Reading Reflection No. 1

 The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• The most surprising thing about the Wright brothers when they were starting off their aviation dream was that the "trigger event" or event that kicked off their dream was the death of Otto Lilienthal during a flight in 1896 on his "No. 11" glider after falling from an altitude of 50 feet. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I think the most admirable thing about the Wright brothers was that they tried to sell their invention to the United States military. However, the U.S. War Department didn't even respond to the letter sent by the brothers. They eventually decided to sell it to France where they declared them heroes for their inventions.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
•  The least admirable thing about the Wright brothers was how they treated Octave Chanute as Chanute felt that the knowledge of aviation should be shared with the world freely while the Wright brothers were more interested in monetizing their glider invention. The Wright brothers also "bad mouthed" Chanute in public speeches that made it seem like Chanute was trying to capitalize off the Wright brother's success. However, the Wright brothers were the first to contact Chanute about aviation information.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
•  Wilbur Wright was struck in the mouth by a hockey stick right before he left for university that knocked out the majority of his front teeth. He became a recluse afterward, giving up attending university, and taking care of his terminally ill mother. However, Orville and Wilbur eventually built a printing press that led to them opening up their own printing shop.

What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

• The Wright brothers were extremely bright entrepreneurs in the birthing stage of flying machines. Both of the brothers were inspirations for each other and the biggest competency they possessed was the fact that they were both tenacious in reaching their goal of creating the first fully-functional manned flying machine in a time that was thought impossible.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

• The most confusing part of the reading was the fact that the United States decided to ignore the invention by the Wright brothers, allowing the opportunity for them to sell it to France and become heroes to them. I thought it was strange to see that the U.S. War Department had no interest in it since U.S. is known for having an exceptional military.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

• Did either of you have any regrets with what happened after the success of your flying machines that led to your fame around the world?
• How did y'all envision the future of the aviation industry after accomplishing what you did in the early 20th century?

For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

• I think the Wright brother's opinion of hard work is like I said in a previous question which is tenacity. I think they believed in being dedicated with their dreams in the aviation industry which allowed them to achieve what they did before others were able to do.