The Dayton Flight Factory: The Wright Brothers & the Birth of Aviation

by Timothy R. Gaffney

Overview

The Wright brothers are known around the world as the inventors of the airplane. But few people know Wilbur and Orville invented the airplane in Dayton, Ohio—their hometown—not in North Carolina, where they tested it. Efforts to preserve historic places in the Dayton region where the Wright brothers lived and worked are paying off. Today, you can stroll the Wright brothers' neighborhood, see the original 1905 Wright Flyer III and walk the prairie where they flew it. A project to restore the Wright brothers' factory—the first American factory built to produce airplanes—will complete the picture. In this book, author Timothy R. Gaffney uses historical research and today's aviation heritage sites to retell the story of the Wright brothers from a hometown perspective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626193567
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/24/2014
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Timothy R. Gaffney is a writer and author who was born in Dayton and has lived in the region most of his life. After earning a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in Columbus in 1974, he worked for the Piqua Daily Call and the Dayton Daily News, where he was the aerospace and defense writer for twenty-one years. He is currently director of communications for the nonprofit National Aviation Heritage Area.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 11

1 At Home in Dayton 13

2 Wings in a Bicycle Shop 31

3 On Huffman Prairie 59

4 The Wright Flyer III 67

5 Down to Business 75

6 The Flight Factory 93

7 Storming the Sky 109

8 Wilbur's Death 121

9 Orville's Company 125

10 Reclaiming Heritage 141

11 Wright Sites 149

Notes 155

Bibliography 163

Index 167

About the Author 173