"Glenn Curtiss surely belongs in the pantheon of America's greatest entrepreneurial inventors. With uncanny regularity, his remarkable career led him to the heart of some of the most important pioneering developments in the history of aviation. In the course of a few decades, Curtiss arguably contributed more to the modern airplane that anyone before or since, including: the first public flight in the U.S., the first commercially sold airplane, the first flight from one American city to another, and the issuance of the first U.S. pilot's license, to name a few momentous breakthroughs. Ask anyone today and they will likely tell you that these milestones were achieved by the Wright brothers." -- on pages 28-29
Author Shulman's Unlocking the Sky offers the type of American history that I'm particularly fond of (which is also done unusually well by the scribe Matthew Algeo) - it focuses on little-remembered incidents and the involved people from the 20th century. Glenn Curtiss - a bicycle mechanic and motorcycle racer from the Finger Lakes region of New York state - did much to further the then-nascent field of aviation during the 1900's and 1910's. Although the Wright brothers are best known by most Americans - and they're depicted, not unreasonably per their described peculiarities, as paranoid and litigious jerks in this narrative - it was Curtiss who legitimately advanced the aspect of mechanized flight in the America via his privately run workshop. Pleasantly and pleasingly, Curtiss was said to be a good and loyal husband, friend, boss, and business partner, so the success he and his supportive crew achieved in those early flights with his rudimentary aircraft truly felt deserved. Lest we so easily forget, flying was an extremely dangerous pursuit at that time, and Curtiss avoided meeting his demise during a celebrated adventurous solo trip from Albany to New York City in 1910. This was a surprisingly informative and uplifting (😉) work about a modest yet brave man.
Going into Unlocking The Sky, I knew next to nothing about Curtiss other than his company manufactured airplanes in the early 1900s. Shulman does an incredible job of bringing Curtiss’s trials and tribulations to life. So many biographies read like a dry textbook. Not here. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. From Curtiss building and racing motorcycles while being dubbed the Fastest Man in the World, to his unique motor design being the gold standard for its lightweight and horsepower, to building the first flying machine to be flown in front of the public. Add all of that to the Wright brothers, doing everything in their power to throw a monkey wrench in Curtiss’s constant aerial advancements, and you root for the man even more. Orville and Wilbur really do come across as spoiled brats rather than aviation pioneers. If only they had spent more time working and collaborating with other experts in the field instead of trying to stifle any advancements with lawyers and lawsuits.
All in all, a great read for anyone interested in early aviation pioneers and great American engineers of the 20th century.
An amazing story of Glenn Curtis and the history of aviation. The Wright brothers have nothin on this guy! Why people don't know about Curtis is a mystery to me. I think the story of his life around this time, early 1900s, would make a terrific movie. So many larger than life characters play a role; Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Orville & Wilbur Wright. The writing itself was a bit dry, too many facts and dates to keep up.
Interesting book challenging the Wright Brothers' claim as the true inventors of the airplane. If nothing else, Glenn Curtiss was a great pioneer and hero in his own right. The book significantly dims my view of the Wright Brothers and portrays them as pretty bad people.
I found this book riveting, I could hardly put it down. Curtis a true visionary and brave inventor. A hundred times more important to aviation than all the others.
A pretty enjoyable read, and a fascinating story to boot. It definitely filled in some knowledge gaps about the early days of aviation, and about Glenn Curtiss in particular. I definitely want to learn more about him. I can't say this was a zinger of a read, though. I found it a bit dry and the narrative too meandering, weaving through time in a way that was a bit difficult to keep up with (esp. the way the Langley aerodrome story kind of bookended the story, without any obvious clue as to whether the author was intending to use that as some kind of a prologue/epilogue setup). Also, I was a bit annoyed by the constant switching between active and past tense. One paragraph, Curtiss was doing things. Then the next paragraph, he IS doing things. That sort of switching can be effective, but in this I felt like the two tenses were sort of competing with each other. Gripes aside, it's pretty cool. Go read it.
Unlocking the sky is a non-fiction account that captures the race to invent the first manned plane. It discusses the differences in how the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss went about their invention. Glenn Curtiss freely shared information about what he was learning during the process while the Wright Brothers were very secretive in their effort. Glenn Curtiss, in his collaboration with other engineers in 1908 invented the June Bug and made the first public flight demonstration in America. The Wright Brothers became jealous and made accusations against Curtiss in the courts. This book shows the different methods for which this amazing invention was handled and set the tone for future inventions in the sky.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Highly readable biography of a pioneer of airplane design.
Unlocking The Sky is a highly readable and entertaining introduction on the early development of the airplane in the United States. The book does this through the life of Glenn Curtiss. He was a mechanical genius, inventor and daredevil. His life reads like an adventure novel. You see Curtiss wrangle with the Wright Brothers. One of the surprising influences on Curtiss' life was Alexander Graham Bell who was keenly interested in the development of powered flight. Highly recommended.
