13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

The book I read was “The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough. It tells the story of Orville and Wilber Wright, the inventors of the first airplane. 

The book was a very entertaining read. What surprised me the most was the fact that neither brother went to college (that’s funny). They only had what we would call a home-school education and yet they are the first inventors of a machine that could carry a man in the air. They built a successful bicycle manufacturing business that financed the pursuit of building their famous invention. Their work ethic was outstanding, and always took Sundays off. This impressed me, along with the fact that they refused to give up. 

To me, the least admirable thing they did was to fight with each other, but I guess it is to be expected when you are working so closely with someone for such a long period of time. But in the face of adversity, they supported each other and pulled together towards the common goal. They crashed plans, had engines blow up and sued competitors. The U.S. government would not support their work even after the first successful test flights. But they kept going until they succeeded.

The brothers had a complementary skill set. Orville was more mechanically inclined, while Wilbur was good at concept and design. Wilbur was the driving force of the team. He is the one who came up with the idea of “wing warping” which is a way to bend one wing up while bending the other down at the same time, like birds do. This helps the plane to turn. Orville, to me was more of a people person and Wilbur was curt and to the point. Wilbur was well read and good at speaking. Orville was the one who flew first.

One part of the story that was confusing was the time spent in France. Wilbur didn’t particularly care about staying in nice lodging, he preferred a simple setup and simple food. He couldn’t quite enjoy French cuisine. If I could, I would probably ask him what made him think that man could fly because to do what they did basically required a lot of faith. Maybe watching the birds do it had a big influence. I would ask Orville if he thought if Wilbur would be the first to fly because Wilbur was older and the one who took the lead, so naturally he should be the one to fly first. Wilbur won the coin toss, but failed in his attempt, it’s kind of ironic. I would ask both why they never married because it seems strange to me that they never married.

Again, the thing that stands out the most to me concerning the brothers is their work ethic. They systematically and methodically figured out what it took to fly.