«How could two misanthropic brothers who never left home, werehigh-school dropouts, and made a living as bicycle mechanics, have figured outthe secret of manned flight? This new history of the Wright brothers'monumental accomplishment focuses on their early years of trial and error atKitty Hawk (1900-1903) and Orville Wright's epic fight with the SmithsonianInstitute and aircraft engine manufacturer Glenn Curtiss. William Hazelgrovemakes a convincing case that it was Wilbur Wright who designed the firstsuccessful airplane, not Orville. He shows that, although Orville's role wasimportant, he generally followed his brother's lead and assisted with themechanical details to make Wilbur's vision a reality. Combing through originalarchives and family letters, Hazelgrove reveals the differences in thebrothers' personalities and abilities. He examines how the myth of the Wrightbrothers was born when Wilbur Wright died young and left his brother to writetheir history with his personal friend John C. Kelly. The author notes thepeculiar inwardness of their family life; business and family problems; boutsof depression; and serious illnesses-and, yet, rising above it all, wasWilbur's obsessive zeal to test out his ideas about achieving manned flight.After he found Kitty Hawk, this desolate location on North Carolina's OuterBanks became his laboratory. By carefully studying bird flight and the questionof control, Wilbur cracked the secret of aerodynamics and achieved controlled,powered liftoff on December 17, 1903. Hazelgrove's richly researched andwell-told tale of the Wright brothers' landmark achievement, illustrated withrare historical photos, captures the excitement of the times at the start ofthe«American century.»»«This book is the first deconstruction of the Wright Brothers'myth. They were not-as we have all come to believe-two halves of the same apple. Each had a distinctive role increating the first«flying machine».«How could…