The Flyers: In Search of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Book Description

“It takes only nineteen seconds to walk the distance of the first powered flight. But when I was there the wind was up and cold on my face, and I felt as if I’d entered the black-and-white photograph I’d been seeing all my life. The sand is light gray, there’s a spill of surf in the distance. Wilbur, running at the right of the plane, and Orville, the pilot, are in dark suits. The propellers blur against the sky as the machine rises. . . .”

So begins Noah Adams’s adventure in search of Wilbur and Orville Wright, a journey that takes him across the country as he follows in the footsteps of the famous brothers in an attempt to know them more deeply, not just as inventors and pilots but as individuals as well.

Adams, one of our most distinctive and talented storytellers, traveled thousands of miles and interviewed scores of experts and individuals to piece together his story. He finds a local boat captain to ferry him to Kitty Hawk, along the same route that Wilbur took in 1900, and spends several days talking with descendants of the families who first welcomed the Wright brothers a century ago and helped them conduct their gliding experiments. To experience first-hand the thrill of being in the air, Adams himself goes hang-gliding in the Outer Banks.

To understand the aerodynamics of lift and drag and how the famous 1903 plane was constructed, he visits Ken Hyde, a Virginia pilot and vintage aircraft builder who is creating the world’s most accurate reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer. Adams goes to the prop shop and handles the tools and materials that the Wrights used to build their gliders and planes, and later he visits the wind tunnel at Langley Air Force Base where Hyde’s reproduction was tested for the first time.

He also travels to France to visit the old racetrack at Le Mans where Wilbur startled the European aviation community with his demonstration flights in 1908, and he spends a few days at Wisconsin’s Oshkosh Fly-in, where builders of experimental aircraft and owners of vintage planes gather every year to dazzle the crowds. Adams himself takes to the air in a restored Ford Tri-Motor, America’s first airliner, which took its maiden flight seventy years ago.

In Adams’s book we encounter the Wright brothers in a way that no writer has introduced them before. Through the lens of his own experiences as well as original reporting, letters, diaries, and other primary source material, he helps us understand the talent and intensity of the brothers and their family, including the fascinating, deeply complex, and at times tragic bond between Orville and Katharine, his younger sister.

The Flyers is a wonderfully rich narrative that brings an unprecedented spirit of immediacy to one of history’s most dramatic stories.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Noah Adams Has Captured the Essence.......2006-05-30

I lived in Dayton, Ohio, for three years during the late 1960s. I appreciate the nostalgia and reverence Noah Adams captures in his description of Dayton and of the Wright Brothers' exploits.

I remember the huge bombers taking off from Wright-Pat airbase, their somber mission and the fear of nuclear war always a palpable emotion in those years.

Adams captures both the essence of the Wright family and its influence on the world. I never had a chance to see their Oakwood home, but Adams let me feel the ambiance each room in their house and the dynamics between the two brothers and their family.

The visitation of Adams to Kitty Hawk and to Hawthorne Hill accentuates the intensity of those first flights. The added photographs of these historic moments intensifies their importance.

What I would give to have been there in France or in New York harbor when that old-fashioned airplane swooped by.

Larry Rochelle, author of DUST DEVILS, SIREN SORCERY, GULF GHOST and BLUE ICE.

Confused Bio.......2004-12-26

This biography on the Wrights is a confused mess. Adams tells the story by visitng locations where the Wrights made history, but during these travels we learn more about his modern day random encounters than what the Wrights actually did there. Adams goes on for pages about capturing moths, a boy and his heroic dog, and other such tales which have nothing to do with the Wrights.

This biography also neglects describe the Wrights childhood and what might have made them the brilliant engineers they became. The book really focuses on everything after the Kitty Hawk flight. This is its biggest strength in describing how they traveled the world to show everyone their flying machine, including moments of triumph and tragedy.

The book finds down by focussing on the Wrights' sisters love affair. I got the feeling that the author felt their needed to be a romance somewhere in the book, and since the Wrights were more focussed on machines than women that he needed to waste our time with this barely relevant affair.

