Peer Review

Blog 7: Peer Review of Important figures paper

During the peer review session I worked with Beth and Abby. First I explained to them that I had a hard time with the paper assignment since it was to be on the important figures. Since I am doing the paper solely on the Wright brothers, they are the important figures. But I needed more than them as a theme. I choose to focus on the Wright's accomplishments other than the plane. They read my paper and each had some helpful advice. Beth let me know that I was using too many quotes for a two page paper and that I was quoting things that didn't need quoted. She also told me not to number the works cited page and told me how to indent each line after the first one.

When Abby was looking over my paper she told me to better introduce the brothers at the beginning. She showed me a few places where commas were needed. She showed me a sentence that was too lengthy and worded awkwardly. She also told me how to indent the works cited page and to put <> before and after the website address.

I had a hard time reviewing Abby and Beth's paper. They seemed so perfect to me. I tried to correct a spelling mistake and came to realize Abby had spelled the word right. Although Abby had told us she had misunderstood the assignment, what she had written sounded great. Everything they wrote seemed like they spent a lot of time re-reading their papers to make sure they sounded perfect. I felt bad for not being able to help them more, so I apologized and told them everything sounded great and they already explained their mistakes they knew they had made to me.

Book Reveiws

Blog 6

One of the books that I have already cited was The American Aviation Experience by Tim Brady. I am using this book in my Intro to Aeronautics class. It is only in chapter 2, that the Wrights are spoken about, but this book I'm sure will be very helpful. In other chapters, it gives more information than you would ever want to know about people that influenced or worked with them. It briefly mentions some things about the Wright brother's growing up, but it mainly covers all of their work in aviation. This book will be a lot more helpful to me when I start talking about their findings in their studies and flight success. This book is great for the details I'm looking for, but I wouldn't recommend it to many people.

Another book I have already used is Aerospace: The Journey of Flight by Jeff Motgomery. I am also using this in my aeronautics class. This book also focuses on the brother's aviation work, so this one will also be more helpful later with my research. It gives general information about the brother's work. I like this book better than The American Aviation Experience because it's very straight forward. Although, I expect this book to be less helpful because The American Aviation Experience has much more information.

Reflection

So far my project on the Wright Brothers has been going good. I have found a decent amount of work on them and am lucky that the work is very detailed as I put it together. I am going to be frustrated when i am working on my two page paper because I am having a hard time thinking of a theme. The brothers have done so much, so it's hard to pick one specific thing to elaborate on. Maybe I'll focus on the brother's life before their airplane accomplishments. I have learned so many extra details about the brothers accomplishments that they aren't as well known for, such as they were printers, writers, and bicycle mechanics. I also get a feel for their personalities while I am doing this project. They kept to themselves a lot because they were very fearful their ideas would be stolen. They also thought very highly of themselves, while others aerospace engineers didn't think twice about these unknown boys from Dayton. The brothers knew from day one that they would be accomplishing successful and controlled flight. They were also very hard workers that were independent in that they never cared for a wife. They also wanted to prove themselves to the world.

Overall my project so far seems to be well paced. I'm trying not to get too far ahead to their flight success yet because I need to have that to write about later. I assume that if I run into any troubles I can always ask for Dr. Netty's help. He is a very impressive professor that even wrote a chapter in The American Aviation Experience that I used in my last blog.

Also today I applied for Flight Technology, so I am now under the program. Yay!

Wilbur Wright
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Orville Wright
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Pictures found at http://www.wright-house.com/wright-brothers/Wrights.html

Wright's Research

"In September 1894, Wilbur read an article in McClure's magazine about Otto Lilienthal and his manned glider flights," (1) in Germany. He is one of the brother's first inspirations. Wilbur started to study birds in the wilderness.

By 1896 the newspapers were filled with many aeronautical experiments including aerostats (hot air or hydrogen balloons), dirigibles ("a lighter-than-air craft that can be propelled and steered" (3)), gliders, and ornithopters (a flying machine that used wings like a bird). Most of these stories were failures, but the Wright brothers used them as a learning experience of what not to do. Then on May 6, Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley flew his "steam-powered Aerodrome No. 5 half a mile over the waters of the Potomac River" (1). Although this was too small to carry a person, it was something the brothers could learn from.

