On Great White Wings: The Wright Brothers and the Race for Flight [Hardcover]

Fred E. C. Culick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2001

On the eve of the hundredth anniversary of the historic events at Kitty Hawk comes a splendidly illustrated account of the legendary twelve-second flight that changed the world forever.

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright took to the air for less than a minute, accomplishing what mankind had only dreamed of for centuries. Now, almost one hundred years later, this definitive account offers a unique look at the Wright Brothers' achievement, and at the many experiments that led up to their momentous ride.

Revealing the brothers' youthful interest in technology and flight, the authors recount the trials and errors of other would-be aviators, and explain how the race to be the first man aloft became an international obsession. Readers will learn how The Flyer -- the Wright Brothers' original plane -- was built, and how its indefatigable inventors solved the challenges that stumped their predecessors. And finally there is the historic flight itself -- what went wrong and what, amazingly, went right -- and the enormous impact the Wright Brothers had on their own and future generations. Written in engaging, accessible prose and, featuring more than 200 photographs and illustrations, On Great White Wings will delight anyone interested in the history of flight and in the fantastic story behind the twentieth century's most important achievement.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The airplane, the first great invention of the 20th century, will be 100 years old in 2003. Through meticulous and methodical research, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright solved three major interrelated problems of flight the wing design, propulsion, and stability to achieve controlled powered flight in 1903. Aeronautics expert Culick (mechanichal engineering, California Inst. of Technology) and aviation author Dunmore (Squadron) explore how the first airplane, which the Wrights named the Flyer, actually flew. In a thrilling, very readable book, with over 200 photographs and illustrations, they show how the brothers designed the Flyer and improved on subsequent models, competed with other aviators, and pursued legal battles over patent rights to certain designs. Enthusiastic about the technical features of the first airplane, the authors plan to fly an operational replica on the 100th anniversary of the first flight. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State Univ., State College
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Capitalizing on the approaching centenary of the Wright Flyer, at least one biographer (James Tobin) is hard at work on the lives of the Wright brothers, and author Culick is laboring to build a replica of that first plane. His project gets a sidebar in this picture book, which otherwise is a showcase of the Wrights' victory in the intense competition to develop a heavier-than-air flying machine. Culick notes that the precise technical characteristics of The Flyer have baffled aeronautical engineers, a puzzle his replica hopes to solve; however, the technical details discussed, such as the chord of the wing, are of less interest to most readers than Wilbur and Orville Wright's legendary story, culminating in the brief but epochal first flight in 1903. Culick and Dunmore stolidly recount the mechanical innovations that contributed to that success and continue the tale into the less triumphant sequel of patent battles and the rapid obsolescence of their basic and very accident-prone design. This generously illustrated title no doubt augurs a wave of coming books on the Wright brothers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (October 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786866861
• ISBN-13: 978-0786866861
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth it just for the great pictures, November 25, 2001

By 

Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On Great White Wings: The Wright Brothers and the Race for Flight (Hardcover)

There is no shortage of quality biographies of the Wright brothers (I particularly enjoyed The Bishop's
Boys by Tom Crouch), and with the Centenary of their historic powered flight coming up in 2003
(December 17th), there are likely to be a few more added to the shelf. An author (or authors) would
therefore do well to have something about their book that will distinguish it from the others. In the
exquisite new book, On Great White Wings, Fred Culick and Spencer Dunmore have found just the
thing to separate them from the crowd; not only do they explain the technical details of the Wright
brothers achievement in the most accessible prose you're likely to find, they also provide a plethora of
photos and diagrams that give the reader a brand new appreciation for the brothers' feat and for their
other, less well known, accomplishments.

The illustrations, over 200 in all, include actual photos of Orville, Wilbur, and the various iterations of
their famous Flyer; vintage photos of Kitty Hawk and other locations of importance to the story, and
many modern color photos that serve as helpful reminders that these were real places, real men and a
real machine. Meanwhile, the authors rescue the Wright brothers from the mythology that has grown
up around them--that they were little more than gifted tinkerers--and shows just how knowledgeable
and innovative they truly were.

The book also includes a few pictures and some information about a project that Mr. Culick, a
professor of aeronautics at Cal Tech, is involved in, which will seek to duplicate the Wright brothers'
feat. Well, almost duplicate it, that is. It seems that the original Flyer is so unstable that it is widely
considered too dangerous to try and fly an exact replica.

Any reader looking for just one book about the Wright brothers will find this one to be adequate
where the text is concerned and quite probably unsurpassed when it comes to illustrations. But, if
you've the time and the inclination, I'd recommend that you read Bishop's Boys for its more
comprehensive treatment of the Wrights and then refer back to On Great White Wings when you're
trying to visualize their remarkable flights.

GRADE : A-

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great photgraphs and fascinating details, August 1, 2003

By 

Christopher T. Dahle (Del Norte, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On Great White Wings: The Wright Brothers and the Race for Flight (Hardcover)

I've purchased several of the books on the Wright Brothers released in anticipation of the centennial. This is the best I've read so far. I especially enjoyed the many photographs of the several Flyers and of the brother's home, workshop and test locations in Dayton and NC.

I also appreciated the way the author examined and explained many technical details of how the flyer was rigged and how the controls operated.

This is one of the few books about the Wrights that explains the true importance of what the Wrights discovered, the secret of coordinated control of roll and yaw.

This book is well disserving of space on the coffee table of any aviation enthusiast.