THE WRIGHT BROTHERS THE WRIGHT BROTHERS By FRED C. KELLY _A Biography Authorized by Orville Wright_ [Illustration] HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY NEW YORK COPYRIGHT, 1943, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. _All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form._ [b-6-43] PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO The Brave Flyers of the United Nations Fighting All over the World for Humanity and Decency Against the Forces of Barbarism, This Book Is Dedicated AUTHOR’S PREFACE The aim in this book has been to satisfy the curiosity of the average, non-technical reader regarding the work of the Wright Brothers, and to do so as simply as possible. No attempt has been made to go into minute technical details. Nor does the book cover the scientific researches and numerous inventions by Orville Wright since the death of his brother. To give credit to everyone who has been gracious with help in the preparation of what I have written would require so long a list, with risk of names being unintentionally omitted, that I shall not attempt it. But one name naturally and obviously comes first and foremost--that of Orville Wright himself. He has read my manuscript and given generously of his time in verifying the accuracy of various statements and in correcting inaccuracies which otherwise would have appeared. Next in importance to that of Orville Wright has been the help received from his secretary, Miss Mabel Beck, whose memory and knowledge of Mr. Wright’s voluminous files enabled her quickly to produce documentary evidence to make certain of accuracy. FRED C. KELLY Peninsula, Ohio CONTENTS _Author’s Preface_ vii _Prologue_ 3 I. BOYHOOD 5 II. BACKGROUND 19 III. PRINTING--AND BICYCLES 29 IV. FIRST THOUGHTS OF FLIGHT 45 V. GLIDING AT KITTY HAWK 58 VI. FIRST POWER FLIGHT 84 VII. AFTER THE EVENT 112 VIII. EXPERIMENTS OF 1904-’05 120 IX. IT STILL WASN’T “NEWS” 139 X. U. S. ARMY NOT INTERESTED 147 XI. EUROPE DISCOVERS THE WRIGHTS 166 XII. THE WRIGHTS IN EUROPE 194 XIII. A DEAL WITH THE U. S. 207 XIV. END OF DISBELIEF 226 XV. WHEN WILBUR WRIGHT WON FRANCE 233 XVI. FURTHER ADVENTURES IN 1909 254 XVII. IN AVIATION BUSINESS 268 XVIII. PATENT SUITS 287 XIX. WHY THE WRIGHT PLANE WAS EXILED 300 _Index_ 335 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE FIRST CAMP AT KITTY HAWK 52 THE 1902 GLIDER 53