"Someday when man reaches the clouds we will understand the earth clearly"

                                                              Socrates

"The Wrights fulfilled the ancient prophecy; " They shall rise up with wings as eagles."

BOOK III

“A FLIGHT FIRST”

With this book, the myth is exposed. The untold love story of the man who invented the airplane and Belle, the relationship that has been hidden, the secret protected all these years. The story of one man's fight, alone for nearly three decades against the US government. He felt for his brother's honor that he had to battle these overwhelming forces. His resiliency and passion caused him to win at the end.

At the Oshkosh airshow in 2014, the largest in the world, the author spoke on aviation and WW I. This book includes WW I.

"It takes two wars to test a new weapon."

Orville and Ft. Meyer, 1908 The Wrights and Alexander Graham Bell

There can be few people in the developed world who have not heard of Orville Wright and how, on December seventeenth, 1903, he flew in a controlled way through the atmosphere. His flight was one of the defining moments of the twentieth century and his name is recognized throughout the world. The 100th year celebration of his flight was one of the most successful celebrations of all time.       I have no startling new facts but I hope this version of the story will be of value for the way in which it shows how a Dayton woman views the story of his life. I was fortunate to live by his house, Hawthorn Hill until his death. Our family moved to a home near the Wright Library and I learned to love books there. Finally we moved to a house on the hill above the "other home" that Orville built, exactly like Hawthorn Hill, and when the occupant died, I left Oakwood forever and began college. This story starts and ends with Belle, together for thirty eight years. It details how Orville, along with Belle, behaved with great courage in the face of adversity, a fight against crushing forces. This is his life following a fresh look at the evidence. We look at how the story of the first flight has managed to capture people’s attention over the years and how it continues to fascinate and intrigue. It is a good airplane story. Books and films are commonplace. It seems inconceivable that anything fresh can emerge but there's one angle that has not been covered and this book examines...his life with Belle. No book or film has been made on Orville Wright’s life. This really is the one book about the Wright brothers that everyone should read. Everyone around him throughout his life was just moved by his existence, He was aviation personified; he was the symbol of aviation history for the first part of the Century. He was the rallying point, the central force. His name was on the biggest aviation and technical research facility in the world right on the Field where he first flew. He was always admirable, always dignified and always ready to be helpful to any-one in aviation, always ready to encourage any former student. In fact he encouraged General Henry Arnold, leader of Allied Air Forces in WWII ‘til the end.  After all, he’s been the one who taught him to fly. Arnold outlived Orville by two years. Orville’s father had said: “Orv’s enthusiasm always made him a leader among men. His name is stamped on the 20th Century and he was a big part of it until his death at mid Century – 1948. …Although the liaison between Orville Wright and the vivacious “Belle” was widely known and talked about at the time, not a word was published until a few years ago when a Dayton columnist wrote about her and hinted at the relationship. Surprisingly no book has ever been written about Miss Beck.  Only a few photographs of her can be found – with difficulty, and everything else has vanished. It is as if a large eraser erased her life. The house that Orville built for her, however, stands as a living testimonial to the story.           Wilbur and Orville would come to the Becks  home for Sunday dinners. The Wright family and the Belle’s family both lived on the West Side of Dayton near each other. These Sunday outings were the brothers’ social life. Belle’s sister was 10 years older, and Wilbur was forty three that year. The two brothers and the two sisters enjoyed being with one another. Wilbur died, sadly, in June of 1912. After this Belle was with Orville for the rest of his life .Belle’s story is bound with the production of the first planes, the airplane throughout the first half of the Century, and with Orville Wright. There were many similarities in this couple. Both were half German and half English, both were ‘West-siders.’ She had grown up with a father who was a ‘mechanicer’ so she had some association with engines. Both were perfectionists, methodical.  They had identical cars, houses, wills, even cemetery plots. When he died he left her well off. l He left her $3,000 a year, a great deal of money at the time. Of course he gave her much more before his death. The women in Dayton were all jealous of her, of his love for her. His photograph was always by he bedside. The little neighbor girl, whom the author met and heard the story of how she burned the love letters, kept in a box, in the house’s fireplace at her death. All Wright authors have run into this story in research but have opted to ignore it.