Couldn't put it down!.......2004-06-25

This is a great little book. You follow along as Adams revisits many of the places where the Wright Brothers went. Just like any such visitor, he revels in the little things he finds that match up with some bit of the legend, like finding a building where they stayed; or the hospital where Orville was laid up after the first fatal crash. He also finds evidence of the huge impact Wilbur made in France where he was hailed as a hero. Who'd have thought there was a "Wilbur Street" in France?

No, this is no substitute for those blow-by-blow accounts of each innovation, but it fills in the gaps and adds some chronolgy that others lack. For example, he mentions how Orville's crash happened while Wilbur was in Europe, and how long it had been since Orville had last flown.

This is a fine book, and if you've ever gone on your own trek to try and get a sense of history by "being there", you won't be able to put it down.

Still Searching.......2004-06-19

The problem with Noah Adams's book is an inability to decide what it wants to be. A Wright Brothers biography? No. A personal memoir? Not really. A Wright Brothers Greatest Hits visit to places intimately connected with their lives? Not that either, although The Flyers certainly has some characteristics of all those three possibilities. While well-written, the book fails to capture the brothers, not really a surprising flaw since they are long dead, their contemporaries are long dead and the Brothers didn't leave much in the way of a written account of their lives. The characters who come most back to life here are their father Bishop Wright and, especially, their lovely and patient sister Katharine. And they breathe on the page precisely because Adams draws frequently and well from their journals and letters. Adams is also good when writing of the places the Wright Brothers flew, such as the Outer Banks of North Carolina and New York. Each chapter starts with a title page photograph and many of them are rare treasures, at least as evocative as Adams's text. One minor annoyance -- the Wrights were famously solitary and family-centered, so the frequent interludes where Adams imagines himself exchanging small talk and daily observations with the Wilbur and Orville ring jarringly untrue.

a journey of discovery.......2003-11-29

Noah Adams took a year off from NPR and went in search of the Wright Brothers. He sought out the threads of their story in locations from Dayton Ohio to Paris France, as well as deep inside the many long letters that Orville, Wilbur, their father Milton and their sister Kate shared over the years. The result is a fresh telling of the Wright story that is well worth reading.

Adams' book caught my eye because I have been on my own Wright Brothers quest the last two years, producing a documentary for The History Channel. In reading his book I discovered we had unknowingly crossed paths twice. Once in October 2002 on the dunes of Jockey's Ridge state park, a few miles south of Kitty Hawk, watching military pilots try their hand flying the Wright Brothers 1902 glider, and once at the annual air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Having done a substantial amount of research into the Wrights' story, I wondered if I would learn anything new in this book, and was delighted to find that I did. No other book that I've seen details Wilbur Wright's first encounter with alphabet soup at a hotel dining room in France in 1908, which is a wonderful moment. Other little known nuggets also come to light here. The Wrights' sense of humor, hidden from the world and saved only for family and close friends, is also write large on these pages, which helps us see past the starched suits and pinched faces and come face to face with the real men.

Other parts of the story that I was familiar with were told with caring and detail that made them seem brand new. One exquisitely sad chapter deals in detail with Will and Orv's sister Kate. She and Orville were as close as two people could be, and came to rely heavily on each other after Wilbur's death. But when Kate fell in love in her 50's with an old college friend, recently widowed, and decided to marry him, Orville cut her off. He didn't attend the wedding, he returned letters, and never spoke to her again before she died of pneumonia two years later. Adams tells the story through Kate's letters, and the pain is palpable.

But it is Adams' own explorations that what really set the book apart, as he visits the dirt racecourse in Le Mans where Wilbur Wright astonished the world with his first flight, charters a boat to Kitty Hawk the same way Wilbur Wright did, or examines the original glass negative of that famous picture of the first flight.

Listeners to NPR are familiar with Adams' folksy style. You meet the people he does, be they curators, taxi drivers, whoever. He occasionally stumbles, rambling on too long about a moth collector at Huffman Prairie, or a stunt pilot flying at Oshkosh. But he hits far more often than he misses. His observations and his musings, and his weaving of modern day people and happenings into the story make this book unique among the many Wright books that have come out this year. You can learn the history well you enjoy the ride. I highly recommend it.

