The Wright Brothers

Airplane is an important invention. Ever since its coming into existence, it has already evolved into a reliable and affordable means of transportation thanks to decades of scientific progress and various technological innovations. Though no longer a curiosity today, flying like bird in the sky had long been an endeavor pursued by countless enthusiasts in the old days, even at the risk of losing their lives. However, before its successful debut by the Wright brothers at the beginning of the last century, human aviation was largely a history of futile attempts. Consequently, flying a heavier-than-the-air machine was often regarded impossible and any such experiment lunatic and subject to public ridicule. So, it’s safe to say airplane didn’t exist before the Wright brothers came onto the stage. How the first human maneuverable aircraft came about? What challenges did its inventors have to face and overcome and, most importantly, what drove them to success given the various failures experienced by others? David McCullough has done a terrific job in answering these questions in his 2015 bestseller The Wright Brothers. Mr. McCullough is a historian who is known for his gripping stories of influential U.S. historical figures and events. In this book, he tells a compelling story of how the Wright brothers convinced the world for the first time that flying through the air was possible as demonstrated with their own creation. It’s a very well researched book with a wealth of fascinating details, many quoted directly from their correspondence or diary. It’s a memoir that recounts the life experience of these two brothers, with particular emphasis on their crucial activities in airplane development. An entertaining read that’s only made possible by the author’s powerful storytelling skills and lucid prose. Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright were born to an ordinary family in Dayton, Ohio in the mid 19th century. Their father was a righteous Christian preacher, their mother a witty but very shy woman. They had two older brothers and a young sister. The Wright brothers didn’t receive any college education, but that wasn’t an obstacle of their intellectual growth since they were both smart, read widely and had insatiable interest in mechanics. They worked side by side every day on various projects of their liking, industriously. For a living, they tried their hand on newspapers, printing, and bicycle making. Finally their interest led them to build an airplane. It appears they were driven purely by the dream of being able to fly like bird than any financial gains it may potentially bring them. Though taciturn in nature, Wilbur is also an excellent writer and public speaker. This aspect of his talent helped him acquire whatever resources they needed in carrying out their airplane project. Their first airplane was actually a glider and its testing was not quite different from flying a giant kite. After innumerable testings and conscientious study of bird flying, they developed various components and mechanisms to control the balance of an aircraft in flight. Their first manned flight boosted their confidence considerably. Before long, with the help of their assistant Charlie Taylor, two motor-driven propellers were added to their flying machine enabling it to soar in the sky for miles. Though primitive, it was an astounding creation and its news quickly reached as far as Europe. Its sensational fly demonstration in France quickly and firmly established the Wright brothers’ reputation. Their technology was recognized by their own country only after their stupendous success in Europe and a series of domestic demonstrations. In Europe, their success ushered in a flood of enthusiasm to build similar or more powerful airplanes. Their achievement, however, didn’t bring about comparable financial reward to them due to their lacking of financial skills. In fact, they had to fight a long battle to protect their patent and this effort had greatly annoyed them. The Wright brothers’ invention results from their abiding belief in possibility of their pursuit. Though their experience was interspersed with moments of failure, they never gave it up in the ten years period before their career reached its peak. They are good examples of vigorous doers than idle dreamers. Their unquenchable curiosity, unwavering insistence and immense energy are critical factors leading them to final success.

