Meanwhile, Orville was carefully preparing for the trials at Fort Myer, Va. He made his first flight on September 3, 1908, and during the following two weeks went up a total of 14 times, establishing records for duration almost every time he flew. His longest flight was one hour and 14 minutes, during which he circled the field 71 times. He also carried aloft both Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm and Major George O. Squier on test flights to prove that the plane could safely handle two passengers.

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Apparently there was some degree of friendly competition between the brothers. When Orville set a record, Wilbur was reportedly more pleased than anyone else–and promptly went out to set one of his own. London’s Automotor Journal editor observed that it seemed ‘just a case of what was naturally to be expected, with better to follow.’

On September 17, Orville had a tragic accident, the first in a Wright aircraft. While he was flying with Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge as a passenger, the plane crashed and Selfridge was killed. Orville sustained a broken thigh, several broken ribs and cuts and bruises. The accident was traced to a propeller that split and caused the housing and chain drive to vibrate. One of the guy wires running back to the tail had torn loose, resulting in Orville’s losing control of the plane.

Wilbur was shocked and saddened to hear of the accident but decided to continue his own flying in France whenever the weather was favorable. In following weeks he wrote encouraging letters to his brother, telling him in great detail of his flights and the prizes he had won. Wilbur had carried his first European passenger, French balloonist Ernest Zens, on September 16. A few days later he flew 40 miles in one hour and 31 minutes without a passenger. On October 6 he flew with Arnold Fordyce for one hour and 4 1/2 minutes, the longest flight in duration yet made by two persons. This flight fulfilled the requirements of the Wright contract with Lazare Weiller, which called for the payment of $100,000 to the Wrights and gave the French syndicate the rights to manufacture and sell Wright airplanes in Europe.

The next day Wilbur carried Edith Berg aloft, giving her the honor of being the first woman passenger to fly in an airplane. Conscious of what the wind might do during the flight, he cautiously tied a rope around her long skirts before they took off. Berg inadvertently started a new fashion trend, the hobble skirt, when she was photographed with the rope still firmly holding down her skirts after the flight.

By this time Wilbur was worldwide news, but he was still reticent about granting interviews. After much coaxing, he agreed to accept an honor from the Aero-club de la Sarthe–on the condition that he did not have to give a speech. When the audience begged him to talk, he shook his head no, then rose slowly to his feet and said, ‘I know of only one bird, the parrot, that talks, and it doesn’t fly very high.’ He then sat down–to loud applause. His reticence only made newsmen more enthusiastic about this quiet, unassuming American, and they praised him abundantly in print. Wilbur later wrote to Orville, ‘Instead of doubting that we could do anything, they were ready to believe that we could do everything.’

Wilbur seemed to establish new records with each passing day. Since his contract called for training three pilots, he began teaching Comte Charles de Lambert, Paul Tissandier and Captain Lucas de Girardville on October 28. At that point prizes were being offered by the Aero-club de France to inspire French pilots to compete against Wright. First was a prize for attaining an altitude of 25 meters, and another for being the first to climb to 30 meters. Wilbur won both easily, climbing to 90 meters. On December 18 he set a new altitude record of 110 meters. That same day he also stayed aloft for one hour and 55 minutes. On the last day of 1908, he set a final endurance record of two hours and 20 minutes, and flew a record 77 miles to win the Michelin Cup. His total prize winnings amounted to 24,500 francs ($4,900). Between August 8, 1908, and January 2, 1909, he had made more than 100 flights in France.

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