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The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright
For the first time, nearly seventy of Wilbur and Orville Wright's published writings are brought together in a single, annotated reference. Spanning the decades from the brothers' turn-of-the-century experiments with gliders until Orville's death in 1948, the articles describe the design of their aircraft, early test flights, and camp life at Kitty Hawk. Because Wilbur's sudden death in 1912 ended any hope that the Wrights would produce a book of their own, the articles collected in this volume are their only published words.
368 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
About the author
Orville Wright
29 books9 followersThe Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who were credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. From 1905 to 1907, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small homebuilt wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design and build wings and propellers that were more efficient than any before. Their first U.S. patent, 821,393, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather, the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces.
They gained the mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, they conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their bicycle shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers.
The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to counter-claims by various parties. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators.
Orville made his last flight as a pilot in 1918 in a 1911 Model B. He retired from business and became an elder statesman of aviation, serving on various official boards and committees, including the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor agency to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce, predecessor to the Aerospace Industries Association.
Orville Wright served NACA for 28 years. In 1930, he received the first Daniel Guggenheim Medal established in 1928 by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. In 1936, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
On April 19, 1944, the second production Lockheed Constellation flew from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C. in 6 hours and 57 minutes (2300 mi – 330.9 mph). On the return trip, the airliner stopped at Wright Field to give Orville Wright his last airplane flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight. He may even have briefly handled the controls. He commented that the wingspan of the Constellation was longer than the distance of his first flight. Orville's last major project was supervising the reclamation and preservation of the 1905 Wright Flyer III, which historians describe as the first practical airplane.
Orville died on January 30, 1948, after his second heart attack, having lived from the horse-and-buggy age to the dawn of supersonic flight. Both brothers are buried at the family plot at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of three-axis control, which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium. This method became standard and remains standard on fixed-wing aircraft of all kinds. From the beginning of their aeronautical work, the Wright brothers focused on developing a reliable method of pilot control as the key to solving "the flying problem". This approach differed significantly from other experimenters of the time who put more emphasis on developing powerful engines. Using a small homebuilt wind tunnel, the Wrights also collected more accurate data than any before, enabling them to design and build wings and propellers that were more efficient than any before. Their first U.S. patent, 821,393, did not claim invention of a flying machine, but rather, the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces.
They gained the mechanical skills essential for their success by working for years in their shop with printing presses, bicycles, motors, and other machinery. Their work with bicycles in particular influenced their belief that an unstable vehicle like a flying machine could be controlled and balanced with practice. From 1900 until their first powered flights in late 1903, they conducted extensive glider tests that also developed their skills as pilots. Their bicycle shop employee Charlie Taylor became an important part of the team, building their first airplane engine in close collaboration with the brothers.
The Wright brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been subject to counter-claims by various parties. Much controversy persists over the many competing claims of early aviators.
Orville made his last flight as a pilot in 1918 in a 1911 Model B. He retired from business and became an elder statesman of aviation, serving on various official boards and committees, including the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), predecessor agency to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce, predecessor to the Aerospace Industries Association.
Orville Wright served NACA for 28 years. In 1930, he received the first Daniel Guggenheim Medal established in 1928 by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. In 1936, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
On April 19, 1944, the second production Lockheed Constellation flew from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C. in 6 hours and 57 minutes (2300 mi – 330.9 mph). On the return trip, the airliner stopped at Wright Field to give Orville Wright his last airplane flight, more than 40 years after his historic first flight. He may even have briefly handled the controls. He commented that the wingspan of the Constellation was longer than the distance of his first flight. Orville's last major project was supervising the reclamation and preservation of the 1905 Wright Flyer III, which historians describe as the first practical airplane.
Orville died on January 30, 1948, after his second heart attack, having lived from the horse-and-buggy age to the dawn of supersonic flight. Both brothers are buried at the family plot at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 6, 2024
The popular histories of the Wright Brothers are good, but don’t think they give you a complete picture. There are wonderful surprises in primary sources.
For example, in an article published in the July 1901 issue of the Aeronautical Journal, Wilber, from the second paragraph, demonstrates the quality of his mind.
“If a plane be held stationary in a horizontal wind (Fig. 1), the angle of incidence ACD will be equal to the angle with the horizon. But if the wind have an upward trend, the angle of incidence will be increased to ACD2. A calculation based on the assumption that ACD still remained the true angle would, of course, be seriously in error.”
This guy was not just fiddling with kites, he was gathering data. This collection contains all of the technical articles and presentations made by Wilber and explanations by Orville. It also has interviews of Orville later in life. But my favorite part were the interviews of the people of Kitty Hawk talking about their impression of the Wrights and—a wonderful treasure because he is so rarely mentioned, and never heard from—a long tale by Charles Taylor, who, in my humble view, is the most important person critical to the success of the Wright Brothers outside of their family.
