Wright brand entrepreneur dies in China
Lightle helped license and market trademark worldwide.
A local entrepreneur who with his partners became an agent for Wright brothers merchandise, intellectual property and trademarks has died.
David Lightle, chief executive and co-founder of Dayton-based Wright Brothers USA, died Sunday while visiting China, according to colleagues and family members who spoke of him on social media.
“Grieving the loss of one of my The Wright Brothers Store business partners, Dave Lightle,” a Wright Brothers USA principal, Kenneth Botts, wrote Sunday on Facebook. “With an impressive list of educational credentials and world travels, one would never know it by his approachable personality and down-to-earth kindness. The ability to share in his visionary discussions will be sorely missed.”
Lightle, Botts and Doug Knapp founded The Wright Brothers USA LLC, guiding the licensing of the Wright brothers’ name and images to sell carefully selected products — mainly bicycles and watches — for two years before staring the online commerce site, The Wright BrothersStore.com.
Their goal was to create revenue for The Wright Brothers Family Foundation through the licensing and marketing of The Wright Brothers trademark worldwide.
The Wright Brothers Store.com went live in May 2015, opening to orders for flight jackets, luggage, sunglasses and other products from around the world. Most of the products are made in the U.S.
“R.I.P. Dave Lightle,” Knapp wrote on Facebook this weekend. “You have been and will always be a big influence in my life. You were one of a kind. Friend.”
Amanda Wright Lane, great-grandniece of the Wright Brothers, said the work the company and her family have started will continue.
Lightle was one of those who helped lead the way on raising awareness of the Wright Brothers and the Dayton community’s place in early aviation, Wright Lane said.
“He was never without an idea in terms of marketing and branding,” she said.
Lightle’s Facebook page Sunday and Monday was full of messages from friends and family, written in English and Chinese. Lightle spoke Chinese, Wright Lane noted.
In a June 2015 interview, Lightle told the Dayton Daily News that his company was proceeding carefully and deliberately, with respect for the family name.
“The main thing is protecting the integrity of the (Wright) name,” he said. “We can’t afford to have any big foul-ups, either operationally or making any mistakes in communications about the Wright brothers.”