 

Prepaid orders accepted - signed copies
$35 plus shipping

Jane Healy
P.O. Box 10278
Ft. Deerborn, Chicago, IL 60610

or

PayPal: wrightour@hotmail.com

Coming on Amazon soon!

Book II

“THE ORIGINAL WRIGHTS”

Orville and Wilbur’s Overwhelming Legacy

          Wings, mans’ first controlled powered flight.  The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were catapulted into the spotlight after their European demonstrations of their brainchild, the Flyer.  They astounded the world.  The story of their invention is well known but what were they really like?

            Well researched and documented the author has found new material for the second book on the famous brothers, material lost to history.  There is much on the Wrights that is not out in the open.   It is fascinating stuff; two of the most famous men in all of history, men who inspire us.

            Touching on the Wrights’ character the book brings to light new knowledge.  Included are interviews with those who knew the surviving brother, Orville.

            The brothers’ contribution to flight did not end after the first decade of the century.  Flight fever, the new aerodynamic science, with its raw excitement and inherent danger, had exploded on the scene by 1910.  This was the year the Wrights introduced their invention to the American public.  Through all the trials and tribulations, the flight demonstrations, the establishment of flight schools, the brothers never lost their amazing confidence in their ability.

            At their flight school they trained pilots who would become America’s leading warriors in two world wars.  New facts are illustrated on the Wright activities in 1910 and 1911, years of enormous and interesting productivity.

    Included are 160 rarely seen photographs. 

    This book can be ordered. It is the same price as Book I.

EUROPE - 1908-09

Leading mankind into a new age, Orville and Wilbur Wright made over 300 flights in the year they demonstrated the airplane in Europe. The Wrights achieved a level of celebrity so unbelievable, there has never been anything like it since. Their saga is unprecedented in the history of mankind. Their courage and the breathtaking beauty of their flights astounded the tens of thousands of spectators watching from below. In France, Italy and Germany, today, there are statues and streets dedicated to the Wrights. There were songs written for them. The Wrights even influenced women's fashion as Paris designers copied the "hobble skirt" or the skirt of the women passengers with rope tied around the bottom. Everyone in Europe was wearing a version of the cap Wilbur wore on every one of his flights.

From the moment Wilbur Wright took off in his biplane on August 8, 1908, the world would not be the same. The eyes of everyone on the planet were turned to the race course in France as Mr. Wright demonstrated with great agility his heavier than air flying machine. The magnitude of the Wrights' achievement can never be overestimated.

The Wrights' year in Europe made aviation a practical reality as they demonstrated the Flyer, taught students to fly and aided countries in Europe to produce planes. The week they first flew in France, was the week that changed the whole world. The Wrights captured the imagination of a planet. Never before had there been such a dramatic demonstration of applied science.

Articles and Interviews:

Local author commemorates Wright Brothers’ European flight centennial - Oakwood Register, Dayton, OH (PDF)

Hawthorn Hill to Mark 100 Years - Oakwood Register, Dayton, OH (PDF)

Wilbur Wright - The Best and Brightest of us all - Oakwood Register, Dayton, OH (PDF)

Interview at Oshkosh Airshow, EAA with Fast Eddy (MP3)

PLANE PIX

Wilbur steering. The left lever controlled the altitude; the right, the wing warping.	1908-New Year's, a new era-the airplane, the sensation of the age.

A wonderful photo opportunity

Additionally several cocktail parties in chateaux and a royal palace

 

To Orville and Wilbur Wright

Soar into the cosmic blue
There are other worlds to explore
All that is out there is open to you
Soar to the universe of life and peace
And fly to the rim of heaven.

"We are at the opening verse of the opening page of the chapter of endless possibilities"

-Rudyard Kipling

 

The history of flight from the Wright Flyer to the Centurion

 

Email: jane@aflightfirst.com