Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating insight into the early days of flying
Review: Most of us take airplanes and flying pretty much for granted these days -- in fact, most of us have even flown somewhere. But a century ago, most people believed that if God had intended us to fly, He would have given us wings.In To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, author James Tobin takes us back to those early days and we meet Will and Orv Wright (I couldn't tell them apart until I read this book), Samuel Pierpont Langley (Secretary of the Smithsonian and spectacular flying failure), Octave Chanute (Wright friend and encourager), Alexander Graham Bell, Glenn Curtiss, and a host of others dedicated to becoming the first person to fly a powered airplane. Tobin weaves his characters together not just with historical accuracy, but so they live and breathe and interact. The reader gets to know these people and begins to understand the challenges that being the first to fly present. Where do I find a light but powerful motor? How do I control this contraption in the air? How do I launch it into the air? How do I land it? As we all know now, the Wrights, those meticulous, cautious bicycle mechanics from Dayton, set established science on its ear when they finally triumphed on 17 December, 1903. This book is a must for anyone interested in flying. It's also a must for anyone interested in history. For everyone else, I'd recommend it as a fascinating read about the patience, drive, discipline, insight and forsight (and lack of same) by a group of people seeking the same goal in remarkably different ways.
Rating: 
Summary: A great and informative read
Review: Not a biography of the Wright brothers, but the story of early flight from several perspectives. It jumps around a bit, but you do develop a sense for the various attempts and programs that were going on. Tobin presents the Wrights as the heroes, and rivals often come off negative, but the Wrights were heroes. Not 5 stars, but close, and an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling tale artfully told
Review: Popular culture paints the Wright Brothers as a couple of iterant bicycle shop owners who just happened to build a plane that actually flew. Author James Tobin tells another story -- the real story of how Wilbur Wright pioneered the study of flight by studying the soaring patterns of birds as well as scouring all available scientific literature on flight. Later assisted by his brother, Orville, the two learned the secrets of soaring through a series of annual treks to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Wrights not only succeeded in doing what no man had ever done, they also did so very much on their own. Tobin describes how the Wrights were in a race against other, better funded and sometimes government supported efforts in the U.S. and Europe. Despite the competition, the Wrights willingly shared their secrets with any all interested parties; for them avaiation was not simply a passion, it was a higher calling. Their quest calls to mind the flights of other intrepid aviation pioneers who followed in the footsteps of the Wrights. Meticulously researched and artfully told, "To Conquer the Air" is a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered how it was that man learned to fly.
Rating:
Summary: ALL WRIGHT
Review: Since 1788, men had been flying balloons and later dirigibles. Then during the last quarter of the nineteenth century scientists and inventors began addressing the problems of designing and flying a heavier-than-air craft (i.e. an airplane). This book is the story of the Wright brothers and the invention of the airplane-in the Wrights time they were called aeroplanes. To understand the Wright brothers it is necessary to understand the Wright family. Throughout the book, the text devotes several pages to the Wright family as related to the two famous brothers. Both Wilbur and Orville were highly intelligent self-made men. The author relates how, without advanced education or prior job experience, at age twenty-two, Wilbur successfully defended his father in a church dispute. The author states "He argued with a mastery of facts, logic, and wit that veteran lawyers would later envy." Both brothers were proficient in math, physics and other sciences. Their interest in flying began in 1894 when McClure's Magazine contained an article on the German flying pioneer Otto Lilienthal. The Wrights read everything they could on flying experiments and in May 1899 wrote the Smithsonian asking for any Smithsonian papers and a list of other works in print on flying. After countless hours observing pigeons birds in flight, they concluded that balance and control were the key to flying and conceived "wing warping" to provide lateral control. The author (James Tobin) narrates how in 1900 the Wrights began testing their theories by flying gliders as kites at Kitty Hawk North Carolina because the Kitty Hawk wind conditions met their experimental requirements. Their gliders were biplanes. On October 20, 1900 "Will had never made a free flight in a glider. Yet on this day he chose to defy the world's only authorities on the basis of only his own calculations and preliminary experiments." Will made several flights. Their 1901 glider was also successful and provided much design data and flight experience. The text notes that Wrights considered that control and careful accumulation of flying experience were the keys to success. They proceeded in a planned/organized manner. The author recounts their experiments with manned glider flights, relating how they found the data in Lilienthal's aeronautical tables did not correctly determine lift and drag. In order to obtain the required data, they built a wind tunnel and