The Wright Engineers: Inventing the Airplane

by Brian R. Page

Inventing the airplane was not easy. Nor was it a feat of genius. Wilbur and Orville Wright were successful where so many others failed because they were engineers. The Wright Engineers: Inventing the Airplane, puts the reader elbow-to-elbow with the brothers as they solve the many technical challenges that finally led to success. They even faced discouragement, Wilbur lamenting, “Not within a thousand years would man ever fly.” But with determination and good engineering practice, the brothers knocked down the obstacles one by one, inventing new technologies and discovering the basic science of flight. Their marriage of aeronautical science and aircraft technology took flight on that cold windy day in 1903 and opened the era of modern aviation. This lavishly illustrated book is perfect for educating and inspiring middle-grade students who are interested in aviation or becoming an engineer.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Engineering

122 pages, Hardcover

First published May 19, 2022

Reviews

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely wonderful piece of work. Brian does so many great things in his book. He tells the story of the Wright Brother’s development of the first working airplane. His does this by creating a wonderful and accessible presentation of the basic principles of flight. It includes the basic equations and terminology. The time of this development is put into beautiful context, with Brian discussing the historical background and methods used by aerodynamicists at that time. He clearly shows what made a difference in the Wright Brothers approach. There is also a common theme of practice, problem solving in a systems approach, and attention to detail. These are all attributes of the engineering profession. Last but not least, the book is filled with historical photos and diagrams that add to the clarity and excitement of the time. This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in learning about the Wright Brothers, aircraft design, and the history of technology. This work would also make an excellent gift to young person who shows an interesting in in aviation. I’m a graduate aerospace engineer who worked in the field for many years and later taught high school math and physics and I highly recommend it!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is definitely beyond my expectations! It is listed as being for a target age group, but I found it to be for a larger audience (even advanced ESL!). There are many photographs of differing early and experimental biplanes and even some current ones. Principles of flight are clearly demonstrated with drawings and more.
I entered the giveaway in the hope of winning a copy for my 14 y/o grandson (or his 11 y/o brother) in Ohio, but showing it on a Zoom family call had their father (my #3 son) asking me to hurry up and finish it so I could send it to family!
I won a print copy of this book in a LibraryThing giveaway from the author.

[Charles Roberts]

Wright Engineers Inventing the Airplane by Brian R. Page is an outstanding gift for anyone who is interested in airplanes. While the author’s intended audience is teenage youth, the fine detail of all the information (text and graphics) is well suited to any age reader from late middle school to adult. Mr. Page uses many historical images but has taken the time to “clean them up” and colorize them so they appear to be modern photographs. This massively improves the value of the book.

Charles E. Roberts (instrument-rated, commercial pilot with thousands of hours over more than 40 years).

[Grace]

Reading The Wright Engineers Inventing the Airplane was both enjoyable and informative. While I certainly did know of the Wright brothers successful flight in 1903, I had no idea about the years of experimentation, record keeping and trial flights beforehand! From an historical and scientific point of view this was a great read! This book eloquently demonstrates that hard work and persistence pay off. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in history, science, or aviation.
Grace R.

[Sarah Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! Brian Page is a friend of mine and he has captured the epic story of the Wright Brothers invention! You will never see color photos of them anywhere else!! So cool!! He has the small child captivated by the Wright Brother’s very complex scientific contraptions. And the way he writes is towards the kids. It takes skill to write about such topics for a young audience. My daughter took it to her advanced 3rd grade class and the teacher wants to use it to teach the kids! Bravo!!!

[Sara Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book on the Wright brothers and how they invented the airplane. The book gives great detail to the detail that the brothers went to in improving what was known and figuring out exactly what it took to build and fly an airplane. The book is filled with pictures sharing their journey. I felt that it was a positive book showing that anyone can achieve their dreams if they only put in the effort to really learn how to achieve them and never give up on trying.

[Kayla Tornello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job of detailing the process of how the Wright brothers invented the first airplane capable of flight. I liked that it emphasized how they went about systematically and spent lots of time testing theories. They also faced lots of failures and kept going. The diagrams are helpful for explaining the science.

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. Yay!

[Lee Anne Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure! Not only is it wonderful history, but it does a fantastic job of engaging the student with each problem the Wright brothers had to solve to create flight, and it does so in an approachable way, complete with small experiments they can do at home to understand the concepts. Definitely middle school and up. A great confidence booster for aspiring innovators!

[Steve Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many biographies of the Wright Brothers. Some are hundreds of pages, but few of those pages deal with the how and why the brothers were successful where others failed. This book fills in for the failings of the biographies.
First and foremost the Wrights tested the information published by authorities and found much of it wrong! They tested things which were "common sense" and found some of them nonsense. They developed their own facts and used these to drive their design.

If you have any curiosity about scientific and engineering discovery this book is a must read.

The Wrights took many historic photographs but photography was in its infancy and the results were poor. Many books reproduce the poor prints. As much as I distrust Photoshop, Brian makes excellent use of it. The details hidden by time and poor equipment are easy to see. The modified pictures alone make the book worth the price.