A well-presented narrative of the most influential years of Curtiss’s career—from the time he got into airplanes up to WWI. Who knew Curtiss invented the twist throttle that’s still standard on motorcycles over 100 years later? This and many other tidbits will leave you loving this book (and probably seriously downgrading your opinion of the Wright Brothers).
Excellent read. Shows the struggles and triumphs of one of America's greatest inventors. Also, how the Wright brothers tried to impede the development of the airplane. I would also recommend the Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport.
Another short and compelling story, mostly a history of this man Glenn Curtiss who basically invented the airplane. It's cool to imagine this shy daredevil inventor, transitioning from bikes to zeppelins and aerodromes.
I know the Wright brothers. Were first flew an airplane. Like all new inventions. Engineers upgraded it. Make it better and last longer. Curtiss is one of them.
Mr. Shulman's revisionist history presents Glenn Hammond Curtiss, early aviation pioneer and inventor, as a series of opposites. He alternately describes the man as shy, sheepish, and unassuming, and then as a master public relations man, always taking time to entertain the press reporters to keep them hanging around his "shop." He regularly describes him as the beloved son of Hammondsport, NY, while telling how frightened and angered the townsfolk were with his exploits of racing motorcycles around town at breakneck speed or testing noisy contraptions. He describes him as an honest and upstanding citizen who started a commercial company selling airplanes in violation of patent laws for the "greater good" of mankind (ignoring that Curtiss got his information from Augustus Herring, who betrayed the Wrights and first tried unsuccessfully to sell the knowledge to the more ethical Langley). He describes him as an inventor of nearly everything important to modern aviation while explaining that until 1904 he considered anyone attempting flight as a "crank." Yes, the man is a conundrum, a paradox, a riddle.
Unfortunately, he remains so after forcing myself to keep reading this book. If you're looking for an interesting and informative biography, this isn't it. If you're looking for criticism that seldom lets up on attacking the Wright brothers (constantly referring to them as "bicycle mechanics"), or that embarrassingly idolizes Glenn Curtiss, this is the book for you! Other reviews here have documented many of the inaccuracies in this book undermining the author's credibility (I took the time to verify only some of them). Shulman downplays the 64 modifications required to get the Langley machine to fly, describing them as "minor" and "inconsequential," in an obvious and shameful attempt to discredit the Wrights (for which the Smithsonian later apologized). He also ignores that the Curtiss engine used on Baldwin's dirigible at the St. Louis World Fair was far inferior to the one constructed by the Wrights, instead trumpeting it as an enormous accomplishment and victory over the Wrights. And the constant name-dropping of Curtiss' list of associates and acquaintances (no matter how remote) is ridiculous. Also, the lack of any logical timeline is annoying, starting out with Langley's failed 1903 attempt, then bouncing to 1914, then 1906, then 1904, then 1907...
There's no doubt that the Wright Brothers were publicly stiff and perhaps even odd, and that their legal attempts to protect their rights were counter-productive to developing an aviation industry in the US. There's also little doubt that Curtiss was a colorful and interesting personality, even if his personal ethics were a bit wanting. But that's the Curtiss that would have been fun to learn about. Instead of trying to present an objective history or biography and his many contributions to aviation, Shulman's addition is little more than a shrill and error-filled condemnation of the Wrights, seemingly taking it as a personal affront that they tried to profit from their labors. There's little to learn from this book, if you can force yourself through it.
A very well researched book that goes into great detail about Curtiss's developments in airplanes, as well as the amazing escapades that he performed in them.
The author clearly has a bias against the Wright Brothers, whom competed with Curtiss more than anybody else in the early days of aircraft development, and definitely spends time where he is more focused on making an argument than just telling history. Though that doesn't change the fact that the book is well written, well structured, and extremely enjoyable to read.
If the topic of early flight development is an interest then I highly recommend these other books to read alongside this one.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough is the single best detailed account of the Wright brothers' development of the first successful airplane. Unfortunately the remainder of the book, which covers their attempts to sell their airplanes, is trapped in American hero hysteria and excuses all of the brothers' poor business choices and hypocritical actions as they spent the rest of their lives trying to monopolize the airplane industry (they insisted that every airplane ever built must pay them a royalty) after previously championing (when soliciting other inventors for information to help them) that the airplane was an invention that everyone in the world should share equally.
Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies by Lawrence Goldstone fits in as the "middle of the road" book, where the author seems very well balanced in presenting the opposing sides of the Wright-Curtiss battles. The book provides a much broader overview of powered flight's early days, with a lot of stories of exhibition/daredevil flying that really pushed the development of early airplanes.
