In a disturbing development in the increased focus on Gustave Whitehead possibly beating the Wright Brothers into the air by more than two years, Flying has learned that a monument to the flying pioneer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, apparently has been vandalized. Early flight enthusiast Andy Kosch heard about the damage and checked it out firsthand:
In an email he shared with Flying, he said that after inspecting the monument, he found that a “3½- or 4-foot panel had been smashed in.” The panel in question, Kosch wrote, “says ‘First in Flight, Gustave Whitehead, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Born 1874, Died 1927.” Subsequently, Kosch filed a police report and a Bridgeport police officer followed up with a report.
