The Wright Stuff
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ISBN: 1-56633-185-4, $29.95 |
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The Wright Stuff is the quintessential American story of two Midwestern boys who believed they could break the barrier of the air. Where others with government grants and engineering educations had failed, the Wright Brothers succeeded. |
August 8, 1908 at a racetrack outside Paris, Wilbur Wright executed hat was, for him, a routine fight; a smooth take-off banking into a couple of tight circles, ending in a perfect landing. The flight took less than two minutes, but it left spectators awestruck. Proving to the public they had mastered tinned flight, Wilbur and brother Orville became world celebrities.
The combined talents of the Wright Brothers had produced a working plane by 1903 but fears that their work would be stolen led them to keep their flying machine under wraps for five years. As other inventors were catching up, the secretive Wright Brothers were ridiculed as frauds. It wasn't until news of their work reached President Theodore Roosevelt and a deal was signed to build one of their planes for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, that they unveiled their flying machine in front of a group of skeptical French spectators. The plane and the Wrights were an instant success.
A Nancy Porter Productions film for THE
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Produced by Nancy Porter and Kate Hudec Front photo: Wilbur flying over Kitty Hawk • Back photo:
Wilbur and Orville Wright, Wright State University THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is a production of WGBH Boston Executive
Producer: Judy Crichton • Senior Producer: Margaret Drain • Series Host: David McCullough Major funding for THE AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE is provided by the Sloan Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.
Corporate funding provided by Scott's Miracle-Gro Products, Inc. and American Express
©1996 WGBH Education Foundation All Rights Reserved Package Design
by Joan Pelosi
©1996 Shonachie Entertainment Corp. • Approx. 60 min. • Color •
Duplicated in Real Time/SP Mode