by Joy Finnegan, Editor in Chief
I read a lot and most books, while I enjoy them, don’t capture my imagination or inspire awe about the subject. Every once in a while I read a book that just blows me away. I recently read such a book. It was “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough.
I was riveted from the first page. I thought I knew a lot about these two men, Wilbur and Orville Wright, who changed our world. I mean I have been in the business all my professional life, I am an aviation history buff, have taken classes on aviation history and read numerous books about aviation history. I have visited Kitty Hawk multiple times and stood at the rails where the first flight of the Wrights took place. But I learned so much more about them, and their genius, that I had to write about this book and recommend it to anyone. Here are some of the interesting things I learned.
Wilbur became obsessed with the idea of conquering the challenge of manned, powered flight and began to read all the available documented research on the subject. The Smithsonian provided numerous books and research including the work of Louis Pierre Mouillard, who had studied the aerodynamics of birds, a method the brothers also used before building their first flyer. Wilbur also looked intently at the work done previously by Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute and other experts of the day. Chanute, a somewhat older, wiser contemporary, became an adviser of sorts. Initially the brothers took all the previous research as gospel.
The next remarkable thing was the idea of safety that permeated all the brothers did. As they determined that a place with steady strong wind was required for their experiments and found Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, they began building their first flying machine and transported it there in pieces.
Remember that many had died in hasty, poorly researched attempts to fly. But Wilbur wrote this while at Kitty Hawk preparing for their attempt, “The man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.” He knew that to solve the problem would require a steep learning curve. To climb that curve, the brothers would need to live through their attempts. Therefore, they determined to stay low to the ground and found the soft sand of Kitty Hawk the perfect emergency landing surface.
The next point about these two brothers that hit home hard for me was that even among the rugged, hard working men and women of the remote and harsh North Carolina coast, the Wrights were greatly admired for their work ethic. One of the locals who helped and observed them over many days said they were “’two of the workingest boys’ ever seen ‘and when they worked, they worked. They had their whole heart and soul in what they were doing,’” according to McCullough’s book.
[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20px” padding_bottom=”20px” padding_left=”0px” padding_right=”0px” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”double” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]CURRENT ISSUE[/title][one_third last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”bottomshadow” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”center” link=”https://www.avm-mag.com/wp-content/mag/flipbooks/AVM-2016-02-DIGITAL/index.php#Aviation_Maintenance_Magazine/page2-page3″ linktarget=”_blank” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/imageframe][separator style_type=”none” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”” class=”” id=””][/one_third][one_third last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”2″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]IssueHighlights:[/title][checklist icon=”” iconcolor=”#81d742″ circle=”no” circlecolor=”” size=”18px” class=”” id=””][li_item icon=””]Getting schooled by Robinson[/li_item][li_item icon=””]The Care and Feeding of Batteries[/li_item][li_item icon=””]Lithium Ion Batteries[/li_item][li_item icon=””]Intelligence: News[/li_item][li_item icon=””]Intelligence: About People[/li_item][li_item icon=””]Intelligence: Aviation Electronics News[/li_item][li_item icon=””]2016 Aviation Maintenance Repair Center Directory[/li_item][li_item icon=””]NEW! Aviation Maintenance Buyer’s Guide[/li_item][/checklist][/one_third][one_third last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”bottomshadow” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”center” link=”http://www.avm-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/AVM_Calendar_2016_FINAL_v10_LORES.pdf” linktarget=”_blank” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/imageframe][separator style_type=”none” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]NEW – the large fold out 2016 Wall planner was inserted into the Dec/Jan issue but you can also click/view above.[/fusion_text][/one_third][/fullwidth]