letter to Taft of, 123
love for music of, 6
Machine No. 3 of, 74, 75–81
mandolin played by, 6, 9
media scrutiny of, 132, 133, 151, 157–59, 174
memory of, 7
as mocked in French press, 132
newspaper published by, 18–20
nickname of, 9
1909 European trip of, 211–12
as operator, 78
as operator of Flyer, 104–5
in Paris, 147–53, 247, 248
patent issues of, 249–50, 252, 255
at Pau, 212–14, 215–16, 218
photograph of, 5–6
photography of, 104–5
print shop of, 18, 21
on propeller design, 88
reading of, 17–18
return to Dayton after hospital stay by, 200–201
in return to Ohio, 63
risk-taking avoided by, 48
risk-taking by, 48, 115, 116
in Rome, 222–23
Root on, 119
in second expedition to Kitty Hawk, 58–63
second glider built by, 56–57, 58
Selfridge as passenger with, 190–92
sense of humor of, 6
sensitivity of, 8
shyness of, 8, 10
third expedition to Kitty Hawk of, 74–81
train crash and, 212
typhoid of, 27–28
as unaffected by success, 251–52
Washington ceremony for, 229–30
Washington trip of, 178, 181–82
wealth of, 259
and Wilbur’s Paris trip, 144–46
wind tunnel built by, 69–70, 81
wing-warping system of, 62–63
work ethic of, 6
world records set by, 189
on World War II, 260–61
writing of, 8
Wright, Reuchlin, 9–10, 206, 228, 235, 236, 259
Wright, Susan Koerner, 8, 10, 11, 15, 27, 72
death of, 10
obituary of, 20
Wright, USS, 261
Wright, Wilbur, 16, 21, 25–26, 27, 28, 35, 40, 46, 74, 79, 86, 89, 91, 94, 95–96, 102, 110, 112, 137, 181, 199–200, 224, 240, 255
at Aéro-Club banquet, 206–8
aeronautics studied by, 32–33, 36, 38
Archdeacon’s scorn of, 168
in Berlin, 149, 152
bicycle business of, see Wright Cycle Company
bicycling of, 21–22
bird-watching of, 37, 38, 51, 52
on bird wing shape, 52
birth of, 11
on Blériot’s Channel flight, 238
and British offer to buy Flyer II, 122
in building of first aircraft, 39
on Campania, 135–36
camp set up by, 47
cardboard box demonstration of, 38–39
Chanute’s correspondence with, 68–69
Chanute tribute by, 255–56
charisma of, 7
compensation accumulated by, 224
confidence of, 142, 169
crashes of, 159, 175–76, 197
cultured nature of, 175
Dayton return of, 227–29
death of, 256–57
early interest in flight of, 29–30
and Edward VII, 220
estate of, 259
in falling out with Chanute, 249–51
false divorce case report about, 215
fascination with birds of, 51, 124–25
father’s church troubles and, 72–74
financial help declined by, 71
first aircraft tested by, 39
first balloon flight of, 146–47
first glider built by, 42, 44, 49–50
as first operator of Flyer, 102–3
first Paris trip of, 137–53
in Flyer III, 126
Flyer of, see Flyer
at Fort Myer, 234–39
French popularity of, 203–6
on future of aviation, 247
glider-kite built by, 37–38
Great Homecoming and, 230–33
harmonica played by, 6
hockey injury of and far-reaching consequences, 14–15
home rebuilt by, 21, 23
hostility of French press to, 132, 160
initial return to Dayton of, 56–57
as inseparable from brother, 6–7
interest in architecture and painting of, 138–41
Kitty Hawk arrival of, 43–45
on Langley’s failure, 97, 101
Legion of Honor awarded to, 211
at Le Mans, 160–62, 167, 169–78, 188–89, 203–4, 210, 222, 224
Le Mans crash of, 175–76
Le Mans monument to, 261
letter to Chanute by, 40
letter to Taft of, 123
Louvre visits of, 140–41, 148
love for music of, 6
Machine No. 3 of, 74, 75–81
media scrutiny of, 132, 133, 141, 151, 157–59, 166–67
memory of, 7
Michelin Cup and, 210
as Milton’s favorite child, 14
as mocked in French press, 132
New York flight by, 241–47
nickname of, 9
1908 return to Kitty Hawk, 155–56
as operator, 49, 55, 61–62
on Orville’s Fort Myer crash, 193–95
Orville’s newspaper and, 18–20
in Paris, 137–53, 159–60, 208–9
passengers flying with, 204–5, 217–18
patent issues of, 249–50, 252, 255
at Pau, 213–14, 216–17, 218, 222, 224
personality of, 7
Peyrey interview with, 161–62
photograph of, 5–6
photography of, 104–5
powers of concentration in, 7
prizes awarded to, 206
reading of, 17–18
record-breaking flight at Camp d’Auvours by, 197
in return from Paris, 153
in return to Ohio, 63
risk-taking avoided by, 48
risk-taking by, 48, 115, 116
in Rome, 222–23
Root on, 119
scalding of, 165–66
in second expedition to Kitty Hawk, 58–63
second glider built by, 56–57, 58
second Paris trip of, 159–60
as senior member of partnership, 7
sense of humor of, 6
Smithsonian Institution letter of, 27, 32, 36
third expedition to Kitty Hawk of, 74–81
training of French aviators by, 205–6, 217
travel to Europe of, 134–36
typhoid contracted by, 256
as unaffected by success, 251–52
unsuitability for business of, 23–24
Washington ceremony for, 229–30
Western Society of Engineers speeches of, 66–68, 91–92
wind tunnel built by, 69–70, 81
wing-warping system of, 62–63
women’s attraction to, 205
work ethic of, 6
writing of, 7–8
Wright Aeronautical Laboratory, 258
“Wright Aeroplane and Its Fabled Performances, The” (Scientific American), 121–22
“Wright Aeroplane and Its Performances, The” (Scientific American), 133
Wright airplane, French toy model of, 210
Wright Brothers Hill, 261
Wright Company, 249, 255, 258, 259
Wright Cycle Company, 22, 23–25, 30–31, 39, 56, 57, 111
Wright Flyers, 143
first photograph of, 158
Flint & Company offers for, 134
patent for, 133
see also Flyer; Flyer II; Flyer III
Wright Library, 261
Wright Memorial (Kitty Hawk), 261
Yale, 14, 15, 261
yaw, 38
Z
ens, Paul, 171
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Copyright © 2015 by David McCullough
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Interior design by Amy Hill
Jacket design by Wendell Minor
Jacket photographs © Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division
Author photograph by William B. McCullough
Front endpaper: The Wright Brothers confer beside their 1904 airplane at their cow-pasture testing ground, Huffman Prairie, outside Dayton.
Back endpaper: Wilbur Wright flies past New York City on his October 4, 1909 flight up the Hudson River and back, a spectacle like none ever before and witnessed by more than a million people.
Both endpapers courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-4767-2874-2
ISBN 978-1-4767-2876-6 (ebook)