McCullough has written a serious and riveting review of the lives of Wilbur and Orville. His writing style is concise, thorough, and unpretentious. I was able to read it easily and enjoyably and learned many things about the Wright family that I didn’t know. The book was thus valuable to me. FAMILY McCullough makes it clear that the Wilbur and Orville were a product of their family environment. Their father was the major influence. Milton Wright was a minister and finally a bishop in the United Brethren Church in Christ. McCullough writes — “He was an unyielding abstainer, which was rare on the frontier, a man of rectitude and purpose— all of which could have served as a description of Milton himself and Wilbur and Orville as well.” His strict values molded and focused the views of the three younger Wrights (Katherine, Wilbur, and Orville). In addition to his strictness, he was a true classical liberal in his beliefs in the scientific method and equal rights for all people, no matter their race or gender. For example, Milton wrote to his sons when they were in Paris trying to get support for their flying machine: “Sons—Be men of the highest types personally, mentally, morally, and spiritually. Be clean, temperate, sober minded, and great souled.” As grown, experienced, and highly successful inventors, they responded: “Father — All the wine I have tasted since leaving home would not fill a single wine glass. I am sure that Orville and myself will do nothing that will disgrace the training we received from you and Mother.” McCullough writes — “Years later, a friend told Orville that he and his brother would always stand as an example of how far Americans with no special advantages could advance in the world. ‘But it isn’t true,’ Orville responded emphatically, ‘to say we had no special advantages . . . the greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was always much encouragement to intellectual curiosity.’ ” BUSINESS McCullough records Wilbur’s thoughts on being in business in a letter to his brother Lorin in 1894: “In business it is the aggressive man, who continually has his eye on his own interest, who succeeds. … There is nothing reprehensible in an aggressive disposition, so long as it is not carried to excess, for such men make the world and its affairs move. . . . I entirely agree that the boys of the Wright family are all lacking in determination and push. That is the very reason that none of us have been or will be more than ordinary businessmen. … We ought not to have been businessmen.” In 1911, Wilbur wrote: “When we think what we might have accomplished if we had been able to devote this time [fighting patent infringement suits] to experiments, we feel very sad, but it is always easier to deal with things than with men, and no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose.” The Wrights never built, or even tried to build, an industrial empire as Ford or Edison or their Dayton neighbors John and Frank Patterson (National Cash Register) had done. The Wrights were intellectual men and women. ENGINEERING McCullough's book is quite light on technical discussions. But the Wrights' unique approach to technology development is the essence of who they were and why they were such successful engineers when others better funded, better educated, and better connected failed. For example, McCullough ignored the following examples. Wilbur and Orville were superb engineers, though neither went beyond high school. They found by trial and error that the existing data held by the science of aeronautics was flawed even though its principles were generally correct. They zeroed in on weight, power, control, lift, and the propeller as the main technologies that had to be solved. What is so astounding is not just that they solved these technical problems and reduced them to practice, but that they did it in record time. In a matter of three years, they invented or reinvented virtually the whole field of aeronautics. For example, the wind tunnel had been invented thirty years before, but Wilbur and Orville developed it into a precise quantitative instrument. With it, they developed not just the wing configurations, but coupled with the understanding that a propeller is simply a wing on a rotating shaft, they rewrote the rules of propeller design and optimized its efficiency dramatically. These two men had an insight into, and a reverence for, quantitative empirical data that was unique in aeronautical engineering at that time. McCullough shows how that reverence for truth (data) grew out of their family standards. But there was more to it than the principles of a strict Protestant upbringing. It also has to do with time and place. The late 1800s and early 1900s was a period of great minds applying the rules of The Enlightenment and the experience of science to practical problems. The place was an industrial axis, which was anchored by Dayton and Detroit and included Flint, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and many other cities in the Midwest. This is where Edison, Ford, Dow, Firestone, the Patterson Brothers, and the Wright Brothers lived and created their technologies. There was a culture of boundless innovation and an infrastructure that included materials and support equipment that fostered great invention. It was similar in many ways to Silicon Valley today. REINFORCE THE NARRATIVE Another area that could be strengthened in the book is its niche. There has been so much written about the Wrights that each new book needs to distinguish itself in some way with a different point of view, a new set of facts, or a fresh interpretation of old facts. For example, McCullough writes — “In early 1889, while still in high school, Orville started his own print shop in the carriage shed behind the house, and apparently with no objections from the Bishop. Interested in printing for some while, Orville had worked for two summers as an apprentice at a local print shop. He designed and built his own press using a discarded tombstone, a buggy spring, and scrap metal.” That last sentence about building his own printing press defines so much about Orville and his simple pragmatism. To reinforce that point requires some expansion of that event or similar other defining events in the lives of Wilbur and Orville. I wanted to read more about Orville's compulsive act of invention, but it wasn't there. The 81 photos McCullough includes in his book are treasures. Many of them are familiar, but so many are new looks at the Wrights. I wish there were greatly expanded captions below each photo, for each one is a story in itself. One source of knowledge about the Wrights’ approach to aeronautics is the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. It is normally overshadowed by the more popular Air and Space Museum in Washington, but the exhibits at the Air Force Museum walk you through the Wrights’ engineering exploits with a degree of detail and insight I have found nowhere else.