evaluated airfoil shapes developing the required data. Following the success of their 1902 glider, in 1903 using their own data they built a larger glider adding propellers and a gasoline engine, both of their own design, making it an aeroplane. Without first testing the machine as a glider, at 10:35 am on December 17, 1903 Orville made a flight of 120 feet in 12 seconds, the first manned flight. Before the end of the day, Wilbur had flown 852 feet in 59 seconds. In 1904, the Wrights built a new and improved aeroplane and began flying in open field outside of Dayton. The author notes that once "Will chased a flock of birds in two circles of the field." By the end of the 1905 flying season the Wrights had become competent aviators. Press coverage of the historic 1903 was scant and often inaccurate. While several invited people including reporters witnessed the 1904/1905 flights, press coverage was still limited. Broad patent protection was granted in 1906, and the Wrights temporarily stopped flying. During this same period several competitors both domestic and foreign were working to be the first to conquer the air. The author does an excellent job summarizing the efforts of these competitors, which included Alexander Graham Bell and foremost, Smithsonian Secretary Samuel Langley. Langley made an unsuccessful attempt at manned flight on December 8th just nine days before the Wrights' successful December 17, 1903 flights. The Wrights and Langley had approached manned flight differently; the Wrights had been correct. Because of the Wrights' reticence, many refused to believe their success. The Army, who funded Langley by $ 50,000, showed little interest in the Wright aeroplane. In 1908 Wilbur Wright took a new aeroplane to France and starting in August began a series of spectacular flights establishing beyond doubt their right to being the first conquers of the air. Also in 1908 the Army became gave the Wright's a contract. The text narrates Orville's 1908 flights at Fort Myer, which after successful pre-acceptance flights resulted in a crash on September 17, 1908 that killed his passenger Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge. The author gives an interesting account Wilbur's 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration flights around the Statue of Liberty and later up the Hudson River to Grant's Tomb and then back-down the river. After these flights, it was generally accepted that the Wright's had been the first to fly. Orville in the fall of 1911, when testing a new glider at Kitty Hawk, set a world's record for soaring-nine minutes and forty-five seconds-that stood for ten years. The text recounts the bitter competition that continued, especially from Glenn Curtiss. Certain Wright family members blamed Curtiss for Wilbur's premature death in 1912. The book ends with an EPILOGUE concluding with the 1948 dedication of the original 1903 Wright Flyer at the Smithsonian. This is an excellent well-written account of the invention of the airplane. The Wright brothers were much more than a couple of bicycle shop bumpkins; they were by any measure serious gifted scientists.
Rating:
Summary: The Wright Brothers and their peers, described in depth
Review: The Wright Brothers did not achieve their historic accomplishments in a vacuum, without the advice and support of other pioneers in the quest for human flight. I suppose that this should be common knowledge, but I was unaware of the contributions of Samuel Langley and others to the study of flight before reading James Tobin's remarkable book. Before his in-depth description of the Wright Brothers work that led to the first manned flight, Tobin describes in some detail Langley's investigations into flight, including one ill-fated attempt at a manned flight that would have beaten the Wrights by just several days. Tobin goes on to describe the race for accomplishments in the area of human flight, noting such worthy competitors as Alexander Graham Bell and Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Tobin's book is thus both a touching tribute to the Wright Brothers, as well as a spirited salute to their friends and competitors (some of whom were the same people). Details such as the power struggle within their church may seem irrelevant to some, but to me they provided a richness to Tobin's book that is no doubt missing from many other works on the Wright Brothers. An excellent book, one of the rare works I plan on reading again at some point.
Rating:
Summary: The Wright Brothers and their peers, described in depth
Review: The Wright Brothers did not achieve their historic accomplishments in a vacuum, without the advice and support of other pioneers in the quest for human flight. I suppose that this should be common knowledge, but I was unaware of the contributions of Samuel Langley and others to the study of flight before reading James Tobin's remarkable book. Before his in-depth description of the Wright Brothers work that led to the first manned flight, Tobin describes in some detail Langley's investigations into flight, including one ill-fated attempt at a manned flight that would have beaten the Wrights by just several days. Tobin goes on to describe the race for accomplishments in the area of human flight, noting such worthy competitors as Alexander Graham Bell and Glenn Hammond Curtiss. Tobin's book is thus both a touching tribute to the Wright Brothers, as well as a spirited salute to their friends and competitors (some of whom were the same people). Details such as the power struggle within their church may seem irrelevant to some, but to me they provided a richness to Tobin's book that is no doubt missing from many other works on the Wright Brothers. An excellent book, one of the rare works I plan on reading again at some point.
