Wright Brothers And Other Pioneers Of Flight

Presents the history of aviation, discussing the successes and failures of the pioneers in the field, including the Wright brothers, Sir George Cayle, and Otto Lilienthal.

On December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The venture kicked off a frenzy for flight at the turn of the century. Delight in the triumphs and follies of aviation's greatest pioneers including Otto Lilienthal, Louis Bl�riot, Glenn Curtiss, Sikorsky, and other record setters.

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–

Tells the story of how Wilbur and Orville Wright came to invent the airplane, from their childhood play with a toy helicopter, to the unveiling of their flying machine to the world in 1908.

To mark the centenary of the Wright brothers' pioneering flights on 17 December 1903, the Science Museum will republish Gibbs-Smith's classic introduction to their remarkable careers and their unique place in aviation history. The Wrights were arguably the first to make powered, sustained and controlled flights, near Kitty Hawk, NC; the aeroplane, the first Flyer, was of their own design and construction and had been developed over a period of three years. It was loaned to the Science Museum, London, from 1928 to 1948, and is now displayed in the National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution) in Washington DC, a reproduction remaining in London. This edition of Gibbs-Smith's authoritative text, first published in 1987, is illustrated with a number of historic photographs and detailed diagrams.

On 17th December 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled powered flights, although they failed to arouse either governmental or public interest at the time. This biography of the Wrights draws on new sources to place them in their proper context in the history and development of aviation.

Orville and Wilbur Wright are best known for their historic flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their achievement inspired Americans of all ages, but it also brought forth a host of competitors, and the Wright brothers had to struggle to get the credit they deserved. The airplane, however, was just one of a long list of the brothers' accomplishments. The author details the Wright brothers' impact on history as they set out to prove what others had thought impossible—that human beings could fly.

This fascinating firsthand account covers the Wright Brothers' early experiments, construction of planes and motors, first flights, and much more. Introduction and commentary by Fred C. Kelly. 76 photographs.