If you want to read a interesting book about the Wright brothers, try The Wright Story by Joe Bullmer.
While not trying to denigrate what the Wrights did achieve, he does correct the record in a lot of areas, including beginning the book with a section on 26 well known facts about the Wrights, all of which are wrong… including the wind tunnel one. "In the book, Bullmer contends that “nearly all of the conventional wisdom concerning what the Wright brothers really did, and how and why they did it, is inaccurate. Although they did come up with the first controllable powered airplane, it was in 1905 not 1903 as many scholars state. “None of their technical achievements were unprecedented,” he contended. “For various reasons, the brothers were not able to successfully improve their initial design to compete with later aviation developments.” Recounts of the Wright brothers’ work presented by various media for the centennial of the Wrights’ 1903 flights inspired Bullmer to publish what he believes is the true story. Bullmer cites historical and technical evidence that the Wright brothers’ wing, control and propeller designs had all been devised decades before the brothers began. Citing the Wrights’ own written words about their wind tunnel work, Bullmer seeks to reveal that the brothers found errors in their own work rather than anyone else’s. According to Bullmer, their written records also reveal that they could not execute turns with any of their aircraft until October of 1905, and they did not understand how wings produce lift. He wrote that by 1910 none of the features typically attributed to the Wrights were being used on any other airplanes. Bullmer uses physics, aerodynamics, the Wright’s photographs, and over 700 references, most of the Wrights’ own words, to make his case. So who is this guy making such outrageous claims? Bullmer is a retired United States Air Force technical intelligence analyst who specialized in aircraft design and performance." It's not a bad book. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