Book Description

Young Orville and Wilbur Wright loved building things. From the fastest sled in town to the highest-flying kite, the Wright brothers’ creations were always a step ahead of everyone else’s. They grew up learning all about mechanics from fixing bicycles and studied math and physics. On December 17, 1903, Orville took off in the world’s first flying machine! The Wright airplane is one of the most amazing–and life-changing–

Customer Reviews:

EXCERLLENT ADDITION TO AN EXCELLENT SERIES.......2006-11-14

This work, for the young reader, is an excellent additon to one of the best series for young people over the past fifty years. This is the story of the Wright Brothers, from their early childhood through the time of their invention of the "flying machine." It does stress the influence their parents, particularly their mother, had upon them. It is simply written and very direct. The story is quite easy to follow and gives the young reader a very good insight to the minds and work ethic these brothers had. It is an excellent introduction to the subject of flight. Overall the book is quite inspirational. I can remember reading it as a child (mid-fifties) and am quite gratified to see my grandsons read it today. Recommend quite highly.

Great for 7-9 years old.......2006-05-27

My 7 year old really liked this, and more generally this whole Landmark series is very good for young readers. Vocabulary and sentence structure are age appropriate. Content is good solid history. As opposed to much of the stuff for this age which is "silly" reading, this series lets them learn something while improving their reading skills.

Great informative and inspirational book.......2005-10-23

This book was easy to read and helped me gain an understanding of the Wright brothers and the influence their mother had on their lives as well as their accomplishments and what drove them to invent, and invent, and invent! Not only did it provide a good review of their acccomplishments, but it also provided inspiration to my 11 year old daughter. These men had a can do attitude and never gave up. I recommend this book for anyone who wants knowlege of the Wright brothers, and inspiration to always keep trying.

True Discription.......2000-05-19

A book that truly describes what happened to the Wright Brothers. It tells of how they went from almost nothing to building arplanes. It tells how they worked to build the airplane, and always wanted to build one. Recomended for anyone who wants to know more about Orville Wright and Wilbur, and wants to read a good book

Pendulum II: The Story of America's Three Aviation Pioneers: Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and Glenn Curtiss

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Pendulum II: The Story of America's Three Aviation Pioneers: Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and Glenn Curtiss
Jack Carpenter
Manufacturer: Arsdalen, Bosch & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0960073620

Book Description

This is the book you heard about on NPR, National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday with Ira Flatow on August 1, 2003. In an interesting three-way interplay about early flight and the Wright brothers, author Jack Carpenter, Paul Hoffman (author, Wings of Madness) and Michael Lavelle (Museum of Flight) discussed this most timely subject...

Also, Smithsonian AIR & SPACE, Centennial Edition, 100 YEARS of FLIGHT, March, 2003, chose PENDULUM as one of but 14 books (of "Hundreds of works…") recommended to its readers.

PENDULUM II

The Story of America's Three Aviation Pioneers: Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and Glenn Curtiss, "The Henry Ford of Aviation" - Including How The Partnership of Alexander Graham Bell and Glenn Hammond Curtiss Led to the Founding of The American Aviation Industry.

In this, the 100th YEAR of FLIGHT, Jack Carpenter's acclaimed 1992 PENDULUM - the only book telling a multi-sided story - was among the select few recommended by the Smithsonian's AIR & SPACE Centennial Edition, March, 2003.

This sold-out bestseller is the foundation for PENDULUM II - with its amazing, never-before-told story of one of the most important but least known chapters in American history.

Improved - and 25% larger - in its 520 archival-quality pages PENDULUM II tells the whole story with all the players in this epic tale of flight's beginnings. You will read in this unique chronologically and interwoven story - and view in its hundreds of archival photographs and exhibits - "what actually happened" with the Wrights, Glenn Curtiss - including Alexander Graham Bell's hitherto unknown pivotal role - with Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Octave Chanute and others on the sidelines.

The result of over two decades research and a 135-work selected bibliography, PENDULUM II focuses upon (1), a semi-secret Agreement made between the Smithsonian and Orville Wright's heirs, and (2), a volcanic, historically important letter written by Gilbert M. Grosvenor, National Geographic's chairman (and Bell's great-grandson), to the author - which "changes everything."

