Orville Wright:“The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.”
“If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advance” “The airplane stays up because it doesn’t have the time to fall.” “No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris …[because] no known motor can run at the requisite speed for four days without stopping.” “Isn’t it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!” “If birds can glide for long periods of time, then… why can’t I?” “We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate what ever aroused curiosity.” “The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.” “The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine. The control of the front rudder was difficult on account of its being balanced too near the center.” “With all the knowledge and skill acquired in thousands of flights in the last ten years, I would hardly think today of making my first flight on a strange machine in a twenty-seven mile wind, even if I knew that the machine had already been flown and was safe.” |
Wilbur Wright:“There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings.”
“More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination. “It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.” “What is chiefly needed is skill rather than machinery." |