Unfortunately, Otto Lilienthal was killed in a glider crash soon after. This sparked the interest of the Wrights. The brothers, after arguing how this happened, finally came to the conclusion that Lilienthal "lack[ed the] understanding of lift...which became evident by the errors they [the brothers] soon discovered in his mathmatical findings," (1). It was also clear that you need control to fly successfully. It was this time that the brothers came up with the idea of twisting or helical twisting. After discussing this idea with Octave Chanute, a well known, accomplished engineer, the term became known as wing warping. This system "used a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite directions" (4).


1. Brady, Tim. The American Aviation Experience. IL: Southern Illinois Press. 2000.
2. The Wright Story. 29 Jan. 2007. Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co. of Dayton, Ohio. http://www.wright-brothers.org/History/Wright%20Story/wright%20story.htm
3. Motgomery, Jeff. Aerospace: The Journey of Flight. Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters. 2000.
4. Wing Warping. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 3 Feb. 2007. 6 Feb. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_warping

The Beggining of Their Many Accomplishments

Unfortunately the Wright's mother died in 1889 of tuberculosis. This is when eighteen-year-old Orville decided to drop out of high school. He continued to work in the printing business for two summers. He eventually bought the whole business from Ed Sines, who became an employee of Wright Printing.
In "March 1889 Orville began to publish a weekly newspaper, The West Side News," (1). Wilbur then joined his brother in the business, first as a consultant and then as a writer and editor. The brothers then built another press that was "ingenious enough to attract the attention of other professional printers" (1). This business started out as a weekly and was successful enough to become a daily paper. Unfortunately they couldn't hold their success; after just four months they went back to the printing business. Shortly after they tried publishing again, but after three issues they went back to the printing business once again.
"In 1892" (1) the brothers bought safety bikes. These bikes were new with the two wheels of equal size. They joined a bicycle club which they would go "on long country rides, and did a little racing," (1). When their friends started having bicycle troubles they went to the brothers since they grew the reputation of being mechanics from the print shop. This led to them opening up a very successful bicycle shop where they did repairs and sold new bikes and accessories. Some years passes and the brothers realized that they could make better bikes than they were selling. Soon they were hand making bikes for costumer's specifications.

1. The Wright Story. 29 Jan. 2007. Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co. of Dayton, Ohio. http://www.wright-brothers.org/History/Wright%20Story/wright%20story.htm

The Wright Brothers

I have decided to focus on the Wright Brothers for this project since they are fascinating to me. Their are so many accomplishments made in their lives, but they are most well-known as the two men who invented controlled and successful flight. I have began reading an article who describes in great detail anything and everything you will ever want to know about the Wright Brothers. First I'll explain a little about their younger years.

The Wright Brothers started out in an average family where they moved several times until they finally settled in Dayton, Ohio. Wilbur and Orville's int rest in flight came early to them when their father, a bishop in the United Brethren Church, brought home a toy helicopter. Their family always encouraged learning. Sometimes his family would even allow the boys to leave school early so they could "pursue their own intellectual int rests" (1). The family owned their own library where the kids would study anything they wanted. By age eleven, Orville was already making kites and selling them to friends.

Wilbur was planning on attending Yale, but because he and his mother beginning to develop health problems he decided not to. Luckily his health improved, but he felt that college "would be money and time wasted" (1). Since they were a close family they looked closely after their mother and read "voraciously" (1) in their spare time.

Orville decided to join his friend, Ed Sines, in the printing business. Orville, with the help of Wilbur, "designed and built a professional press from a damaged tombstone, buggy parts, and other recycled odds and ends," (1).

1. The Wright Story. 29 Jan. 2007. Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co. of Dayton, Ohio. >

Why Flight Technology?

I will be writing about flight technology for this project because it is the major I am most interested in. I had always dreamt about flying since i was a kid although the thought of being a pilot hadn't ever crossed my mind until the second time I had been on a plane. Every time I get on a plane it's such a thrilling experience. My favorite part is the lift off. I love the speed and finally feeling yourself rise into the air. It's almost like an extreme rollercoster then. Once you're in the air you don't even notice the movement anymore then you do in a car. In fact it is a much more comfortable ride. I also love looking out the window at everything below as we rise. I hate when it's cloudy because you can't see the ground once you're past the clouds. I remember coming back from Venice all I could see was the ocean. It's a pretty scary thought knowing that if anything goes wrong you can't even land! Although, it's very unlikely that serious things happen. I also love how fast you can travel. By getting my pilots licence I would love to own a jet and be able to fly anywhere whenever I wanted to. Getting paid to something that I would love seems perfect; Especially when it's a six figure salary. During this paper I may also want to explore some serious bad things about it which holds me back from my final decision. Overall this subject is in great interest and I would love to learn more about it.