On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first sustained, manned flights in aviation history near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their flights were made in a biplane built of two wings and a pair of propellers driven by a gas motor. The Wrights' feat captivated the public's imagination and caused much speculation on the future of manned flights.
In this May 1908 issue of Motor Stories, the hero Motor Matt, an inventor and aviator in the mold of the Wright Brothers, uses his biplane to stage a daring rescue. Motor Matt was one of several dime novel heroes based on inventors such as Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers who were enormously popular during the early years of the twentieth century. These fictional heroes typically use their inventions to help those in need and their adventures serve to accentuate the positive potential of new technology. This technological optimism was shared by artists and futurists alike, whose works from this period celebrated the beauty and power of machines.