David McCullough is a master storyteller who has revitalized historical personalities and events for millions of readers and a multitude of viewers of PBS and HBO. The Johnstown Flood; the Roeblings and the Brooklyn Bridge; Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal and Teddy's early years; his vignettes of BRAVE COMPANIONS; his Pulitzer-Prize-winning TRUMAN and JOHN ADAMS; the critical year of the American revolution; American artists in Paris; his American Experience presidents; and much, much more are the historical treasures of our American Clio. In THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, once again McCullough projects little known individuals into the pantheon of American heroes. We have all heard and admired the Wright brothers without knowing much about them, assuming that their flying the first engine-propelled plane was recognized as an extraordinary accomplishment then and now. How surprising to learn that the first detailed account of their 1903 Kitty Hawk flight appeared in the January, 1905 edition of GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. At first glance, Wilbur and Orville seem unlikely heroes. Life-long bachelors, they lived with their father and younger sister in Dayton, Ohio. The brothers were, like Truman, voracious readers, though void of 'higher education.' They were hard working, curious tinkerers. Early on Wilbur acknowledged that he didn't have the aggressiveness required in business. Drawing on thousands of Wright letters and a panoply of other documents, McCullough describes how these two seemingly undistinguished brothers became the Fathers of Flight. They initially made a modest living as job printers before becoming caught up in the bicycle craze. Soon they were selling and then making bicycles at the somewhat expanded Wright Cycle Company. Wilbur became intrigued, after the death of a German glider pilot, by how gliders related to the flight of birds. He and then Orville developed a passion for 'bird flight' and 'read up on aeronautics as a physician would read his books.' This culminated in a May 30, 1899 letter to The Smithsonian Institution stating that they were "convinced that human flight is possible and practical." Flight became their passion, despite no formal technical training, nor experience working with others, nor financial backing, except for what they earned from their bicycle company. Working diligently during hours not consumed by their bike business, they built a full-sized glider with components costing less than $15. They selected remote Kitty Hawk as the best site to test this glider. It flew, then crashed, and then flew again. Birds were their Baedeker to flight. As Orville expressed it: "Learning the secret of flight from a bird was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician." For several years, at Kitty Hawk and Dayton, they tinkered with enhancing their glider, while living on their bicycle business revenue. They related their study of birds to determining the appropriate wing curvature. This required them to build a wind tunnel where they tested 38 wing surfaces. Years later an AERONAUTICAL JOURNAL article stated that "Never in the history of the world had men studied the problem with such scientific skill nor with such undaunted courage." At times their flying passion was interrupted by the necessity of making more bikes. In 1902, after nearly 1,000 glider flights, 'they only had to build a motor.' Charlie Taylor, their bike mechanic, built a motor with an aluminum block in which he crafted the cylinders and cast iron pistons. The brothers worked out the pitch for their clockwise and counterclockwise propellers. On March 23, 1903, they applied to the U. S. Patent Office for a patent on their flying machine. In the fall of 1903 they tested their flying machine, "Flyer," at Kitty Hawk. Crashes required new designs before, on December 17th, Orville flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. After Wilbur bested these records, a gust of wind destroyed Flyer, which was then stored in Dayton, never to fly again. The brothers' total 1900-1903 cost for travel and materials was less than $1,000, financed by their bike business. Their historic flights were a media nonevent. Newsmen seemed highly skeptical that such a flight had occurred. A notification to the War Department went unanswered. The brothers kept tinkering to enhance their flying machine with a better motor, wings, and operating devices. Their flights and occasional crashes attracted no media attention. The first accurate account appeared in the January, 1905 edition of GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURES. A copy of this article sent to SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN was ignored. A year later SA published "The Wright Aeroplane and the Fabled Performances," which was undisguised skepticism. The Wrights kept flying at Huffman Prairie near Dayton. Some British officers stopped by to observe. Wilbur was again stiffed by the War Department and chose not to prursue the matter. 