Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright - NASA's History Office

Hayman, LeRoy. Aces, Heroes and Daredevils of the
Air. New York: Julian Messner, 1981, 189 pp., +illus.
Brief biographies of selected personalities and
accounts of historical events in aviation from the first
flight of the Wright brothers to the end of World War
II. For older children; includes photographs and an
index.
Zisfein, Melvin B. Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker.
Flight: A Panorama of Aviation. New York: Pantheon
Books, 1981, 119 pp., +illus.
An illustrated history of flight, from myths and legends,
to early aviation and the Wright brothers, to
modern supersonic transports. Bibliography p. 114.
Smith, Richard K. Not a Success But a Triumph: 80
Years since Kitty Hawk, U.S. Naval War College
Review, Nov.-Dec. 1983, vol. 36, pp. 4—20.
The author begins with the Wrights flight demonstrations
in France and the unique relationship
between France and the Wright Brothers, then presents
a history of their efforts and experiences which
led to their first successful flight.
Includes an artist s version of a reconstructed
model of the Wright Wind Tunnel.
Hallion, Richard. Epic of Flight Designers and Test
Pilots. Alexandria, Virginia: Time—Life Books Inc.,
1983, 176 pp., +illus.
Popular but technically detailed history of airplane
design and flight testing. Contains scattered references
to the Wright brothers, pointing out some of
their outstanding accomplishments and how others
improved on their designs. Includes numerous photographs
and cutaway drawings of aircraft and engines,
and an index.
Nolan, Patrick B. Wright Brothers Collection. Aerospace
Historian, Winter/Dec. 1984, pp. 272—276, +illus.
Describes the Wright Brothers Collection housed in
the Department of Archives and Special Collections
of Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. The collection
numbers more than 6,000 items and includes the
technical books, journals, and pamphlets of the
research library of the Wrights; extensive files of their
business, financial, and legal records; the manuscript
diaries of their father covering the years 1857 to 1917;
and 1,500 original prints of their aviation experiments
and demonstrations.
Bilstein, Roger E. Flight in America 1900-1983: From
the Wrights to the Astronauts. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1984, 356 pp., +illus.
Detailed history of flight in the United States from
1900-1983 with emphasis on the social, economic,
Aeroplanes and Flights
70 Wilbur & Orville Wright
and political aspects. The first chapter on early flight
to 1918 is devoted to the Wright brothers. Includes
photographs and an index. Chapter notes pp. 331—350.
Geibert, Ron, and Malishenko, Tucker, editor. Early
Flight: 1900-1911. Original Photographs from the
Wright Brothers Personal Collection. Dayton, Ohio:
Landfall Press, Inc., 1984, 95 pp., +illus.
This book augments an exhibition opened at the
U.S. Air Force Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, Dayton, Ohio, in May 1984. Contains 56 photographic
plates selected from the Wright brothers personal
collection, housed at the Wright State University
in Dayton, and taken by them, or of them, by others.
The editors argue that this exhibition not only demonstrates
the achievements of the Wright brothers in aviation
but in photography as well. Includes introductory
texts by Patrick B. Nolan, Archivist at Wright State
University, Ohio, and Ron Geibert. Also includes
numerous excerpts from Wilbur and Orville s letters,
diary entries, and other materials.
Gollin, Alfred. No Longer an Island: Britain and the
Wright Brothers, 1902-1909. Stanford, California:
Stanford University Press, 1984, 478 pp.
Detailed history of the impact of the Wright brothers
on British thought concerning the vulnerability of
Great Britain to future air attack, controversies
between proponents of naval and air power, and the
impetus for the beginnings of a domestic aircraft
industry in Great Britain in the years 1902-1909.
Includes excerpts from letters and original documents,
and an extensive index.
Crouch, Tom D. Marvin W. McFarland, 1919-1985.
Aerospace Historian, Summer/June 1985, p. 144.
Obituary of Marvin W. McFarland, editor of the
Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, selected from
the Wright collection bequeathed to the Library of
Congress by the Orville Wright estate, published in 2
volumes in 1953, with explanatory notes, appendices
of technical data, bibliographic aides, and graphic
materials, considered one of the major primary
sources for the Wright brothers, and a model for the
editing of collections of technical and historical documents.
Crouch, Tom D. Machine of Practical Utility: The 1905
Wright Flyer. Timeline, Aug./Sep. 1985, pp. 24—37,
+illus.
Also included: The 1905 Wright Flyer Preserved
and Restored.
A detailed telling of the Wrights technical
improvements, tests, and eventual successful flights
of the 1905 airplane. The world s first practical air-