Rating:
Summary: A great and informative read
Review: This book would make a great research paper. Many of the things are well documented and described. I do believe the author lost his focus. He seems to forget that this book is supposed to be about the Wright Brothers' triumph. Instead he spends more time talking about Dr. Langely and his failure, and the Wright Brothers' father's dispute with his church. The most disappointing chapter of this book was the part about the day, Dec. 17th, when the Wright Brothers flew for the first time. Here, Mr. Tobin spends almost the entire chapter describing Langley's failure. Then at the end of the chapter, he spends only a few pages describing the one of the most important days in history, the first successful flight. I have no idea why Mr. Tobin would spend as much time talking about a failure, Dr. Langely, as he did about the Wright Brothers. This book is really dry reading. It has no sense of adventure, and especially no sense of excitement. He does not evey try to build up any feeling of suspense leading up to the first successful flight. All of that is done in a few paragraphs. Overall, I find this book disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Work of Research, but Very Dry Reading
Review: This book would make a great research paper. Many of the things are well documented and described. I do believe the author lost his focus. He seems to forget that this book is supposed to be about the Wright Brothers' triumph. Instead he spends more time talking about Dr. Langely and his failure, and the Wright Brothers' father's dispute with his church. The most disappointing chapter of this book was the part about the day, Dec. 17th, when the Wright Brothers flew for the first time. Here, Mr. Tobin spends almost the entire chapter describing Langley's failure. Then at the end of the chapter, he spends only a few pages describing the one of the most important days in history, the first successful flight. I have no idea why Mr. Tobin would spend as much time talking about a failure, Dr. Langely, as he did about the Wright Brothers. This book is really dry reading. It has no sense of adventure, and especially no sense of excitement. He does not evey try to build up any feeling of suspense leading up to the first successful flight. All of that is done in a few paragraphs. Overall, I find this book disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Forgotten aspects of the race for flight well presented
Review: This could have been a tangled & complicated story, or it could have been a one-dimensional story of the Wright Brothers and nobody else. Fortunately, Tobin has the skills as a researcher & writer to sustain about half a dozen different story lines without having the whole structure collapse. I am not sure which was harder --- keeping this book coherent or perfecting the art of flight. What was most interesting for me were how different the incentives were for the various compeitors. For some the incentive was the pure pursuit of science (the Wrights & Alexander Bell), for some the incentive was securing a place in history (S.P. Langley & Octave Chanute), and for some it was the quest for profit & commercial success, plain & simple (Glen Hammond). Just the motives were extremely varied, so too were the approaches to solving the challenge of flight. Langley assumed that the biggest part of the puzzle was power; build an engine strong enough and the other details would just work themselves out. If Langley had had a jet engine available, he might have gotten away with it --- although I wouldn't want to be flying in any plane developed along those lines. The Wrights on the other hand, saw the challenge of lift to be the key to the puzzle --- build a device that could achieve near-vertical lift and you could probably manage without a super-powerful engine. One comes away from this book with an enhanced respect for the natural scientific brilliance of the Wrights. So few of us actually have any knowledge of the systematic approach the Wrights took in solving the problem of lift in their little wind tunnel. Never ones to get ahead of themselves, the Wrights made sure they had explored every wing configuration they could think of before moving to the next stage of development. Tobin could have ended the story with the Wright's first flight, but he is too good of a historian not to look at the larger picture. As soon as one battle was won, other battles needed to be fought. It is open to debate as to who ultimately won this war, depending on what your perspective was. This was a great book. Tobin makes aerodynamics pretty understandable to almost anyone, and he has a great narrative skill. You will be left with a much greater respect for what a magnificent scientific feat achieving flight was --- after all, almost everyone else ultimately failed.
Rating:
Summary: Very nicely written.
Review: This is a well written account of the development of aviation. It makes it clear that there were a number of people who might legitimately have claimed a stake in the Wrights' "invention", and the book details how much of their time was dedicated to protecting their patents toward the end of their lives. I suppose the cutthroat nature of it all was a bit disappointing to me; a couple of Ohio brothers adapting their bicycle mechanic skills just for the thrill of invention is not the story here. In any case, the practicality of flight was proven just as the Great War opened, eclipsing some of their accomplishments much as the newly opened Panama Canal passed from public fascination to military tool at almost the same moment. The book is certainly worth reading.
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