Book Description

Published in time for the 100th anniversary of the first flight, here is the first complete biography of the Wright Brothers' sister. Beloved sibling, confidant, and caregiver, Katharine managed many of her brothers' affairs. Based on a thorough study of her personal papers and the Wright archives, The Wright Sister tells a touching personal story, and casts a uniquely intimate light on the lives of two of the twentieth century's most famous men.

Customer Reviews:

The Wright Sister.......2006-03-26

Katherine was a woman of her times, although she graduated from college, which was rare at that time, and the first in her family to go to college. The book reflected those times. The relationships in the book were sensitively portrayed, and quite accurate. Katherine was an inteligent, warm woman, and was support for her brothers, and was sometimes called the third Wright Brother. She was charming and outgong, which helped the reticent Orville after Wilbur died. Through her eyes, you could find a relationship with her brothers. I recommend the book because it puts a face on the era, the place (Dayton, Ohio and Kittyhawk, NC) and the efforts and success of the brothers Wright.

Great Story of little known Wright Sister.......2003-12-24

This is a book with many stories- the Wright brother's efforts to fly and consequent fame, life at the turn of the century and what was expected from women. Not many women today could relate to this book about Katherine Wright's dedication to her family. Even though she was an educated woman, she gave up her life to take care of her family and almost missed out on a chance for love late in life. Although aimed at older children I think adults would enjoy reading the book and browsing the photos.

The Papers of Wilbur & Orville Wright, Including the Chanute-Wright Papers

Average customer rating:

Definitive Book on the Wrights
An astounding firsthand account of the invention of flight

The Papers of Wilbur & Orville Wright, Including the Chanute-Wright Papers
Marvin McFarland , and Orville Wright
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright
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The Wright Brothers: A Biography

ASIN: 0071363769

Book Description

For a limited time! This special commemorative original edition reprint collector set of rare volumes celebrates a century of flight. Don't miss this opportunity! A chronologically organized look at aviation pioneers' Wilbur and Orville Wright's plans, progress, achievements, and setbacks, documented in two illustrated volumes spanning 50 years' worth of letters, papers, notes, drawings, and compelling photograhps Taken from the detailed correspondence and numerous diary and notebook excerpts, wind tazble tunnels, and more

Customer Reviews:

Definitive Book on the Wrights.......2003-01-07

If you like avaition and it's history, this is the book for you. Very easy to read and well put together. The two volumes come in a nice dust case.

An astounding firsthand account of the invention of flight.......2002-10-07

Conventional wisdom brands these two geniuses as simple "bicycle mechanics." This incredible book takes you inside their genius, in their own words, written day-by-day. What they accomplished is no less than a miracle, and this book will humble even the most self-assured intellects. Their research "invented" wing theory and shapes, aircraft control systems, and propeller theory. Then they had to design and constuct their own engine, as available ones were too heavy. And wonderfully for us, they left an astounding amount of documentation, including photographic (including the famous photo of the first controlled flight ever), and massive documents and correspondence, which is reproduced in this 800+ page book. There's nothing "dry" about this first-hand story of man's most significant invention.

The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Average customer rating:

I couldn't put it down
Book Is Very Boring & Talks To Much Of Their Father's Life
Very good biography, but who _were_ they?
In the end somewhat disappointing
The Bishop's Boys is FABULOUS

The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright
Tom D. Crouch
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039330695X

Book Description

The reissue of this definitive biography heralds the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight.

Brilliant, self-trained engineers, the Wright brothers had a unique blend of native talent, character, and family experience that perfectly suited them to the task of invention but left them ill-prepared to face a world of skeptics, rivals, and officials. Using a treasure trove of Wright family correspondence and diaries, Tom Crouch skillfully weaves the story of the airplane's invention into the drama of a unique and unforgettable family. He shows us exactly how and why these two obscure bachelors from Dayton, Ohio, were able to succeed where so many better-trained, better-financed rivals had failed. 50 b/w photographs.

