Books in Progress

Regarding the sudden appearance of so many flyers, the New York Times of the time said something interesting:



Kings, prime ministers, presidents, monarchs, dignitaries and movie stars were all drawn to the yuge spectacle of the flights of the Wright brothers in Europe, particularly France. In fact, the best part of the book is the description of the Wilbur (and later Orville and Katherine) in Paris. It’s worth a read.

At one point, King Edward VII, on holiday in France, came to see a demonstration of flying. He was apparently an interesting and interested fellow. The Wrights lived for a time in the lap of luxury and privilege but were notably not changed by it. But they did witness some interesting people. One passage in the book regarding the aristocracy is humorous:

One of the things that surprised me was to read that the magazine, Scientific American, has apparently always been arrogant and a bit corrupt.

One of the central characteristics (not themes…actually having opinions when writing these days seems verboten) of this book is how the United States government, the American press, and to a large extent Americans themselves dismissed what the Wright brothers were doing.

As I had said, early attempts at flight did tend to resemble patent medicine, the realm of cranks. And there were plenty of screwballs and cranks, harmless or otherwise. One can understand a general skepticism toward yet another claim of flying.

That said, the American press was arrogant and negligent and the flying was there for anyone to witness, as many did. It was up to a man (Root) who made his fortune selling beehive equipment and supplies to first publicize their achievements at Huffman Prairie where Root said:



But no one seems to care. Dayton’s own newspaper, the Dayton Daily News, took no notice:



But aside from the United States government, perhaps Scientific American was the worst:



Today, Scientific American is an obnoxious politically correct rag that spends as much time on pseudoscience as it does real discovery. But it did surprise me that their arrogance, if not innate corruptness, went back so far.

Here’s some more info about the island:



More info:



One gets the obvious impression from the McCullough book that the Wright family lived a rich and adventurous life. To the Europeans (the French, in particular), they were the embodiment of the American ideal: no-nonsense men who worked hard and achieved something. The French wildly embraced them (including Katharine) with open arms. The affection was genuine in both directions, as difficult as celebrity could be for them at times. But they bore these burdens with grace.

That is, they were not Megyn and Harry.

I’m going to give you enough impression heres, you’re not going to need to read the book.

One of those impressions was how unlike, say, Edison, the Wright brothers didn’t build a mega empire. This source says:



I’m the world’s worst entrepreneur. And from what I can see, the Wright brothers were very good in business. Still. it seems they were a “spectacle” the way they went about things and less of an enterprise.

The thought in my head while reading this is that they should have sub-contracted out to the mega-factory in Dayton (The Davis Sewing Machine Company had a factory “fully a mile in length”) to start building the planes. They should have had sales receipts in hand after each demonstration and ready to take orders. $5,000 a pop.

But there was nothing wrong with their strategy to get government orders, which they did. But its clear the industry quickly advanced beyond them. And the Wright brothers become worthy figureheads of the invention of flying. But Boeing they were not.

This is somewhat informed speculation on my part. Again, it seems to be the thing these days in non-fiction books not to have an opinion or offer much in the way of substantive analysis. The facts (more or less…and the facts you present can certainly substitute for an opinion) are included and the reader is left to read between the lines.

I don’t mind reading between the lines. But those (such as McCullough) who have just been immersed in this research are in a better position to do so.

The Wrights did produce various models of airplanes which you can see here. If they had an impact on aviation beyond kick-starting it, this book gives no clue. And that seems to be an omission.

By 1915 the Wright Company was producing the Model K which was their first to use ailerons (something they had mentioned in their initial patent but the book is unclear as to whether they had actually patented the concept or not). As already noted, back in 1909 (and you can measure those single years as “dog years” in the early days of aviation), the airplane that Blériot designed to cross the English Channel used ailerons.

I’m not saying that the Wrights weren't successful and innovative later on. But none of the planes that I see on the page stand out as household words. And in their own words, they say it is a shame they had to spend so much time protecting their patents instead of being able to innovate.

Finally in the 1916 Model L, they did away with the chain drive and had a plane with a single propeller mounted directly to the engine. It would seem to took the years to catch up to what others had been doing in 1909.