1905 was a breakthrough year with Flyer III. Finally the brothers' accomplishments received growing attention domestically and abroad. The French sought to sign a significant flying machine contract. On April 7, 1906, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN published a laudatory article, "The Wright Aeroplane and Its Performances."On May 22, 1906, the patent for the Wright Flying Machine was approved. In 1906 Wilbur went to Europe to discuss contracts with the French and others. Flyer III was shipped over, but never uncrated. Orville, sister Katharine, and mechanic Charlie Taylor joined him for what seemed like a European fling for this Dayton foursome. Wilber demonstrated an uncommon knowledge of art and architecture and visited the Louvre sixteen time. The business discussions seemed unresolved. As Wilbur returned to the U. S., he expressed the intention to "getting more machines ready for the spring trade." After not having flown for 2 1/2 years, Wilbur and Orville had a busy 1908 flying program. Reporters swarmed to observe the U. S. and European flights. Some of the flights related to a War Department interest in a $25,000 contract and serious French interest. The new Flyer was modified to accommodate two operators. Despite setbacks (the Flyer III, still crated in France, was crushed and Wilbur had to meticulously rebuild it), Wilbur captivated Europe with his spectacular flights. Various foreign governments were interested in contracts. Kings and queens, as well as J. P. Morgan and other dignitaries, flocked to his exhibitions. Wilbur trained three French aviators, received gold medals, and was lauded by the French minister of public works: "Mr. Wright is a man who has never been discouraged even in the face of hesitation and suspicion. The brothers Wright have written their names in human history as inventors of pronounced genius." Orville was setting world records at Fort Myer. His triumphs were marred by a crash in which the passenger was killed and Orville was badly injured. Towards the end of the year. there were big receptions for the Wright brothers in New York and in Dayton. While constructing a new plane for the Fort Myers trials, the brothers went to Washington for a day to receive a medal from President Taft on June 10, 1909, before rushing back to Dayton. The Wright brothers continued to establish spectacular flying records. The Wright Company business improved with a $35,000 War Department contract and far more from the French. The Wright brothers had sparked massive competition domestically and abroad. The French had fifteen factories building planes, while Glenn Curtiss had established the rival Curtiss Company to construct flying machines. The brothers seemed less concerned about competition than by patent infringement. They filed nine patent suits and pursued them with a vengeance. As McCullough described it: "It was their reputation at stake that mattered most." Eventually they won every case in the American courts. Wilbur last flew in June, 1911. His focus was on Wright Company business and the patent suits. He died on May 30, 1912 at age 45. Orville ceased flying in 1918, sold the Wright Company, and established the Wright Aeronautical Laboratory, where he intended to continue his tinkering. Various museums were established to honor the Wright brothers' accomplishments. Charles Lindbergh came to Dayton in 1927 to pay his respects to Orville.Orville died on January 30, 1948 at age 77. Neil Armstrong took a small swatch of muslin from the wing of the 1903 Flyer to the moon. These two Dayton boys, through their passion, grit, extraordinary creative thinking, and uncommon tinkering, created modern-day flying. It took years for their accomplishments to be recognized. I wonder what might have occurred, if they had been driven by the business aggressiveness that Wilbur earlier had rejected. According to one source, there was not a single American-made combat plane that fought in World War 1. My father, in the Aviation Section of the U. S. Signal Corps, was one of the pilots who flew hand-me-down French SPADs. His diary recorded many training crashes. A severe crash invalided him out of WW1. After serving with the Eighth Air Force in World War 11, he was transferred to Wright Airfield in Dayton.

