Illustration of the Wright "Bat"
by Orville Wright
image credit: Library of Congress

Reproduction Pénaud Helicoptere
by Bill Hannen
image credit: Bill Hannen

The Wright "Bat"

In 1878, when Wilbur was eleven and Orville was seven years old, their father, Bishop Milton Wright, brought home a toy helicopter for the boys. Based on a Pénaud model, the "bat," as the Wrights called it, was powered by a rubber band driving a propeller which lifted the toy to the ceiling.

Fascinated by the model, the boys built their own versions of the "bat," making them successively larger, but with disappointing results. The models simply did not fly very well. The boys turned their interest to other things - especially machines, including sewing machines and printing presses.

The "bat" did not lead directly to the Wrights' later interest in flight, but was rather an early demonstration of their curiosity and facility with mechanical things. They never pursued helicopters or ornithopters or any other ideas other than those originating with the kite. They later learned more about Pénaud and credited him as being an important precursor to their work. They never forgot the "bat" either–Wilbur's first letter to the Smithsonian mentioned the toy. Orville wrote about it in a letter complete with a drawing in 1929–51 years after their first encounter with a flying machine (McFarland, pp. 3, 4, 1152-1153).