Oh wait, here is ol’ Charley now:
“It was a hot June night in Dayton. It must have been a Saturday because I was at the Wright Cycle Company gassing with Wilber and Orville. They used to stay open Saturday nights to take care of the folks who worked all week and couldn’t get around any other time.
One of the brothers, I forget which, asked me how would I like to go to work for them. There were just the two of them in the shop and they said they needed another hand. They offered me $18 a week. That was pretty good money; it figured to 30 cents an hour. I was making 25 cents at the Dayton Electric Company, which was about the same as all skilled machinists were getting.
The Wright shop was only six blocks from where I lived—at Calm and Gale streets—and I could bicycle to lunch. Besides, I liked the Wrights. So I said all right and I reported in on June 15th. That was in 1901.”
… Calm and Gale Streets. How apt.
“They tried to locate a motor. … Nothing turned up. So they decided to build one of their own. They figured on four cylinders and estimated the bore and stroke at four inches. While the boys were handy with tools, they had never done much machinework and anyway they were busy with the air frame. It was up to me. My only experience with a gasoline engine was an attempt to repair one in an automobile in 1901.
We didn’t make any drawings. One of us would sketch out the part we were talking about on a piece of scratch paper and I’d spike the sketch over my bench.
It took me six weeks to make that engine.”
What? Didn’t make any drawings? Only worked on an engine once before in his life? Who do these people, these Ohioans, think they are?
And, my favorite line of the whole book:
“While the boys [Wilber and Orville] always worked hard, and there was never any horseplay around the shop, they always seemed to find the time to stop and talk to a customer or humor the neighborhood children who wandered in. Sometimes I think the kids were the only ones who really believed that Will and Orv would fly. They hadn’t learned enough to say it couldn’t be done.”
Isn’t that so true. It’s the kids who support the dreamers. You can understand why Jesus loved them. The italics are mine.
For example, in an article published in the July 1901 issue of the Aeronautical Journal, Wilber, from the second paragraph, demonstrates the quality of his mind.
“If a plane be held stationary in a horizontal wind (Fig. 1), the angle of incidence ACD will be equal to the angle with the horizon. But if the wind have an upward trend, the angle of incidence will be increased to ACD2. A calculation based on the assumption that ACD still remained the true angle would, of course, be seriously in error.”
This guy was not just fiddling with kites, he was gathering data. This collection contains all of the technical articles and presentations made by Wilber and explanations by Orville. It also has interviews of Orville later in life. But my favorite part were the interviews of the people of Kitty Hawk talking about their impression of the Wrights and—a wonderful treasure because he is so rarely mentioned, and never heard from—a long tale by Charles Taylor, who, in my humble view, is the most important person critical to the success of the Wright Brothers outside of their family.
Oh wait, here is ol’ Charley now:
“It was a hot June night in Dayton. It must have been a Saturday because I was at the Wright Cycle Company gassing with Wilber and Orville. They used to stay open Saturday nights to take care of the folks who worked all week and couldn’t get around any other time.
One of the brothers, I forget which, asked me how would I like to go to work for them. There were just the two of them in the shop and they said they needed another hand. They offered me $18 a week. That was pretty good money; it figured to 30 cents an hour. I was making 25 cents at the Dayton Electric Company, which was about the same as all skilled machinists were getting.
The Wright shop was only six blocks from where I lived—at Calm and Gale streets—and I could bicycle to lunch. Besides, I liked the Wrights. So I said all right and I reported in on June 15th. That was in 1901.”
… Calm and Gale Streets. How apt.
“They tried to locate a motor. … Nothing turned up. So they decided to build one of their own. They figured on four cylinders and estimated the bore and stroke at four inches. While the boys were handy with tools, they had never done much machinework and anyway they were busy with the air frame. It was up to me. My only experience with a gasoline engine was an attempt to repair one in an automobile in 1901.
We didn’t make any drawings. One of us would sketch out the part we were talking about on a piece of scratch paper and I’d spike the sketch over my bench.
It took me six weeks to make that engine.”
What? Didn’t make any drawings? Only worked on an engine once before in his life? Who do these people, these Ohioans, think they are?
And, my favorite line of the whole book:
“While the boys [Wilber and Orville] always worked hard, and there was never any horseplay around the shop, they always seemed to find the time to stop and talk to a customer or humor the neighborhood children who wandered in. Sometimes I think the kids were the only ones who really believed that Will and Orv would fly. They hadn’t learned enough to say it couldn’t be done.”
Isn’t that so true. It’s the kids who support the dreamers. You can understand why Jesus loved them. The italics are mine.
April 10, 2025
This was very tedious.
December 5, 2024
Wilbur's technical lectures and articles are just plain sexy. Interviews with Orville are absolutely fascinating and endearing. I love that their personalities shine through even their very technical writing. But the appendix!! It's special. There are long pieces by people who knew them - Daniels, Tate, Charlie Taylor, and Mabel Beck! I loved this book.
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December 28, 2008629.13 Jak
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews