Learning Center Our Enshrinees

Charles “Charley” Taylor

• Started working at the Wright bicycle shop in 1901.
• Helped the Wright brothers build a wind tunnel and tested all kinds of shapes in the wind tunnel until they indicated they were ready. He then helped the brothers build another glider which they took to Kitty Hawk.
• Built the engine that powered the Wright Brothers’ first airplane and was one of the three men responsible for the “first flight.”
• Accompanied the brothers on their visit to Europe in 1907 to demonstrate their airplane.
• The first aviation mechanic, the airport manager at Huffman Prairie, and the man behind construction and maintenance of the early aircraft engines.
• Was Calbraith Perry Rodgers’ (enshrined 1964) mechanic on his monumental transcontinental flight in 1911.
• Went to Greenfield Village in 1937 where he restored the Wrights’ bicycle shop and home to their 1903 condition and built a replica of the first engine.