The History: Leaving Dayton, Ohio and the Wrights on Thursday, June 27th, Chanute wrote Wilbur from Chuckey City, Tennessee where Edward Huffaker was constructing Chanute's new glider. Huffaker had been an assistant to Professor Samuel Langley at the Smithsonian Institution for three years. Chanute acknowledged to Wilbur that Huffaker was "a trained experimenter, but lacks mechanical instinct."

The Rain Soaked Remains of the 1901 Chanute-Huffaker Machine

Chanute discussed his concerns on the construction and his reservations regarding success with Wilbur. The linkages between the different parts of the machine were insubstantial and lacked mechanical robustness. However, the machine will be finished in a week.

• The glider's frame was made out of paper tubes.
• The machine was designed so that it could quickly fold and unfold.
• The cloth was fastened to the wings such that it could change curvature as the force of the wind.

He believed the machine might survive being flown as a kite or a few low glides. He proposed to Wilbur the following:

• Chanute would cover all of the expenses to send Huffaker and the machine to the Wrights camp in North Carolina.
• Huffaker would assist the Wrights in their experiments and asked that the Wrights assist Huffaker in some short experiments.
• Chanute offered the assistance of George Spratt, an amateur keenly interested in aerial navigation.

Quotation from the book The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Volume 1 by M. McFarland.