Customer Reviews:

I couldn't put it down.......2007-09-05

An absolutely fascinating story of how two boys from Ohio without college educations, through sheer will, determination and confidence in their own abilities, invented a machine that literally changed the world. It is almost laughable the way they kept plodding along, ignoring the fact that many eminent scientific minds of the period (One can almost hear them dead-panning, "What's that have to do with us.") had repeatedly failed, often catastrophically, to fly a heavier-than-air machine.

Book Is Very Boring & Talks To Much Of Their Father's Life.......2005-09-30

This book was a major dissapointment for me. I could not finish the book. The author dwelled more on the problems of the Wright Brother's father, and the chaos he delt with in their denomination. I felt like I was reading their father's life story. Historical bio's are my favorite reading, but this book I had to lay down. After several re-starts, I finaly gave the book away to another history friend. I will choose another bio if the Wright Brothers

Very good biography, but who _were_ they?.......2004-01-11

Very good biography. Details the events of the Wright brothers' lives quite well. I found especially interesting the section on their family lineage and background. It gave a feeling of them as once-removed from the frontier lifestyle, and also well described their place in midwestern American society, with the father leading the church efforts, their "modern woman" sister attending college, etc.

The book doesn't go into a great deal of technical detail on their inventive process. Crouch's colleague Peter Jakab has written an excellent book, "Visions of a Flying Machine," which fills that niche excellently.

My only qualm with the book was that as I was nearing the end, I couldn't help but thinking, "Yes, this is all the stuff that happened in their lives, but who WERE they?" Crouch is very exhaustive in covering all the events, esp. their fight for proper credit for the invention. But in the end, I didn't feel as if I had a feel for who they were as people.

Ironically, I felt that Jakab's "Visions" book told much more about who they were as people. This book focused on the invention period, and by really showing how they worked and thought, gave more of a feel of their personalities and humanity

In the end somewhat disappointing.......2003-08-05

Tom Crouch does a wonderful job in bringing the story of the Wright brothers to life. He explains their social interactions, their different personality types and the family's ideals.

However when he starts to tell the story of the invention of the aeroplane (airplane) the disappointments mount. At this point the author could have focussed on the insightfulness and engineering brilliance of the Wright brothers. However the author seems unwilling or incapable of expressing how the Wright brothers were able to distil and redefine the ideas of their predecessors. The redefinition of Smeaton's coefficient, the choice of a dynamic approach to restore equilibrium, the experiments and formulae required to calculate the basic forces of flight and efficient propellor design are all given scant attention. The book's phobia of technical detail is epitomised by its reference at one stage to increasing the octane rating of the fuel to increase power. Unfortunately octane and its potential to produce greater power would not be understood until the '20s. The book then appears to have great difficulty in differentiating what the Wright brothers did in comparison with their rivals. Instead of demonstrating why wing warping was the basic concept behind all control systems in aeroplanes, the author resorts to bold assertions such as the Wright brothers were aware of ailerons and fully described them in their patent application. This is highly debatable and in my opinion WRONG! Furthermore any patent issue which may have gone against the Wrights is always described as a legal loophole and not given any further regard. Instead of defending the Wrights on their own merit the book seems to be compelled to detail feel good stories or nicknames of distant relatives and associates. The relevance of Orville's flying students' ancestors defeating the British (I'm assuming not single handedly as implied by the book) in the battle of Lake Erie in 1813 does seem somewhat irrelevent. I enjoyed the enthusiastic style of the writer, but in the end felt that the book was somewhat flat in conveying what the Wright brothers actually achieved on that historic December day in 1903.

The Bishop's Boys is FABULOUS.......2003-05-21

Hi. I've read this book from cover - to - cover so many times that it's actually falling apart. This book is fabulous and I would reccomend it to anyone iterested in flight!

Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers (Childhood of Famous Americans Series.)

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The history of these young boys; young flies:
Fun and loaded with facts!
A Tale of Two Inventors

Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers (Childhood of Famous Americans Series.)
Augusta Stevenson
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0020421702

Customer Reviews:

The history of these young boys; young flies:.......2006-02-22

This is a book back in history. The biography of two males come to me for the coolest time for kids! So, if you are a young child, you may like to read a biography two males. Gruateened you will love it!!

