Charles E. Taylor, Wright Brothers' Mechanic

About Charles E. Taylor

Charlie Taylor was a silent but essential participant in the Wright Brothers' success story at Kitty Hawk. In six weeks he built the 12-horsepower engine that powered the first successful flying machine, the Wright Flyer.

Taylor, who was a skilled machinist, was hired by the Wrights to run the bicycle shop at the Wright Cycle Company in Dayton, Ohio. After failing to find an adequate manufacturer for the engine for their "Flyer" the Wrights called on Taylor to assist in designing and building the first aircraft engine.

Taylor's pioneering career in aviation mechanics spanned more than sixty years. After the first successful flights in 1903, he continued to work with the Wrights in the engine design effort and later built the aircraft engines. He traveled with Orville to Fort Meyer, Virginia, in 1908 during test flights for the United States government and was with Wilbur at the 1909 Hudson-Fulton flights in New York. Taylor later served as Calbraith Rodgers' chief mechanic during his first transcontinental flight in 1911.

Charles Taylor is an unsung hero whose achievements and importance have been all but overlooked. Although just about every child knows about Orville and Wilbur Wright, most have never heard of Charles Edward Taylor.

On the morning of December 17, 1903, at the base of Kill Devil Hills, south of the village of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers made aviation history by successfully flying the first powered airplane. This achievement would not have been possible if it were not for Charles Edward Taylor, the man responsible for assisting in the design, development, and production for the first aircraft powerplant.

Wright engine inside

Graphic courtesy of Mechanics Illustrated