Charles E. Taylor

Charlie Taylor working at the Wright Company factory in 1911.

Wright State University Archives

Quick Facts

Significance:

The Third Bicycle Mechanic Involved in the First Flight

Place of Birth:

Illinois

Date of Birth:

May 24, 1868

Place of Death:

Los Angeles, California

Date of Death:

January 30, 1956

Place of Burial:

Los Angeles, California

Cemetery Name:

Valhalla Memorial Park

“The machinery worked in an entirely satisfactory manner and seems reliable. The power is ample… There is no question of final success.” -Wilbur Wright on December 14, 1903

When three independent talents are brought together on a common goal the result is grand success. Most everyone is familiar with Wilbur and Orville Wright, the two main players in the success of the world’s first manned, powered, heavier-than-air flying machine. Few are familiar with another man who made significant contributions to the Wrights’ invention: Charles “Charlie” Taylor. 

Taylor was born in a log cabin in rural Illinois on May 24, 1868. At 24 years old, Charlie met his future wife Henrietta Webbert in Kearney, Nebraska. At the time, Taylor was becoming the owner and operator of his own machine shop. Henrietta’s family had previously lived in Dayton, Ohio where they became acquaintances of Bishop Milton Wright, the father of Wilbur and Orville. Reportedly, on one of Milton’s many trips out of town, he visited the Webbert family in Kearney, Nebraska and offered Henrietta, the bride-to-be, a pair of new shoes as a wedding gift. Upon hearing of her fiancé Charlie’s mechanical ability, Milton suggested they consider a move to Dayton. Dayton was a high-tech city and a fine place to find work for the mechanically skilled. 

The Taylors eventually moved to Dayton in 1897. Prior to the rise of the automobile for daily use, bicycles were growing in popularity and Dayton manufacturers - especially the Davis Sewing Machine Company, which evolved into today’s Huffy Corporation - were among the leaders in this industry. During this year, Wilbur and Orville Wright moved their Wright Cycle Company from rented quarters at 22 South Williams Street to new rooms nearby at 1127 West Third Street, a building owned by Henrietta’s uncle. In 1898, Charles Taylor formed a partnership with another machinist doing general repair work, bicycle repair and repairing gas stoves. During this time, the relationship between Charlie and the Wright brothers grew as Charlie often brought parts from the Wright Cycle Company and Wilbur and Orville commissioned Charlie for special jobs. 

After Charlie sold his business, he began working at the Dayton Electric Company. By 1901, Wilbur and Orville, who had been asking their brother Lorin and sister Katharine to run the brothers’ bicycle shop while Wilbur and Orville pursued gliding experiments in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, believed a permanent staffing solution unreliant on family support was needed. Having developed a relationship with Charlie over the last few years, the brothers offered Charlie $8 more per week than what he was making along with the opportunity to bike home for lunch. Charlie gladly accepted their offer. Taylor began work at the Wright Cycle Company on June 15, 1901. He did routine bicycle repair work while also running the shop. While the Wright brothers were gone, however, their sister Katharine, who had previously managed the shop in their absence, learned quickly that she and Charlie did not get along. Though Katharine believed Charlie “managed the store well, while they were gone” she felt Charlie knew too much about the business and disliked being at the mercy of a “hired” man. Charlie’s constant cigar smoking and working class manners placed a strain on Katharine’s visits to the shop. Katharine wrote that “I simply can’t stand Charles Taylor so I steer clear of the store.” Still, even with her distaste, Katharine recognized Charlie’s effectiveness. 

The professional relationship between Charlie and the Wrights expanded until they included him in the work on their aviation endeavours. The first aeronautical job offered to Charlie was constructing a wind tunnel. The wind tunnel was used to acquire data used in the construction of the Wrights’ improved glider of 1902. The wind tunnel was a rectangular box with a fan at one end driven by natural gas. The 1902 gliding experiments in Kitty Hawk were a success and upon their return to Dayton, Wilbur and Orville made plans to make a powered airplane. By December of 1902, Wilbur and Orville had written several gasoline engine manufacturers to ask if they would build a modified engine weighing 180 pounds (82 kg) that could provide 8-9 horsepower with minimal vibration. Each of the ten companies which replied all stated that they were not financially interested in building only one engine in that style. Some also had reservations about the intended use of the modified engine since it was not stated on the Wrights’ proposal requests. Aviation at this point was largely a discredited field and there was a limited desire in manufacturers being associated with flight. With professional options unavailable, Wilbur and Orville decided they needed to look a little closer to home. 

“Sure” was the response by Charlie when asked by the brothers about building an engine for the new flyer. The plan was set and agreed to: Wilbur and Orville would build the airframe of the flyer and Charlie would build the engine. Wind tunnel tests calculated the drag the flyer would produce and determined the amount of horsepower that would be needed to overcome it. Charlie would have to build an eight-horsepower engine that was lightweight with low vibration—all without existing engineering drawings from which to work. The crankcase needed to be built outside the shop at a local foundry. Designed with four cylinders and built with aluminum to meet the required weight, the crankcase was cast using the strongest aluminum the foundry had available. The crankshaft, valves, intakes and connecting rods were all made with shop tools primarily used for repairing bicycles. Charlie made sure the parts operated with harmony and precision by fitting and refitting part by part like a jewelry maker.   

In six weeks, Charlie produced the Wright brothers’ 1903 engine, which produced 12 horsepower. Being asked to “mind the store” meant Charlie was unable to accompany the brothers to the field testing of the flyer in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina but his contribution to the 1903 Wright Flyer was an important component in the first successful flights on December 17, 1903. The four successful flights of that day are a storied piece of aviation history. 

In the years after the flights of 1903, Wilbur, Orville, and Charlie built improved engines and flyers with varying success, with Taylor working for the brothers’ troubled Wright Company for several years. He also became part of the first successful transcontinental flight across the continental United States, helping Calbraith Rogers fly a Wright Company plane from New York to California. While the Wright brothers became household names, Charlie drifted off into obscurity, ultimately losing contact with Orville when Charlie moved to California in an attempt to improve Henrietta’s health. Though provided a bequest in Orville Wright’s 1948 will, the elderly Taylor became impoverished and physically unable to undertake the manual sorts of jobs through which he built his career. Incredibly, a newspaper reporter found Taylor to be a patient in the Los Angeles Hospital’s charity ward. Charles Taylor died on January 30, 1956 and was buried at the Portal of Folded Wings Mausoleum which is dedicated to aviation pioneers in Valhalla Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Today, Charlie is remembered in a few special ways. His birthday, May 24, is recognized as Aviation Maintenance Technician Day, and the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic award is given by the Federal Aviation Administration honoring lifetime achievements from senior aviation mechanics.

References:

1. DuFour, H.R. with Peter J. Unitt. Charles E Taylor: The Wright Brothers’ Mechanician, 1997. 

2. Taylor, Bob. “Charles E. Taylor: The Man Aviation History Almost Forgot.” faa.gov, 2007. 

3. Chanute, Octave. "Progress in Flying Machines," American Engineer and Railroad Journal, Preface, 1894.

4. "Charles E. Taylor: An Aviation Maintenance Hero," Aviation Institute of Maintenance, aviationmaintenance.edu, 2014.