Reading Reflection No. 1

Brittany Traynor

ENT3003 Reading Reflection No. 1

Due: 10/13/17

The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough

These entrepreneurs created the first functioning flying machine.

1.)

·      What surprised you the most? I was really surprised at the amount of time it took for people in the United States to really notice and appreciate their work and invention. After the brothers successfully created their invention, they contacted the U.S. War Department and did not even get a response at first. The U.S. public seemed to initially not care for their invention because they seemed to feel that man simply was not meant to fly. Living in the society that I live in, I see the impact of planes, helicopters, drones, and other flying machines. With this knowledge and experience, it seems hard to believe that people were not all over this idea when it was first created. Luckily for the Wright Brothers, the French were all over this idea and seemed to consider the brothers to be heroes, so it was not too long before the United States recognized the brilliance of the invention.

·      What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I most admired their genuine entrepreneurial mindset. They got much of their inspiration for their invention from simply watching birds fly, as well as having a toy that flew. To me, that is something so seemingly simple, and something that most people would not take to the next level. The fact that they had the interest, curiosity, and determination to figure out how to apply the knowledge of bird flight and toy functions to mechanics is astonishing to me.

·      What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? It is hard to pick something out that I least admire since these individuals were so courageous and dedicated to their work. If I had to choose something, it would probably be that on one of their test flights, a lieutenant from the Army was a passenger in the plane, and died in one of the failed test flights that led to a plane crash. I understand that this was obviously not intentional, but it is still unfortunate that someone lost their life in the process of testing this invention.

·      Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Wilbur, the eldest of the two brothers, actually got into an ice hockey accident right before he had planned to start college, and this accident changed the course of his life. Although it prevented him from attending Yale University right after high school, it led him to move back into his parent’s house. Here, he had a lot of time on his hands, and spent much of it reading in his parent’s library. This also led him to sit and watch birds fly, and he found the flight of birds to be very fascinating. This ultimately turned out to be a positive thing for him because it gave him the time and idea behind his first Wright Flyer. The also faced technical and weather adversities throughout the process of successfully creating a functioning flying machine, but they pushed through it and kept working.

2.) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? The main competency that I noticed within the brothers was their dedication to, and confidence in, their invention. They were willing to go wherever they needed to make the invention most successful, in both the development stage as well as the selling stage. They were confident that they had something worth buying, and they were willing to do whatever it took to find that target customer market. In addition, they demonstrated the ability to have patience in their idea. They first worked other jobs, including at a bicycle shop, in order to raise the money to work on their idea. Although it took them years to create their invention successfully, and they had to overcome various technical challenges along the way, they did not give up. I think that the confidence, determination, and patience that they exhibited are all essential qualities in any successful entrepreneur.

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

I was having a hard time following the beginning of the book but it quickly picked up and the pieces began to fall together for me. Having pictures helped me visualize the steps they took in creating the first flying machine.

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

·      If I were able to talk to the Wright Brothers, I would ask them how they knew that Kitty Hawk, North Carolina had the most ideal conditions for testing gliders. The brothers were from a small town in Ohio, and having never been to Kitty Hawk, they determined that this location was the ideal place to create and test their invention.

·      Do you think going to college would have been beneficial for your career and lives in general? Neither Orville nor Wilbur had an education past high school, and I find it ironic because this was actually part of the reason that they had the time and opportunity to create their invention. I wonder if things would be different, for the worse or the better, if either of them were college educated.

5.) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Based on their perseverance, I think that both of the Wright Brothers felt that hard work pays off. They never seemed to lose faith in the fact that despite the hardships and tribulations, they knew they had a product with potential for great success. I agree with this mindset and I think it is hard to have the courage to keep trying when things go wrong.