The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright (Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series) (Hardcover)

by Wilbur Wright (Author), Orville Wright (Author), Peter L. Jakab (Editor), Rick Young (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Nearly 70 technical and popular articles, speeches, interviews, letters, and other writing by the brothers span from their experiments with gliders at the beginning of the twentieth century to Orville's death in 1948. They describe the design of their aircraft, early test flights, camp life at Kitty Hawk, airplane stability, the future of commercial aviation and air travel, sport flying, air safety, military aviation, and other topics. Wilbur's sudden death in 1912 prevented them from writing a joint book, so this collection is the fullest to date of their combined work. Jakab, a curator of early aviation at the National Air and Space Museum, and Young, with the Wright Experience organization creating reproductions of the Wright's aircraft, annotate the material thoroughly. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
For the first time nearly seventy of Wilbur and Orville Wright's published writings are brought together in a single, annotated reference. Spanning the decades from the brothers' turn-of-the-century experiments with gliders until Orville's death in 1948, the articles describe the design of their aircraft, early test flights, and camp life at Kitty Hawk. Because Wilbur's sudden death in 1912 ended any hope that the Wrights would produce a book of their own, the articles collected in this volume are their only published words.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560989386
• ISBN-13: 978-1560989387
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,717,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Reconstructing History, April 8, 2002

By	Gerald R. Conover (Celina, Ohio) - See all my reviews

If you are studying Wright Fliers for the first time, or are an avid consumer of aviation history, this book will do wonders for your understandings of the Wright Brothers and their time in history. If you have already read Kelly, McFarland, and Crouch, you will find a new and revitalized interest.
Jakab and Young combine their talents and knowledge of aviation history to weave a few new bits of enlightening knowledge. Their explanations and corrections, that they cite, show that they have put a great deal of time into "getting a few things straight". They do a really nice job of tactfully showing the errors in other publications, giving credit where credit is due and help to put things in a proper light. You will enjoy the ride.