Visions of a Flying Machine: The Wright Brothers and the Process of Invention

I always had the idea that the Wright brothers were a couple of untrained bicycle mechanics who more or less stumbled onto a successful airplane. Or at least that it was their perseverence, not their process, that finally triumphed. This book completely put these ideas to rest. It shows how the Wright brothers' success was due to taking some basic correct ideas, applying a step-by-step thinking process, and a lot of hard work.First, it explains how they started with an idea that was somehow missed by many of the other pioneers: flying experience is vitally important. This was combined with another idea: that airplanes were basically the same whether powered or gliders. To those who have studied aeronautics to any extent, this is not surprising, but many others seemed to be of the idea that powered airplanes and gliders were completely different beasts. Thus, while others were building bigger, more powerful, and more expensive machines, the Wrights were experimenting with actually flying gliders, to learn how to fly them.This had two good results: (1) they actually learned how to fly, so that when they built the final plane they knew how to fly without crashing the first time a gust of wind came up; (2) not having that engine to pull them through the air and having to depend on gliding, they discovered one of the most important facts of all flight: lift-to-drag ratio. (This means how much drag a wing generates for a given amount of lift.) Low L/D meant their glider didn't go very far; thus, to get longer glider flights, they HAD to figure out a way to increase L/D.At this point, the engineering process kicked in, and they realized they didn't have the foggiest notion of how to increase L/D. Thus, they realized they had to do lots of experiments with airfoils to see which had the highest L/D: the wind tunnel was born (or at least weaned). The book provides two dramatic pictures of two of their gliders: the angle of the ropes holding it down (plus the angle of attack of the wings) tells the entire story of their successful L/D increase (high-angle ropes=high L/D, low-angle=low L/D).In short, this book tells this entire fascinating story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though it has been a few years. Hmmm ... I need to take a trip down to the basement and re-read it.

It is difficult to imagine that there was a time when renowned scientists were saying that "heavier than air" flight was impossible. It is also difficult to imagine that who prove them wrong were two non-scientists bicycle-makers.Peter L. Jakab, et al. relates the story of how the Wright Brothers did it. More than that, they show us WHY they succeeded where so many others failed. From the moment they decide to build a flying machine to their historic first flight, we follow how the the Wright Brothers's identified the tecnical challenges that needed to be addressed, and how they systematically solved them one after another.You will learn why the Wright Brothers' background in bicycle helped understand the critical problem of stability, how they carried systematic experiments and how they were conducted to reject widely accepted data in favor of their own as their expertise grew.The authors' objective is to shed some light on the process of invention and they definitely succeed in doing so. In addition, if you ever wondered why do planes fly at all, you will learn it there with just the right amount of mathematical equations. So why not give it five stars? Just because there are some unnecessary repetitions on the skills and unique approaches of the Brothers, I would give it 4.5 stars if it was possible. Overall, a very well documented, interesting, and instructive read. I highly recomment it.

This book gives the reader a real sense of how amazing the Wright brothers' accomplishment really was. It shows the reader how poorly developed the technology was at the time and how the Wrights figured out the solutions to the problems that had prevented powered flight. Unlike many biographies, the book focuses on the scientific problem of powered controllable flight generally and the technological solutions that the Wrights developed. If you're interested in aircraft or the history of technology, this book is fascinating.When it focuses on the facts, the book is well written. But it is filled with unnecessary repetition and generalizations aimed at supporting the central theme of the book -- that the Wrights used the scientific method to solve the problem of powered flight. That may very well be true, but there are more persuasive ways to make a point. In fact, the introductory and closing material in each chapter bogs down the text to such an extent that it detracts from the fascinating subject. That's why this book is 80 percent fascinating, 20 percent repetitive stuff.

I purchased this book at the Museum of Flight in Seattle (an excellent place for both the general public and aviation buffs). I had no previous knowledge of the Wright brothers beyond what I'd been taught in school and found this book to be fascinating. As a mechanical engineer and a backyard mechanic, I gained a entirely new appreciation for the Wright brothers' abilities and the depth of their knowledge.The author focuses, as he says in the title, on the process that the brothers went thru to invent the first airplane, while the book does not spend much time on the Wright brothers personalities or feelings, the reader does come to understand them thru the thorough descriptions of their work and quotations from their communications with others who were interested in flight and their family.The Wright brothers were much more than bicycle shop owners with an interest in flying. They were truly inventors of the first class. For example, I was unaware that the Wrights constructed a wind tunnel at their bicycle shop for methodical testing of airfoil shapes, and in the process found that two of the mathematical constants used in the equations of lift and drag were incorrect. Nor did I appreciate their grasp of moving in three dimensions and their solutions for avoiding problems in turning a flying airplane. The author also does a good job of explaining the difference in approach and knowledge between the Wright brothers and the others who were also attempting to construct airplanes. Highly recommended, Dave Reichert

Please, don't patronize the Wright Brothers by praising them as "inspired tinkerers." Thoughtful people know them as dedicated thinkers, but this book goes deeper to reveal their protean genius. The author shows in detail how they painstakingly solved the theoretical physics of flight, long before they built their first wind-tunnel model. Some tinkerers! A good book for the science-minded, but interested lay readers will enjoy it too. A nice piece of writing and essential for all flight collections.