Glenn Curtiss Continued.

controlling roll, wing warping. At the low speeds of the aircraft of the time wing warping is a far more effective method of controlling roll than ailerons.
Glenn Curtiss and the AEA claimed to have invented ailerons for their aircraft thus bypassing the Wright patents, but the Wright patents had been written in such a way that the Wrights could claim patent on virtually any form of control where all or part of the wing changed shape. The Wright patent said 'that other methods instead of wing-warping could be used for adjusting the outer portions of a machine's wings to different angles on the right and left sides to achieve lateral (roll) control.' This would include ailerions.
Another factor in later court battles was that Thomas Selfridge had written to the Wright brothers asking for information on glider construction and the Wrights later claimed they had given Selfridge information that Selfridge had agreed was to be used for experimental purposes only.
In hindsight both the Wrights and Curtiss were wrong. Ailerons had predated wing warping in attempts to control roll. New Zealander Richard Pierce, who probably flew before the Wright brothers, had ailerons on his aircraft.
The scene had been set for the ‘Patent Wars’ between the Wright brothers and Glen Curtiss that was to hold American aviation back for years.
The first AEA aircraft was the Redwing. On its public debut on a frozen Lake Keuka it lifted off, flew for about 320 feet and crashed when a wing struck the ice. The Redwing had no form of lateral control. It took off on skids from the ice and here is an important difference between AEA and the Wrights. The Wrights had good control in the air, but none of their aircraft took off unaided. This was to be a major factor in the rapid decline of the Wright brothers.
The next aircraft, the White Wing, had wing tip ailerons and a wheeled undercarriage. Curtiss flew it in a straight line at Stony Brook Racetrack on May 22nd 1908. Rumours started circulating that the AEA planned to build and sell the White Wing and the Wrights were not happy.
The  Scientific American magazine offered a prize for the first public flight in the USA of over one kilometre. The Wrights declined to participate partly because the rules were that the

plane had to fly unassisted, and the Wrights were still using catapults to get airborne. The AEA entry, the June Bug, was built in less than one month. On the 4th of July 1908 Curtiss claimed the prize of two thousand five hundred dollars and a silver trophy at Stony Brook by flying almost a mile before he had to land because he was approaching a tree line. Later in 1911 Glen Curtis was given USA pilots licence No1 for the flight in the June Bug.
The June Bug was the first aircraft designed exclusively by Glenn Curtiss. It had ailerons controlled by cables attached to a harness worn by the pilot who leaned left or right to operate them.
Glen said at the time the reason he landed before the trees was so that he did not have to turn.
Lateral control was still a problem.
The immediate response from the Wrights was a letter warning the AEA that if they wished to give exhibition flights then the AEA would have to take out a license to use ailerons. Curtiss replied that he was not going into the exhibition business
Tensioned increased between the Wrights and Curtiss when both Curtiss and Thomas Selfridge turned up that September at Fort Meyer, Virginia, where acceptance trials were scheduled for a plane the Wrights were selling to the Army. There was nothing sinister in this. Glenn Curtiss was there to help his friend Tom Baldwin with mechanical problems he was having with a Curtiss engine, and Selfridge was part of the Army evaluation team.
Part of the test was so show that the aircraft could carry two people weighing at least 350 pounds.
For the test Orville Wright fitted larger propellers to cope with the additional weight.
Orville made three laps of the test area at 150 ft with Thomas Selfridge as passenger. One of the new propellers disintegrated and the other run wild and fouled on the rear stay wired.
The aircraft pitched nose up, stalled and pitched nose down. After monetarily recovering the aircraft pitched nose down again before crashing.
Orville Wright recovered from his injures but Thomas Selfridge died later that night to become the first person to die as a result of an aircraft crash.
At the time of the Accident Orville's brother Wilbur was in France Continued