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 ecause
the work of the Wright brothers and the invention of the airplane
has had a global impact, it's not surprising that there are books
and videos in every language, museums and libraries in every
country, and web sites in every corner of the Internet that tell
part of the story of pioneer aviation. As we find each new resource,
we publish it here to help you find more information and different
perspectives. Here's what we have found so far:
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Although we list many worthwhile books in our
bibliography, three stand out. The Wright Brothers
by Fred Kelly is the "official" biography of the Wright
brothers. Because Kelly worked extensively with Orville
Wright in preparing this book, and because it was
approved (and probably edited) by him, it can be
consider a primary source, straight from the horse's
mouth. In To Conquer the Air, historian
James Tobin puts the Wright brothers in historical
perspective, telling not just their story but also
that of their contemporaries and the times they lived
in. Finally, Tom Crouch delivers volumes of details and
in-depth information about the Wrights, their work, and
their family in The Bishop's Boys. As
for videos, far and away the best and most complete is
Kitty Hawk: The Wright Brothers' Journey of Invention,
directed and produced by David Garrigus. This 2-hour PBS
special first aired in 2003. The DVD set that comes with
this documentary includes a mini-series called
Machines of the Wright Brothers. Eight short (3 to 5
minutes) videos explain all of the the Wrights'
experimental aircraft and equipment that led to the
first practical airplane. These are an excellent
teaching tool and we use them in our exhibitions.
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Almost every aviation museum offers at least a mention of the Wright
brothers, but three tell a substantial part of their story. The
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC has a hall
devoted to the Wright brothers that explains the invention of the
airplane and displays a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer and two Wright
gliders. They also display the original Wright Flyer I in a special
display on the Birth of Aviation and offer a huge
research library on all phases of aviation history. The Wright
Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina tells
the story of the Wrights' initial test flights on the spot where they
happened. The display includes a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer I and
the 1902 Wright Glider, as well as the broken case of the original
engine. The original Wright Bicycle Shop where they built their
airplanes and Wright Home were moved from
Dayton, Ohio to Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum
in the 1930s. The museum also has a replica of the 1903 Wright
Flyer I. In Dayton, Ohio you can still see the Dayton Aviation
Heritage National Historic Park, which includes Huffman Prairie
where the Wrights developed the first practical airplane and established
a flight school. If you're doing historical research, far and away the best
archive of Wright information, papers, photographs, and other
memorabilia is the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library, Special
Collections at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
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While our web site has the most extensive collection of information
about the Wright brothers on the Internet, there are many more that you
should visit for a balanced, in-depth understanding of the Wright story.
There are also web sites that focus on other pioneers aviators whose
lives brushed those of the Wright brothers. As we discover these, we
list the links here. If you know of a pioneer aviation web site that we
have not listed, we would very much like to know about it. Please
contact us.
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