Fun and loaded with facts!.......2005-02-24

This book is really good. I like the way the author provides information about Orville and Wilbur individually, instead of just lumping them together as "the Wright brothers." I also liked reading about their childhood, how they got interested in flying, and how they developed their airplane.

A Tale of Two Inventors.......2000-10-10

Read about the life of those amazing inventors, Wilbur and Oriville Wright, as they learn explore, and create a flying machine!

The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane, 21 Activities Exploring the Science and History of Flight (For Kids series)

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Experiments are iffy
Wright Brothers for Kids ---- Awesome Read!

The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane, 21 Activities Exploring the Science and History of Flight (For Kids series)
Mary Kay Carson
Manufacturer: Chicago Review Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1556524773

Book Description

This activity book tells the amazing true story of how two bicycle-making brothers from Ohio, with no more than high-school educations, accomplished a feat that forever changed the world. At a time when most people still hadn't ridden in an automobile, Wilbur and Orville Wright built the first powered, heavier-than-air flying machine. Woven throughout the heartwarming story of the two brothers are activities that highlight their ingenuity and problem-solving abilities as they overcame many obstacles to achieve controlled flight. The four forces of flight-lift, thrust, gravity, and drag-and how the Wright brothers mastered them are explained in clear, simple text. Activities include making a Chinese flying top, building a kite, bird watching, and designing a paper glider, and culminate with an activity in which readers build a rubber-band-powered flyer. Included are photographs just released from the Wright brothers' personal collection, along with diagrams and illustrations. The history of human flight and its pioneers, a time line, and a complete resource section for students are also provided.

Customer Reviews:

Experiments are iffy.......2006-09-20

The actual reading and stories are accurate and valuable information. Many experiments and activities are not very clear or able to be performed as written. This is a better book for reading and the wonderful photographs.

Wright Brothers for Kids ---- Awesome Read!.......2004-08-16

My daughter had to do a book report last year on the Wright Brothers. This was a great historical book that was very readable to any child older than 9 years of age. I also read the book myself as I find this topic interesting and was very impressed with the history and activities this book introduced. I believe it was a perfect mixture of reading and activities to show the practical application of what you had just learned. My daughter and I both loved it. This book will definately increase the facination towards flying or at least give one an appreciation as to how far we've come in flight travel.

How We Invented the Airplane: An Illustrated History

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From Orville Wright Himself...
A Dream Come True!
Dreaming about Flying? Orville Wright did.

How We Invented the Airplane: An Illustrated History
Orville Wright
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486256626

Book Description

Fascinating firsthand account covers early experiments, construction of planes and motors, first flights, much more. Introduction and commentary by Fred C. Kelly. 76 photographs.

Customer Reviews:

From Orville Wright Himself..........2004-03-14

I hate to confess that I didn't even know that the Wright Brothers had written anything later in life. This was so great to read about how Orville Wright and his brother and family really felt about their quest.

As co-owner of an aviation restoration company that works on older aircraft, this book meant more to me than most.

What I have noticed about most pilots is that except for those who get involved in the military or through chance - most pilots are almost "meant" to fly from the start. It is something that inspires them from the time they are kids. With the cost of flying and owning an aircraft, not every kid pursues his dream, but for Orville and the rest - once they are up in the sky it makes it all worthwhile.

A Dream Come True!.......2001-12-23

A full quarter century before the historic first flight of a powered, controlled heavier-than-air aircraft, a minister named Milton Wright presented two young boys with a model Penaud "helicoptere." As Wilbur and Orville Wright observed, "A toy so delicate lasted only a short time in thehands of small boys, but its memory was abiding,"

This wonderful book chronicles the careers of Orville and Wilbur Wright, drawing upon the writings of the brothers themselves and Fred C. Kelly, their authorized biographer and confidant for more than three decades.

What makes the story of the Wright brothers so compelling is their deliberate, patient perserverance to discover how to make the dream of flight reality.

