12 HP. The really amazing thing about the Wright brothers was they
were excellent engineers. As far as I know completely self taught.
They must have read everything they could find on a lot of engineering
subjects. Even today it is no easy task to design an airplane that will
fly on 12 HP let alone design your own engine.

Hi Paul,
that feller Charles E Taylor was a fair to middlin mechanic as well!
BR, Dave McC

I think he was more of a machinist. It is hard to say what he contributed
to the design if anything. I suspect he mostly fabricated whatever the brothers
told him to fabricate. The Wrights were bicycle mechanics before they were
self taught engineers and before they hired Charlie. I think in those years
one had to be a machinist to be a good mechanic.