Straighten up and fly Wright
‘Real story’ behind the Wright brothers’ success to be presented in Palos Heights
The Wright brothers are synonymous with flight but a new nonfiction book claims one sibling dominated the development of the first plane.
William Hazelgrove discusses that book, “Wright Brothers, Wrong Story: How Wilbur Wright Solved the Problem of Manned Flight,” on Jan. 13 at Palos Heights Public Library.
“I wanted to know who they really were. What was the real story? As I was doing research I stumbled onto the fact that really Wilbur Wright was the man who invented that plane,” Hazelgrove said via phone from his St. Charles home.
“He was the one who had the genius, technical and otherwise, and the engineering brilliance to figure out a control system for flight. He really is the man who did it. That was really a revelation to me,” he said.
“Wilbur Wright called a man named Octave Chanute. They really worked out the physics of flight in a series of 500 letters. I’ll have photos that they took down in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, of all those years. I will also cover the Wrights’ personal lives.”
Hazelgrove’s theory that Wilbur Wright was responsible for the breakthrough flight in Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903, was based on “The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright” as well as Wilbur Wright contacting the Smithsonian for information.
An article titled “Why Wilbur Wright Deserves the Bulk of the Credit for the First Flight” by Hazelgrove was published in the December issue of Smithsonian magazine.
“Really only one person could have figured out the math, the control system and then the art of flying.
“Really only one person could have figured out the math, the control system and then the art of flying. Wilbur did it. That was what he was put on Earth to do. That was his raison d’etre.”
Wilbur did it. That was what he was put on Earth to do. That was his raison d’etre,” said Hazelgrove, who is from Virginia and used to vacation in Kitty Hawk every summer.
“America loves teamwork stories. We like to believe we can all band together and do everything. Usually breakthroughs — the first plane, the first car, any scientific breakthrough — are one man’s vision, one man’s God-given ability to crack the Rubik’s Cube. That’s what Wilbur did.”
Attendees of Hazelgrove’s presentation in Palos Heights can meet the author and get copies of his latest book signed. “Wright Brothers, Wrong Story” was released Dec. 4 via New York-based Prometheus Books, which is sold and distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House.
“There’s a lot of controversy in the Wrights’ story that has been basically papered over, not the least of which was the controversy with the Smithsonian. In 1928 Orville Wright shipped a 1903 flyer that flew for the first 12 seconds of flight to London out of a dispute with the Smithsonian,” Hazelgrove said.
“It stayed there for 20 years. He refused to bring it back until the Smithsonian admitted the Wrights invented the first plane. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and all these people tried to convince Orville to bring the plane back. He wouldn’t do it.
“There is drama upon drama in the Wrights’ history. That’s just a small part of it.”
Hazelgrove’s speaking engagements also include discussing the Wright brothers at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at White Oak Library District’s Lockport Branch, 121 E. 8th St., and 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at Joliet Public Library’s Black Road Branch, 3395 Black Road.
He also serves as a consultant for the PBS film adaptation of his book “Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson” and plans on releasing his book “Sally Rand: An American Sex Symbol” in November.