Affidavit of Frank Layne, 1964

From "History by Contract", p.62

Frank Layne of Waterbury, Connecticut, was interviewed on tape. He was bewildered when asked for an interview, saying, "I know nothing about the technical matters concerning airplanes and I never knew Whitehead, nor anything at all about his aircraft. All I did was watch him fly."

Mr. Layne recalled the date of the flights as being 1901 because he'd just been discharged from Navy Service in Cuba where the battleship "Maine" had been sunk. He went to Bridgeport as soon as possible to visit friends he hadn't seen during the War. Together they went to Fairfield Beach to watch Whitehead fly.

The longest flight he remembered witnessing was "about a quarter of a mile". He said he knew "other flights were made that day, some longer and some shorter". He couldn't recall how many."