Was a bitter rival of Wilbur and Orville Wright. On the first day of
the 1909 Grande Semaine d'Aviation flying contest in Rheims, France,
Curtiss was sued by the brothers, who alleged their patent was being
infringed. Curtiss won the event. The patent dispute continued for
several years, nearly bankrupting him. Ironically, his and the
brothers' companies would merge to become the Curtiss-Wright
Corporation on July 5, 1929, which still exists.