The brothers contacted the United States Department of War, the British War Office and a French syndicate on 19 October 1905. The US Board of Ordnance and Fortification replied on 24 October 1905, specifying they would take no further action, "until a machine is produced which by actual operation is shown to be able to produce horizontal flight and to carry an operator." In May 1908, Orville wrote, "A practical flyer having been finally realized, we spent the years 1906 and 1907 in constructing new machines and in business negotiations. It was not till May of this year that experiments were resumed at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina..."