Wingless Eagle: U.S. Army Aviation through World War I by Herbert Alan Johnson covers early aircraft development through the lens of their eventual use in warfare, relevant here since Curtiss was more successful than any of his competitors at the time in supplying aircraft to the American Army and Navy.
What the heck? The race to invent the airplane? Glenn Curtiss? Didn't the Wright Brothers invent the airplane? Indeed they did, but then, after successfully being the first to get a human off the ground in a heavier than air vehicle, the Wright Brothers took their new inventon into hiding, not exhibiting or demonstrating it for nearly three years. Why? To ensure that the patent they filed would cover not just their particular design but the whole concept of the airplane, thus making themselves embarrasingly rich from licensing fees that pretty much everyone else would have to pay. So says Seth Shulman in his examination of the career of one of the great pioneers of early aviation, Glenn Curtiss. According to Shulman, Curtiss was the true innovator of airplane design and his inventions and developments, especially of the crucial aileron, truly drove the field of aeronautics forward. Shulman contends that the Wrights purposely stifled development to ensure that their design, which in fact was rendered obsolete within ten years, would be the one that would make them rich. It is a contention not without controversy, although Shulman backs up his claims with solid research. And even so, putting aside the legal wranglings between Curtiss and the Wrights (especially Orville, whom Shulman portrays as a real butt), the book is a rousing story. Curtiss's feats as a pilot and inventor are worth reading just for themselves. And the cameo of Alexander Graham Bell is delightful. Note - a big quibble I have with the book. Shulman has an annoying habit of slipping back and forth between past- and present-tense making the book hard to follow sometimes. Other than that, this is a good read.
This is a great story of great times, the story of the race for the first workable aircraft. It is well known that the first flight was accomplished by the Wright brothers, however, they kept and improved their invention in secret, so the first prizes went to Glenn Hammond Curtiss, from who's point of view the fight to unlock the sky and the make money out of it is told in this book. However, Seth Shulman's narrative is one-sided, a bit ill-dramatized and self-repeating. A good editor could have made an excellent non-fiction book for all that could be recommended to the general public. Being not very well written I think only flight enthusiasts and people with an interest in transport history will read this.
Personally, I loved this book. I spent summers at Keuka Lake and have been going to the Glenn Curtiss dusty, small museum for years. I was happy to finally see the Wright brothers exposed for the petty mean-spirited duo they were. It is important to see how history gets written and who gets included and why. They managed to push Glenn Curtis out of history and while yes, the Wright's were first--none of their technology has survived the test of time. I hope that someday the world will know that while the Wright's were first... it was the combined effort of years of shared knowledge and innovation on the parts of many many people.
I would have really enjoyed reading a book about the accomplishments of Curtiss, without the slashing of the Wright Brothers. The author took an obvious dislike to the Wright's - right down to the last sentence. I think he could have accomplished praising Curtiss & his amazing accomplishments without trying to discredit the Wright's. This book did make me want to read a biography on Alexander Graham Bell who got my interest in the book.
Having just read a recent biography about the Wright Brothers, it was truly an awakening experience to view events from another perspective. History, like the news is written by people, and people have biases. It's sad that Curtiss is all but forgotten. Because if this book is only 1/2 right, Curtiss did more for early aviation than the Wrights ever did. As an aside, Orville suffered far more than a few broken ribs in his crash.
I enjoyed learning more about Glenn Curtiss, but Shulman's set up of Curtiss as all goodness and light fighting the evil dark lords of aviation (Orville and Wilbur Wright) rang hollow and wore thin as the book went on. Even worse -- at the end, he just quickly glossed over the merger of their two respective companies into the Curtiss-Wright Corporation?!?!?! At least it was a quick, easy read.
Great history interwoven with personal items detailing the invention of flight. It will challenge your idea of the Wright brothers -- not necessarily in their accomplishment but in their impact on the development of the airborne era
Fascinating historical biography about the real person that invented flight. This was a very enlightening and entertaining read, even though it is written in a choppy style. Maybe one more round of editing would have been a benefit.
I very much enjoyed this book. The dogged determination by Curtiss against the Wright brothers determination to totally control early flight is a great story. Highly recommended to all interested in aviation history or the history of patent law in the US.
Well written, well researched, a look at the fever of aero tech discovery. Glad I read it. Thinking of following up this read with a journey to the Curtiss Museum. Spoiler, the Wright Bros. are not heroic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Outstanding book about the dawn of flight & the implications of the patent system and broad patents. I have a much greater appreciation of Glenn Curtiss & Langley.
Great story, mercifully short. Curtiss got a truly raw deal, and the farce of patent protection started way before Intellectual Ventures and the NPEs, nerds.