Wilbur Wright

Wilbur Wright (http://www.biography.com/people/wilbur-wright-2067 ())

Wilbur Wright once said, "It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill." Wright never attended college, but still accomplished a great feat. He meant to show if you wanted to attain something, you have to spend time in learning and gaining experience in it, regardless of how limited and handicapped you are. Wilbur Wright accomplished the first manned flight in 1903 along with his younger brother Orville changing the world forever. The Wrights are known for pioneering in flight and made many technological breakthroughs. Their innovations are what make flight today. Wilbur Wright set many records and won the Le Mans airplane race in France 1908 and 1909 which awed the world with his seemingly effortless voyage. He failed countless attempts at flying, but never gave up when people mocked and put doubt in him. Wright always tried to learn something with every failure or success. Before the Wright brothers achieved flight, the world looked towards the sky with jealousy directed to the birds and their freedom. Of course, when word spread that they had finally achieved flight, nobody believed them. He kept persisting he did achieve flight and eventually in France he was able to prove it. Wilbur Wright's courage, perseverance, and ability to learn from mistakes have let him achieve one of man's greatest accomplishments- Flight. Wright stood up to the condescending media which poured down doubt and suspicion upon him. He kept soaring through his cloud of failures to strive for his ultimate goal for all of humanity, portraying nothing short of a hero.

Wright Plane (http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Selfridge.htm ())

Wilbur Wright powered through countless obstacles which required an ample amount of courage. Many of his complications set him back and required him to find his will within, to move on. Wright received a brutalizing injury during the age dawning into college: "Wilbur was hit in the head with a baseball bat while playing a game on a frozen lake. He suffered from nervous palpitations of the heart, keeping him home bound during the time when his parents had planned to send him to take courses at Yale College."(Mary) Wilbur Wright lost his opportunity to attend college, but didn't look down upon it; rather, he still pursued a different childhood dream regardless of his lack of education. When most people would have given up, Wright challenged the odds of success and went ahead to pursue a better dream knowing he would be competing against many world recognized scientists and inventors to be the first. Around the same time of his injury, Wilbur Wright had more obstacles set before him which caused him to go into depression: "His mother's illness and subsequent death kept him from attending college" (NASA) Wilbur Wright entered a harsh depression especially after his ruined dreams and mother's death, but instead of dwelling in his sorrows he found the will inside to move on and look away from the past. Just recovering from his nightmare takes a fair amount of will power, but having the audacity to even think about being the first to achieve flight with so many handicaps, took masses of courage. Wilbur received awful fate, but didn't let his setbacks throw him off the tracks of life.

Wilbur and Orville in France (http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/He ())

Wilbur Wright never gave up in what he believed, no matter how many times he had already failed. When people tried to convince him he was incapable of accomplishing his goals, he would simply shake it off and continue his work. As soon as Wilbur Wright and his younger brother had finally achieved the first manned flight, nobody believed him and confiscated his success: "Their achievement was doubted and undermined. 'Government bureaucrats thought they were crackpots; others thought that if two bicycle mechanics could build a successful airplane, they could do it themselves (ref).' Eventually, with persistence, Wilbur and Orville were able to win over both the public and the bureaucrats."(NASA) The idea man could fly alongside birds at that time seemed far off in the distance, and though the media and just about everyone else in the world didn't believe in Wrights finally achieving flight. Wilbur Wright was denied credit, but he didn't stop trying to vindicate himself. Because he was determined in attaining the 1st manned flight, he wouldn't let words stop him from doing so. He was patient and knew that in time the world would know because of his constant perseverance. Eventually Wright received a chance to show the media up in 1908- 1909 where he effortlessly demonstrated himself flying in the Le Mans in France, awing the world. Many innumerable times, Wright failed his tests and experiments; however he didn't look at failures with doubt he couldn't attain flight: "Wilbur landed hard and broke the flyer's elevator support. It was then transported back to the Wright's campsite where they intended to repair the damage." (Grant 27) No matter how many times he failed, he took his failure and started anew trying out new designs in his plane. Wright never gave up. If he needed to, he would resort to process eliminating the millions of ideas and solutions he thought of. Wilbur Wright always worked for his goal. He didn't give up when times or circumstances seemed unsympathetic.

1901 glider crash (http://weblab.open.ac.uk/firstflight/ ())

Subsequent to making a failure, Wright would take his error and learn from it then improve on top of the idea to make it work. Every windy season, the Wilbur would make a new plane to test. If his designs kept failing, he would make a new design to replace its predecessor: "The flight was fairly unsuccessful and the glider fell and smashed into the sandy ground. The Wright brothers repaired it, and then continued the test process. Another glider which was larger than the 1900 one was built in 1901." (Mary) Wilbur Wright was always learning from his blunders because even if he only learned what not to do, it would bring him one step closer to his objective. Wright had an intuitive eye and searched high and low around mistakes thinking,"What could I do to make it better?" He always scrounged a bit of information or experience out of every experience whether it is a success or failure. Wilbur Wright crashed his plane many times, but always took something out of it: "After a few dangerous spills, the Wrights took stock and came up with a solution." (Grant 27) He failed and crashed many times, but would either learn something or get more experience in flying itself. Similar to riding a bike, it requires a few falls before you set off and when you fall from your bike, you may learn something new. Such as instead of turning the handle bars to turn, you can lean to turn. Wright would try to scavenge anything that could help him from his failures to gain more understanding on how to construct and fly his plane.

Wilbur Wright unwaveringly stood up to the derisive media and never surrendered to the number of failures he had. "I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years." (Wilbur Wright) At times Wright was discouraged in his goal, depressed even. However he didn't back down, he stuck to his dream and even if it seemed unfeasible. He also disregarded the negative belief and comments people bestowed on him and would continually vindicate himself. Wright truly inspires others because he in no way gave up, but took his failures and made something of them as shown here: "I can't just say that one success is what makes them my heroes though; it is more the fact that they never stopped trying. Every year they advanced in their discoveries and they never let a failure become discouraging; rather, they wisely used their mistakes as learning material."(Mary) Wilbur Wright on no account threw away his goal just because he had already failed so many times and endured the world's disbelief in his achievement. After a failure he would revisit his objective to try a new way eventually eliminating all approaches to the last possible method if he had to. I believe he possesses what all heroes need, the will to take on the world and try over and over again until he/ she brings about success. Wilbur Wright is evidence anyone can attain something desired if he or she is willing to take the time to become skilled at and gain understanding in their aspiration.

             Web. 10 Dec. 2012. .

Grant, R. G. "Age of Pioneers- Fight to Be First." Flight: The Complete History. London:

             Dorling Kindersley, 2010. 20-29. Print.

Mary. "The My Hero Project - Orville and Wilbur Wright." Myhero.com. My Hero, 21 July

             2007. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. .