The Wright Brothers is 320 pages long arranged into eleven chapters spread across three parts. These three major parts explored the brothers’ experiments with flight, their successful flight as well as their perfection of control, and spreading the word.
McCullough crafted this incredible story through newspaper articles, letters, and notes from various sources but mainly from the Wright Brothers themselves. The Wright Brothers were prolific writers. There seems to be a thorough paper trail of their trails and accomplishments. A significant source of documentation was between the brothers and their sister, Katherine.
The Wright Brothers were curious and analytical by nature. When they found something they were interested in, they would do extensive research. They corresponded with aviation pioneers of the day like Octave Chanute, Glenn Curtis, and Samuel Pierpont Langley. The brothers sifted through past research data and formulated hypotheses that they would then test. What is fascinating is they neither of them had a college degree, and this was before the internet.
I especially enjoyed reading about the Spartan conditions they had to endure while conducting their tests at Kitty Hawk, NC. They indeed came from hearty stock. They had to put up with isolation, wind, bugs, and storms. Yet, each day, they would go out and test something new. One thing that struck me as important was the attention they placed on safety. They would make incremental changes to their aircraft or test approach. They stayed within their limits even though their ultimate goal was quite risky.
While they were conducting their tests over several summers, others around them were also trying to be first in powered flight. As history would show, the Wright Brothers were the first in flight. No one thought it was possible. There were a lot of vocal skeptics. In spite of the naysayers, the brothers persisted and took to the air. Once they did, they were celebrities. However, their success was not instantly, but their status snowballed.
What I found unfortunate was that America did not take to aviation, specifically the government, as did the Europeans. The Wright Brothers were treated like royalty everywhere they went. One of the primary goals of the brothers was to sell their flying machine. To do this, they had to put on demonstrations. Each demonstration drew greater and greater crowds. Sometimes the crowds would be disappointed because the weather conditions were not suitable for flying. As I noted, the brothers were in control of their safety. They once succumbed to the external pressures and flew, thus resulting in a severe accident. This accident shortened Orville’s flying career.
McCullough did an excellent job sharing this period in time. I had an opportunity through his pages to share in the various modes of transportation. This is something that fascinated me. This was a time before airliners. The primary means of transportation were trains, ships, automobiles, and horse carriages. The brothers also favored walking next to flight.
The Wright Brothers provided me with a deep dive into the lives of these extraordinary pioneers. I am happy that I took the time to read this book. For all my aviator friends, you will enjoy reading The Wright Brothers.
Wright Brothers Flying School.jpg. (2019, October 15). Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Retrieved 21:22, November 25, 2019 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wright_Brothers_Flying_School.jpg&oldid=370710110.
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