This is a marvelous and very enlightening book. Of course everybody knows about the Wright Brothers, but unfortunately that knowledge is usually limited to their flights at Kitty Hawk leading to the first powered flight of an "aeroplane" or "flying machine" as captured in the universally recognizable iconic photograph of Orville's first manned, powered flight of 120 feet. The rest of their story is even more fascinating than those early days. They are truly the founding fathers of aviation. I learned so much, not only about them but about their experiments, inventions, and entrepreneurial spirit that formed the foundation for their success. As men, they were wholly dedicated to their vision and objective, and as products of a family led by their religious father, blessed with the work ethic, self-discipline, and determination to see it through to reality. They were of the finest character, and admired by all who met them, from Kings and Presidents to the common man. Theirs is the perfect American Hero story set in the midst of the industrial revolution that transformed America into a world leader in inventions and technology. The book is written in a very readable style that relates not only their progress and accomplishments, but also blends in telling insights into their personalities, character, patience, and determination. They weren't just lucky - they created their luck through a tremendous appetite for hard work. Wilbur, the eldest of the two (Orville being the youngest of four sons) was the driving force, although in all aspects they were partners and equal contributors to their success. Once Wilbur became interested in aviation, he was close to fanatical. He would watch birds flying for hours, noting that it was not so much the effort of the birds enabling them to fly, but their ability to "control the air" by adjusting their wings and feathers as the wind came and went. He concluded that wind, and the ability to control and "use" the wind, were the key to flight. This led them to their concept of "wing warping", either through actual bending of the wings as done in their early airplanes but also, as they included in their original 1906 patent (submitted in 1903), envisioned the use of adjustable flaps now prevalent on modern aircraft. From their first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903 they made improved versions of their "Wright Flyer" every year, extending their flying times, speed, and maneuverability in the air. All of this time was filled with a constant process of test flights, evaluating results, tinkering and improving their flying machines, and spending the necessary time in the air to "learn" how to control flight through using the wind, as Wilbur had earlier foreseen. By 1908, although there were other successful airplanes built and flown by others, none flew as far, as fast, as high, or as maneuverable as theirs. They spent much time in Europe demonstrating their aeroplanes to crowds numbering in the thousands, and eventually made sales and business deals enabling them to be, if not very wealthy, certainly "very well off" as Orville put it. From about 1909 forward their time was spent almost wholly in court fighting to protect their patent, and in 12 courts cases they won them all. The book ends rather abruptly, as I guess it should, when the description of their flying careers are overtaken by the court fights and setting up their manufacturing business, with little time for either flying themselves or further experimentation. Over time, other early aviators surpassed their Wright Flyers, but in truth all of them stemmed from the thousands of hours of dedicated hard work, learned knowledge, and fundamental inventions of the Wright Brothers. One of the most satisfying and edifying reads I've had in a long time.

David McCullough has done it again. The Wright Brothers is a beautifully written book that tells the story of two brothers from Ohio who taught the world how to fly. The book is a quick read at 262 pages, but much is packed into those pages. McCullough does a fine job covering the “aviation side” of the story, but the real focus is on the “human side” of the story. Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up in a home without indoor plumbing, but they were blessed by a good father who fostered a passion for learning and encouraged his children to read. As a teenager, Wilbur was smashed in the face with a hockey stick by the town bully. Most of his teeth were knocked out and the physical and emotional pain led to a period of isolation and depression. During the dark period, Wilbur became a voracious reader and the knowledge he gained in private study gave him a foundation that would help him to change the world. In 1899, Wilbur and Orville began their annual work trips to Kitty Hawk to solve “the problem of flight.” They slept in a tent, cooked food over a fire, and survived scorching heat and a plague of mosquitoes. Despite the hardships, they would look back on this period as the happiest time of their lives. Their dreams were being realized. The press at first ignored Wilbur and Orville. They either didn’t believe their claims or didn’t grasp the magnitude of what they had accomplished. Wilbur headed to France where interest and understanding of aviation was greater. In 1908, he began staging flying demonstrations at Le Mans in front of thousands of people. Orville did the same thing in Virginia, and the brothers became a world sensation. Aviation as a business also took off and one year later, in 1909, twenty-two pilots flew planes at Reims, France in front of fifty thousand people. McCullough breathes life into the story by relying heavily on the brothers detailed record—letters, diaries, and incredibly crisp photographs. The photographs in the book are treasures, and the best is the one on the book’s cover. It captures the historic moment when Orville laid flat on their first motor powered flyer and flew ten feet above the sands for 12 full seconds. The Wright Brothers lacks the length, depth, and breadth of McCullough’s earlier works on John Adams and Harry Truman. Nevertheless, it is still carefully researched, beautifully written, and fun to read. It tells one of our great American stories. Reading this book is time well spent.

