James Buckley Jr - Who Were the Wright Brothers?

Who Were
The Wright Brothers?

Who Were
The Wright Brothers?

By James Buckley Jr.

Illustrated by Tim Foley

For the late Peter M. Wright, who, though not one of the original Wright brothers, still gave me wings to writeJB

GROSSET & DUNLAP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China

penguin.com

A Penguin Random House Company

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Text copyright 2014 by James Buckley Jr. Illustrations copyright 2014 by Tim Foley. Cover illustration copyright 2014 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-0-399-54010-3

Version_1

On May 25, 1910, Milton Wright took his first airplane flight. He had lived a long and busy life, working for his church, raising his family, and traveling. But he had never been in an airplane. Of course, in 1910, only a handful of people had!

Two people who did have flying experience were Miltons sons, Wilbur and Orville Wright, who had invented the airplane in 1903. Milton had watched them grow from curious and hard-working boys into two of the most famous men in the world.

The Wright brothers built and flew their plane only after years of trial, error, and hard work. From the early twentieth century to the present, every single airplane ever built includes something first created by the Wright brothers.

Their invention changed the world. However, on this day in May of 1910, the brothers didnt care about the world. They were just happy to share their success and joy with their father, who had given them so much support.

On a field not far from their family home in Dayton, Ohio, Orville Wright settled his eighty-one-year-old father into the plane. Then Orville sat at the controls. The two men held on as the aircraft slowly got up to speed and then took off! They circled the field over and over, staying in the air for nearly seven minutes.

During the flight, Milton leaned toward his son. Over the roar of the engine, he shouted, Higher, Orville... higher!

So thats where Orville took Milton... and thats where the Wright brothers took the world.

The Wright brothers, Reuchlin and Lorin, were born in Indiana. Reuchlin grew up to be a farmer, while Lorin worked as a bookkeeper.

Those Wright brothers had two younger brothers who grew up to become quite a bit more famous.

Wilbur Wright was born in Millville, Indiana in 1867, and Orville Wright was born four years later in Dayton, Ohio. Their younger sister, Katharine, was born in 1874. Their parents were Milton and Susan Wright.

Milton was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren of Christ. He was also the editor of a United Brethren newspaper and a member of church councils. Milton traveled often to visit people in his church. As a bishop, he helped them organize their churches and listened to their problems.

While Milton traveled, Susan raised the five Wright children. Because the family moved several times when the children were young, Susan had to create a new homelife over and over. It helped that she was good at making and fixing things. She helped her children build a sled and other toys. Wilbur and Orville always said their love of mechanical things came from their mother.

The Wright family lived in Indiana and Iowa, but eventually settled in Dayton, Ohio in 1884. It was a great place for boys to grow up, with many friends nearby and places to explore.

WILBUR WRIGHT

Until his late teens, Wilbur spent most of his time with his older brothers, Lorin and Reuchlin. Wilbur was the youngest member of his brothers singing club, the Dayton Boys. He played football for a school team, and some friends called him the fastest runner in town. He did well in school, getting good grades in math, Greek, Latin, science, and writing.

ORVILLE WRIGHT

Young Orville had enormous curiosity and energy. He didnt want to do things like everyone else. His mother let him walk by himself to a nearby kindergarten when he was five. After about a month of school, Susan visited the teacher. She asked how Orville was doing. Why, you know, since the first few days I havent seen him. I supposed you had decided to keep him at home, the teacher said. It turned out Orville was spending his days at a friends house instead of going to kindergarten!

Though Orville was bright, school was not his favorite place. In fact, one of his teachers put him in the front row just so she could keep an eye on him.

Away from school, Orville found ways to make money. He helped some of his friends put on a circus and arranged a parade through town to bring in customers for the show. With Wilbur, he built kites and other toys with which to play.