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

Culick, Fred E. C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786866861 ISBN 13: 9780786866861

Publisher: Hyperion, 2001

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Fred E. C. Culick is a leading expert in aeronautics and astronautics and is currently Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology. He has published widely, and his articles have appeared in Scientific American and other magazines. He helped create a full-scale replica of the Wright Flyer for use in wind-tunnel testing and is now at work on a new replica that he will pilot on the hundredth anniversary of the first flight in 2003. He lives in Pasadena, California.

Spencer Dunmore is the author of many books on aviation, including Bomb Run, Squadron, Final Approach, and Reap the Whirlwind, a history of the Canadian Air Force in World War II, co-written with William Carter. He has also written the naval history In Great Waters, and collaborated with Dr. Robert Ballard on Exploring the Lusitania. He lives in Burlington, Ontario.

Reviews

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.

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

Edition details

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786866861
• ISBN 13: 9780786866861
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176