Dreaming about Flying? Orville Wright did........1999-12-29

This is a great book. One of my favorite quotes is when Orville was asked when he got the biggest "kick" out of the invention of the airplane, was it the first flight? "No", Orville said, "I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all-- while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly." For many of us who fly, we can understand this as we spend more time on the ground dreaming then in the air. -- Ross

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane

Average customer rating:

The Wright Brothers
Interesting
The Wright Brothers is probably the best book ever written
***Good informative read***
Read Me

The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane
Russell Freedman , Wilbur Wright , and Orville Wright
Manufacturer: Holiday House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery (Clarion Nonfiction)
The Wright Brothers for Kids: How They Invented the Airplane, 21 Activities Exploring the Science and History of Flight (For Kids series)
The Great Fire
The Wright Brothers: A Biography

ASIN: 082341082X

Book Description

The first powered, sustained, and controlled airplane flight, and the men behind it. A Newbery Honor Book.

Customer Reviews:

The Wright Brothers.......2004-07-12

Freedman's interesting narrative of the Wright brothers portrays them as proper gentlemen who wore suits with bowties even while repairing bicycles in their shop, mechanical geniuses despite being high school dropouts, and totally dedicated to their dream of creating an aeroplane. The photographs in this book were taken by Wilbur and Orville Wright themselves. In addition to being aviators, they had a fascination with photography and converted a backyard shed for processing film. They knew that documenting their progress would be important for future generations.

In this fast-paced book, Freedman makes the long ago brothers seem real. He describes their quirky behaviors and intersperses excerpts from journals and letters written by the Wrights. Freedman demonstrates their tireless perseverance by detailing how trial runs failed again and again. The Wright brothers are truly heroes, worthy subjects for one of Freedman's books. Any student interested in mechanics, inventors, or aviation would enjoy this book.

Interesting.......2004-07-11

How They Invented the Airplane is probably the best Wright Brothers biography yet. It's written by my favorite author of the genre, Russell Freedman. (Lincoln: A Photobiography)

The only thing that made the book a little less enjoyable was the lack of information about the childhood of Orville and Wilbur. Also, I found myself asking questions about The Wright's parents and and siblings, who were weakly potrayed in the book Every other bit of information was intact, and the affect was this great book.

The Wright Brothers is probably the best book ever written.......2003-09-17

Wilbur Wright, the brother with visions, invented the airplane along with Orville Wright, the brother who loved to tinker. Wilbur once said, " My brother Orville and myself lived together, played together and, in fact thought together." Wilbur and Orville persevered in their struggle against Mother Nature, the public opinion, and failed flights and experiments to fulfill their dream of making a flying machine.
This biography tells the story of the lives of the Wright brothers, from the time they were little boys tinkering with toys, to when they finally sold their marvelous invention to the United States government. This book shows how the airplane started out as a glider, then evolved into a plane that stayed in the air for 5 seconds, and finally into a plane that stayed in the air for an hour and 13 minutes. It also explains how getting the government to buy their plane was a difficult task because it had already spent $70,000 on another person who tried to invent the airplane. Luckily, the government said yes after the Wright brothers had built a better plane. This book also contains miraculous pictures of Wilbur and Orville's flights and failures.
I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys biographies or who wants to sit back and relax with a good book. This book is an all around good read but what especially sticks out is that it shows that if you put your mind to something you can always accomplish it, no matter how difficult the task.

***Good informative read***.......2003-04-21

I do not own this book but i have read it and it is very informative, has great rare photos! And i learned a lot about the Wright brothers, some things i should have proabably known before...If it weren't for them we would still be on the ground, or at least for a while longer.

Read Me.......2003-03-18

I read The Wright Brothers by Russel Freedman. This book describes the lives of our countries aeronautical pioneers,
Wilbur and Orville Wright,and how they invented the first true airplane. From the time they were children, Wilbur and Orville lived together, played together, worked together ,and even thought together. From their tiny bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. to the Kitty Hawk Island sand dunes. These two men defied known ideas about flight and built their own self-propelled craft that soared them to fame. Even today, a little over a hundred years after their first self-propelled manned flight, these two men are remembered for their courage. I would recomend this book to anyone interested in either the Wright Brothers or the history of flight in general. If it were not for these two, man would not have gotten of the ground!

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