Discount the "genius" factor, the elder brother, Wilbur Wright, argued. It was an aggregation of peculiar circumstances that led the two brothers to succeed where many predecessors had failed. The author describes those peculiar circumstances in lengthy details that could be summed up as follows:
1- The religious, rigid, uncompromising father of two sons and a daughter had passed to them his character of steadfastness and distrust in the world around them. That isolated them from others. Their introversion contributed to their dedication to hard work. Hard work led to learning of new skills. Their introverted sister stayed unmarried until 52. Her income and strong dedication to her family supported the odd and bizarre experimentation of her two brothers. The feud of their father with the church led them to move and the two brothers failed to graduate from high school. Thus, they faced more hard work and despair.
2- Starting a new business in printing local newspapers helped them in two ways. They followed the scientific progress of previous flight efforts by the German and French and mastered new mechanical skills on how to make machines work. A friend of the Wrights sneaks under a printer to figure out how it does the printing despite its mute existence, to no avail. The Wrights entrusted machines to do impossible tasks that defy common sense.
3- Their failure in the printing business got them into the bicycle business. Here, they refined their mechanical skill further but learned a pivotal key to their future success. That is: control. Bicycles are the most complex machines that man has invented since they depend on the instinct of brain control in order to maintain equilibrium (balance). That control factor will give birth to the new age of flight.
4- Their literary knowledge gained from printing, mechanical craftsmanship gained from designing bicycles and fixing printers, had coincided with the role of the Smithsonian Institute and a childhood's toy of a helicopter brought to them by their father. The death of a famous German glider few years earlier induced them to approach the Smithsonian Institute for information on flight machines.
5- Living in rural Ohio in 1900 afforded them the space and time to aspire for a new dream to fame and wealth. The vast landscape and observation of nature sustained their curiosity and hope for attaining fame. They rose above their neighbors with their noisy and huge boxy flight machines, while their father had failed to rise above his adversaries in the local church.
6- What set them different from others was the common sense of lay persons. The three dominant steps for attempting flying at those days were: obtaining power for propulsion using heavy steam engines, starting with small models of manned machines, and gliding. The Wright's common sense of mastering "control" first of all stemmed from their bicycle experience.
7- They started with unmanned kites, worked on their aeronautic control and equilibrium when airborne, then manned the controllable glider, and finally added power to it. Progressively, they pushed for distance, airborne time, and altitude, until gained confidence in their ability to control take off, balance, and landing. Their contribution to the flight is founded on their demonstration that control of an airborne, heavier than air flying machine was within reach. (Haven't birds mastered that principle for millenniums?)
8- In 1908, they were transformed from destitute common people into world figures welcomed by the monarchs of Italy, Britain, Spain, and Germany. In a photograph prior to flying over the Governor's Island in New York, Wilbur looked miserably depressed while three New York Policemen watched him gambling with his life. He realized the perils of being alone in a new age. With a suit, tie, and soft hat, approaching the age of 40, conquering the air alone with no substantial gain, frightened the elder brother. Yet, he died from typhoid fever shortly afterwards. He always felt that success and happiness had passed him by since his early years. In a Carnival to honor their achievement, Wilbur felt being used for advertisement gimmicks for the city. His depression stood in his way to rejoice his historic accomplishment.
9- Their rigid upbringing, though aided them battle the painstaking experimentation with aeronautics; it hampered their ability to excel in the world of businessmen. Their patent did not offer them secure, affluent living and the fast pace technology had surpassed them sooner than they expected. They were born to serve the history and the only reward they got was honor. They lived and died in their father's home, unmarried to the end.
Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training
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