There was an interesting aircraft in the 1918 Liberty Eagle:





That is a concept quite ahead of its time.

Yes, Curtiss was the corporate pirate that the Wright brothers had problems with. They won all of their patents disputes but may have lost the war.

Still, I can appreciate that the Wright brother were operating under a different paradigm. They were craftsman who wanted to do good work.

But, again, the lack of analysis or perspective in this book is telling. They were very much the technological equivalent of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” And yet it stuck very deeply in their craw that anyone would pilfer their work. And that’s fine. It appears it wasn’t the money they were trying to protect but their credit for inventing the first workable airplane.


I find it difficult to characterize what they were doing with their early demonstrations. They certainly didn’t seem to have an eye to maximizing their return. But neither did they want to simply give it away. Frankly, I think they were having way too good of a time in Paris to really give a damn. They were having the time of their lives.

And when they left Europe in 1909 (or thereabouts), Europe was at peace and sort of like a very large Disneyland for the jet-setting crowd (although there were no jets yet). And subsequent events made them realize that they would never be able to return to that same Europe. How sad what a mess it became. Even now, many parts are dangerous because of the induced Muslim invasion.

Here’s three entries from a timeline that I think show some missed opportunities for the Wright brothers. While they were concentrating on military contracts, there was a lot they missed:

—

Summer 1909 — The Wrights' sale of the first military flying machine is overshadowed by news from France. Louis Bleriot, flying a small monoplane of his own design, has crossed the English Channel. Although it is a relatively short flight, Bleriot has conquered an important physical and national boundary. Suddenly, people begin to realize the importance of this new invention.

Summer 1909 — Glenn Curtiss joins with Augustus Herring to create an airplane manufacturing company, and sells his first aircraft — the Golden Flyer — to the Aeronautical Society of Long Island, New York. The Wrights file a suit against Curtiss and other airplane manufacturers who are infringing on their patent.

Summer 1909 — Glenn Curtiss is the only American entry at the Reims Air Meet in France — the first international gathering of aviators and airplanes. He captures the Gordon Bennett Trophy for the fastest airplane and is an instant hero on both sides of the Atlantic. His fame raises his reputation as an aircraft builder to an even par with the Wrights.

Fall 1909 — Both Curtiss and the Wrights are invited to fly for the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in New York, New York. Unable to fly his underpowered aircraft in the heavy winds, Curtiss defaults. Wilbur Wright shows him up, flying around the Statue of Liberty then up the Hudson River to Grant's Tomb and back. Over a million Americans see him fly.

—

It would have been trivial for the Wright brothers to fly over the English Channel. It was a 20 minute ride, at best, and at one point they were in the air for an hour or more. Granted, they couldn’t be everywhere. But they for a moment had the monopoly on it. While they were basically thrilling the crowds in a de facto traveling aerial circus at various places in France, Italy, and Germany, others were busy and thinking longer term. One thing I read about that is that they didn't want to showboat. But what could one call all those countless demonstrations?

Wilbur eventually gains some measure of revenge when Curtiss backs out of the Governor Island show. The book said he had other commitments and could not hang around for the wind to become favorable. Wilbur decided to risk it and took off before the winds got worse. There was nothing said in the book about Curtiss’ plane being underpowered. Who knows?

I think from day one the Wrights needed a way to sell, or license for manufacture, their planes to all comers. And they needed to hire some good lawyers and just let them do their job. Again, there is no background or perspective regarding the details.

But in 1929 it became a moot point when the two companies merged to form Curtiss-Wright Corporation…a fact the book did not mention. That seems like a bit plot point worth mentioning. And the legend lives on: Curtiss-Wright Corporatioin

A factoid there notes that “Curtiss-Wright is one of the leading manufacturers of ‘black box’ data recorders used on aircraft world-wide.” They needed one in Myer Field, although Orville immediately guessed what had happened: A broken propeller blade caused excessive vibration which worked a cable loose which then wound around the propeller blade and (by warping the wing, I suppose) caused the plane to dive into the ground. They fell from something like 75 feet. Orville was lucky to be alive. His dutiful sister (way above and beyond the call of duty) likely saved his life through her TLC.