Synopses & Reviews
How did a couple of bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio, accomplish what some of the greatest minds in the world had been trying and failing to achieve for an entire century? Dumb luck? Trial and error? Or were the Wright brothers superb engineers whose invention was the product of diligent study, careful analysis, and a thorough understanding of the successes and failures of their predecessors?
In First Flight, acclaimed aviation writer T. A. Heppenheimer debunks the popular assumption that the Wright brothers were a pair of amateurs whose successful attempt to build and pilot a powered airplane was the result of simple persistence and serendipity. He demonstrates that Wilbur and Orville Wright were true engineering geniuses who had already produced substantial improvements on the inventions and research of othersand whose feat equaled those of Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and other giants of the age of invention.
This compelling biography/technological history traces the brothers interest in mechanics, engineering, mathematics, and flight to their earliest childhood, when they "lived together, played together, worked together, and, in fact, thought together." It shows how, from early efforts in the printing businesswhich included a press designed and built by Orville and a paper-folding device designed and built by Wilburto their successful ventures in the newly emerging bicycle industry, both brothers demonstrated a high degree of ingenuity, creativity, and engineering prowess.
Recounting the contributions of such important aviation pioneers as Samuel P. Langley, Octave Chanute, and Otto Lilienthal, First Flight reveals that the Wright brothers succeeded by focusing on the single problem that none of their predecessors fully confronted: how to control the flight of a powered, heavier-than-air vehicle.
Follow the Wrights as they reason their way to "wing warping" as the key to directional control, rethink accepted ideas on the optimum shape of an airfoil, and devise methods for the sustained and repeated testing of their theories and designs. Youll go with them to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where they test a series of gliders, develop crucial piloting skills, and race against the well-financed Langley/Smithsonian Institution project to achieve the first piloted, powered flight.
First Flight features clear, easy-to-understand explanations of early flight technology and detailed accounts of the Wright brothers substantial post-1903 contributions to air travel. It is must reading for aviation buffs, history and biography readers, and anyone who enjoys a rousing tale about real people who set their sights on a goal and triumph against the odds.
Review
Aviation writer Heppenheimer (A Brief History of Flight) delivers a thorough look at the Wright brothers. Debunking the standard view that the brothers more or less invented their flying machine by luck and persistence, Heppenheimer definitively establishes a number of crucial facts about Orville and Wilbur that challenge current assumptions. He shows that the brothers were both driven, visionary individuals: Orville built his boyhood kites to help him "appreciate the importance of light weight in aeronautics"; their attempt at printing a newspaper failed financially but "showed them that they could measure up to the demands of challenging tasks by using their hands and their wits." He shows that the brothers were careful students of early pioneers in flight technology such as Otto Liliental and Octave Chanute, as well as contemporary rivals such as Samuel Langle and Glenn Curtiss, against whom the litigious brothers brought a legendarily tenacious patent lawsuit. Most important, Heppenheimer not only presents a detailed portrait of the brothers' groundbreaking and painstaking work in the workshop that "was the focus of their lives," but also reintroduces to the historica l rec ord their many technological and business adventures after the famous flight at Kitty Hawk. (Feb.) (
Publishers Weekly, January 6, 2003)
Aviation writer Heppenheimer (A Brief History of Flight) here dismisses the popular notion that the Wrights were lowly bicycle mechanics who overcame their limitations through hard work and perserverance. Instead, he shows that the brothers enjoyed the advantages of upper-middle-class family life, an accessible home library, loving parents, and proper home schooling. The book examines the teenagers' various entrepreneurships prior to their self-introduction to the subject of flight, carefully demonstrating their potential for genius in each endeavor. Also covered are the early experiments with lighter-than-air flying contraptions, reminding the reader that not one of the Wright forerunners had mastered the issue of control of the airplane in flight. The first men to investigate the issue of controlled flight became the men who invented the airplane-the Wrights. Following their successful powered flights on December 17, 1903, Heppenheimer traces in detail the Wrights' continued work in Dayton, their adulatory reception by the public, their bitter patent suits against Glenn Curtiss and others. Wilbur's tragic death, and Orville's protracted feud with the Smithsonian Institute over its refusal to accept the Wrights as the Fathers of Flight. This somewhat specialized study runs counter to recent anti-Wright historiography (Herbert A. Johnson's Wingless Eagle and Seth Shulman's Unlocking The Sky) and will appeal to aviation scholars and enthusiasts.
Recommended for all aeronautical collections and libraries. (Library Journal, February 15, 2003)
??excellent a ratteling good read, a most thorough account??(General Aviation, August 2003)
Synopsis
An aviation expert uncovers the brilliance behind the first successful flight of an engine-powered plane
In the centennial year of the Wright Brothers' first successful flight, acclaimed aviation writer T. A. Heppenheimer reexamines what Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved. In First Flight, he debunks the popular assumption that the Wrights were simple mechanics who succeeded by trial and error, demonstrating instead that they were true engineering geniuses. Heppenheimer presents the background that made possible the work of the Wrights and examines the work of Samuel P. Langley, a serious rival. He places their work within a broad historical context, emphasizing their contributions after 1903 and their convergence with ongoing aeronautical work in France.
T. A. Heppenheimer (Fountain Valley, CA) has written extensively on aerospace, business, and the history of technology. His many books include Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation (0-471-10961-4), Countdown: A History of Space Flight (0-471-14439-8), and A Brief History of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond (0-471-34637-3), all from Wiley.
Synopsis
Moment of Truth
"He again took to the air, barely avoiding early return to earth as the Flyer lurched downward, and managed to pull it out only a foot above the sand. Then, getting the hang of it, he kept it under good control as he flew onward. He flew! Tens of seconds ticked by, then more tens of seconds, while hundreds of feet of beach unrolled behind him. Onward, onward, and still he stayed in the air, every second adding to his experience and making it plausible that he could continue to stay aloft. A low hummock of sand lay ahead. Wilbur eased his nose upward and cleared it, but then the instability in pitch set in once more. He tried to maintain control, but darted into the ground. Even so, the Wrights finally had something impressive to show for the day. Wilbur had stayed in the air for 59 seconds and had covered 852 feet."
This stirring account of the single most crucial moment in aviation history is just a small sample of what awaits you in First Flight: The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Airplane. Youll find a fully detailed chronicle of the brothers three-year struggle to accomplish this stunning feat, as well as a complete history of their subsequent and successful efforts to turn their Flyer into a functional aircraft.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-379) and index.
About the Author
T. A. HEPPENHEIMER is a well-known author who has published extensively on aviation and aerospace, business, and the history of technology. Among his many books are Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation, Countdown: A History of Space Flight, and A Brief History of Flight, all available from Wiley. He holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace.
Table of Contents
ONE: ENTER THE WRIGHTS.
TWO: PROPHETS WITH SOME HONOR.
THREE: TEACHERS AND FIRST LESSONS.
FOUR: HITTING A WALL.
FIVE: “WE NOW HOLD ALL THE RECORDS!”
SIX: AMBIGUOUS SUCCESS.
SEVEN: RETURN TO DAYTON.
EIGHT: INTO THE WORLD.
NINE: NOON INTO TWILIGHT.
TEN: INVENTIVENESS AND INVENTION.
NOTES.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
INDEX.