David McCullough is one of the preeminent American historians of our times, the deft biographer of John Adams and Harry Truman, and in this book he brings his wonderful historical exposition and storytelling skills to the lives of the Wright brothers. So much is known about these men that they have been turned into legends. Legends they were but they were also human, and this is the quality that McCullough is best at showcasing in these pages. The book is a quick and fun read. If I have some minor reservations they are only in the lack of technical detail which could have informed descriptions of some of the Wrights' experiments and the slightly hagiographical tint that McCullough is known to bring to his subjects. I would also have appreciated some more insights into attempts that other people around the world were making in enabling powered flight. Nevertheless, this is after all a popular work, and popular history seldom gets better than under McCullough's pen. The book shines in three aspects. Firstly McCullough who is quite certainly one of the best storytellers among all historians does a great job of giving us the details of the Wrights' upbringing and family. He drives home the importance of the Wrights' emphasis on simplicity, intellectual hunger and plain diligence, hard work and determination. The Wright brothers' father who was a Bishop filled the house with books and learning and never held back their intellectual curiosity. This led to an interest in tinkering in the best sense of the tradition, first with bicycles and then with airplanes. The Wrights' sister Katharine also played an integral part in their lives; they were very close to her and McCullough's account is filled with copious examples of the affectionate, sometimes scolding, always encouraging letters that the siblings wrote to each other. The Wrights' upbringing drives home the importance of family and emotional stability. Secondly, McCullough also brings us the riveting details of their experiments with powered flight. He takes us from their selection of Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a flight venue through their struggles, both with the weather conditions and with the machinery. He tells us how the brothers were inspired by Otto Lillienthal, a brilliant German glider pilot who crashed to his death and by Octave Chanute and Samuel Langley. Chanute was a first-rate engineer who encouraged their efforts while Samuel Langley headed aviation efforts at the Smithsonian and was a rival. The Wrights' difficult life on the sand dunes - with "demon mosquitoes", 100 degree weather and wind storms - is described vividly. First they experimented with the glider, then consequentially with motors. Their successful and historic flight on December 17, 1903 was a testament to their sheer grit, bon homie and technical brilliance. A new age had dawned. Lastly, McCullough does a fine job describing how the Wrights rose to world fame after their flight. The oddest part of the story concerns how they almost did not make it because institutions in their own country did not seem to care enough. They found a willing and enthusiastic customer in the French, perhaps the French had already embraced the spirit of aviation through their pioneering efforts in ballooning (in this context, Richard Holmes's book on the topic is definitely worth a read). Wilbur traveled to France, secured funding from individuals and the government and made experimental flights that were greeted with ecstatic acclaim. It was only when his star rose in France that America took him seriously. After that it was easier for him and Orville to secure army contracts and test more advanced designs. Throughout their efforts to get funding, improve their designs and tell the world what they had done, their own determined personalities and the support of their sister and family kept them going. While Wilbur died at the age of forty-five from typhoid fever, Orville lived until after World War 2 to witness the evolution of his revolutionary invention in all its glory and horror. McCullough's account of the Wright brothers, as warm and fast-paced as it is, was most interesting to me for the lessons it holds for the future. The brothers were world-class amateurs, not professors at Ivy League universities or researchers in giant corporations. A similar attitude was demonstrated by the amateurs who built Silicon Valley, and that's also an attitude that's key to American innovation. The duo's relentless emphasis on trial and error - displayed to an almost fanatical extent by their compatriot Thomas Edison - is also an immortal lesson. But perhaps what the Wright brothers' story exemplifies the most is the importance of simple traits like devotion to family, hard work, intense intellectual curiosity and most importantly, the frontier, can-do attitude that has defined the American dream since its inception. It's not an easy ideal to hold on to, and as we move into the 21st century, we should always remember Wilbur and Orville who lived that ideal better than almost anyone else. David McCullough tells us how they did it.

I am going to be 62 in August. Flight has always been important to me. When I was a child living in Wayne, Michigan were under the flight path not too many miles from Metro Airport. We moved there in 1957-58 and the planes overhead were still propeller based airliners. Then the Boeing 707 appeared and I remember the roar, its massive size, and its low flight and it shook the chains in my hands as I sat on my swing set in awe. My father had been a pilot in WWII and flew transport planes. It turns out that my wife’s father was an RAF bomber pilot in WWII and came to Canada after being wounded after being shot down. He stayed in Detroit, got married, and my wife was their oldest daughter. You can easily see that if flight had not come about, not only would all our lives have been different, some of us might never have been! David McCullough has brought us a wonderful popular history, a survey, of the Wright Brothers and their bringing flight to the world. Yes, others are still put forward as having beaten them to the air, but as one of their early rivals noted, no one seemed to be able to fly until Wilbur showed them how then everyone could do it. All the other claimants are for getting off the ground for a bit, but not for controlled flight as the Wright Brothers accomplished. This book covers their early life through their ten years of inventing flight, their 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, their flights at Huffman Prairie, their 1908 paper, the work Orville did with contracts to the U.S. Government and Wilbur’s work and exhibitions in France. Yes, there were rivalries, jealousies, claims for credit. But the reality in the final analysis is that Wilbur and Orville did this great thing with their high school educations and completely financed it themselves without any outside money from wealthy folks or the government. The book is an entertaining and informative read with lots of photos. But if you get interested in the subject you can supplement this book with lots of fabulous information on the web and videos done about the Wright Brothers by people who actually knew them! Wilbur died far too young and Orville lived through WWII and saddened to see their great gift to the world become the means of delivering death and horror in war. Still, my life has been blessed by flight. Last year I took my four year old granddaughter, Amelia, to the Ann Arbor City Airport and we watched planes land and take off as I explained flight to her. She was fascinated. She charmed a very nice man who was the pilot of a Lear Jet that was getting ready to leave in a few hours. He invited her to wander around the inside of the jet to see how it looked inside. She was DELIGHTED. I was so happy to see flight beginning to bless her life and pique her curiosity, too! I bought her a model of the Wright Flyer and gave it to her Dad so they could build it together. They did and it is proudly in her room. A great thing. And we owe it to Wilbur and Orville and what they began back in December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina! Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

David McCullough has done it again. His great story telling abilities and his sense of the time and place of his subjects are once again on full display in The Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville. We all know about Kitty Hawk and the slow, even majestic, ascent of the first men to fly in the air, so much like birds in the steady breeze on the North Carolina coast. Before this, men could float into the sky with balloons or dirigibles but these only lifted men higher without giving man the ability to control the direction of the craft. These were not like birds in the sky but rather more like large balloons. But there is much more to the story. The Wright brothers understood the physics of flight by studying the flight of birds, with their curved wings, slightly humped on the top and flat or convex on the bottom, creating a subtle vacuum that pulled the bird, as it glided, higher. They understood so much more: they created wind machines that simulated the wind as it passed over and under the wings of their craft; they attached small, light engines to assist in creating forward power; they created rudders that would steer the craft. They did all of this in the quietness of their Dayton bicycle shop and then in the wild beaches of North Carolina. The first version of this machine, in 1903, was rudimentary but incorporated all the elements that were needed to understand how to fly. Noone, anywhere in the world, had done this before. Many had tried, mostly dozens of Frenchmen who were similarly fascinated with the concept of air travel, but none were successful. Wilbur, the older brother, shipped the first versions of his craft to Paris and, at a small field on the outskirts of the city, showed the French what he and his brother had created: a machine that rose slowly into the air, sustained its flight for several minutes and then landed back on earth. This was the first demonstration of what the brothers had created. Substantial improvements flowed steadily out of the Wrights’ machine shop. Rudders became more sophisticated, an engine was attached to the aircraft. Gradually, speed and altitude were increased, with speeds reaching 80 miles an hour and altitude more than 2,000 feet within five or six years. Through all of this, the Wright brothers remained as they were before the world paid the most intense attention to them. They were men of few words; they were modest but knew exactly what they had accomplished; they ferociously protected their invention from imitation; they asked noone to take risks with their machines that they did not take; they were not corrupted by praise or attention. They were quintessential Americans at the turn of the last century: they worked hard to achieve their success and did something that changed so much about the world around them. The author of this wonderful biography has tackled many other subjects during his long and remarkably distinguished career: the American Revolution, Harry Truman, Teddy Roosevelt, the construction of the Panama Canal and the Brooklyn Bridge (two separate volumes), a devastating flood in the middle of Pennsylvania. Can there be any more diverse topics that have piqued David McCullough’s interest? All I can do is thank him for turning the lens onto the creators of human aviation. It started in Kitty Hawk and one wonders where it will ultimately take us: to the limits of space probably.