-air aircraft. The rate of technical progress in aviation after the Wright Brothers opened their first factory was spectacular. Were established in the 1920s. Commercial jet-powered airliners entered service in the 1950s. Airlines employed supersonic aircraft in the 1970s. It’s impressive that the Wright Brothers’ original factory is standing after over a century, and saddening that its future is now in doubt.

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The Dayton Fire Department has stated that the fire broke out at 2:28 a.m. on Sunday. When firefighters arrived at the scene, the flames were so intense that they couldn’t enter the building. According to The New York Times, the blaze wasn’t extinguished until Sunday evening, and the department spent Monday looking for hot spots in the debris. The fire severely damaged the roof and the building’s interior. Stephen Wright, Wilbur and Orville Wright’s great-grandnephew, said to The New York Times, “I was there yesterday watching them put out the fire. People were expressing their sadness at seeing something like that burn.” The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The Wright Brothers’ factory in 1912Photo: George Rinhart/Corbis (Getty Images)

The City of Dayton bought the disused factory in October 2018, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places the next year. The city had plans to create a museum alongside the National Park Service after a $1.4 million restoration. The fire has now put those plans in jeopardy. Kendall Thompson, Dayton’s parks superintendent, told The New York Times, “Despite over 100 years of intense use, the Wright Company Factory still had most of its original wood roof, windows, and other historic fabric intact. We are working with our partners to assess the damage to this irreplaceable resource.”

According to the National Aviation Heritage Area, the Wright Company produced about 120 aircraft at the Dayton facility. The factory was soon shifted to producing auto parts and, finally, manufactured components for Delphi. Now, vested partners of the factory’s redevelopment will convene to determine how to move forward after the fire.