# What happened to the Wright Brothers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990 "2015-01-04T23:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/21 "2015-01-05T11:54:15Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > They might not have what it took to move into jets but they were the first pilots with the wright stuff. The first Wright wingers? ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/22 "2015-01-05T13:05:36Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Not true. The Birdman book cited in this thread lists it at $1.5 million (which would be vastly more in 2015 dollars). Inflation calculator gives $34,883,720.93 as the 2015 equivalent ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/23 "2015-01-05T13:29:19Z")
Does anybody know why they didn’t marry? ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/24 "2015-01-05T14:18:26Z")
It’s one thing to be Mr. Wright. It’s another to be Mr. Right! ---
**Author:** ![Idilia\_Dubb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c2a13f/32.png) [@Idilia\_Dubb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idilia_Dubb)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/25 "2015-01-05T14:44:42Z")
> [@D18](#): > > It’s one thing to be Mr. Wright. It’s another to be Mr. Right! 😃 **Good one** , D18! I want to jump in my time machine and introduce Orv and Wilbur to Lilian and Dorothy Gish, two other inexplicably unmarried persons from the same era. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/26 "2015-01-05T15:00:55Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Hello Everyone, > > What ever happened to the Weight Brothers? [Here ya go.](http://www.4-stroke.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/0002.jpg) Yes, one died many years before his brother did… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/27 "2015-01-05T15:03:24Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Does anybody know why they didn’t marry? They tried courting the Wrong sisters, but everybody knows you can’t Wright a Wrong. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/28 "2015-01-05T15:51:23Z")
> [@Archeonomist](#): > > The first Wright wingers? Ironically the Wrights came up with the left-handed thread idea for the left pedal and left side of the bottom bracket on bicycles. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/29 "2015-01-05T17:08:12Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Does anybody know why they didn’t marry? > [@](#): > > Wilbur didn’t want romance to get in the way of more important things such as building things. Orville was simply very shy. > **[Did the wright brothers get married? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/family-and-relationships/Did_the_wright_brothers_get_married)** > > Wilbur didn't want romance to get in the way of more important > things such as building things. Orville was simply very shy. This > is why the Wright brothers never got married ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/30 "2015-01-05T17:27:28Z")
I see the Wright answers have already been given. Good job everyone for helping this thread take off. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/31 "2015-01-05T17:44:39Z")
A direct quote from Wilbur that I just made up: “Women are too flighty.” ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/32 "2015-01-07T02:18:57Z")
The executive summary is that World War I came along and the Wright brothers were relegated to training pilots. The war effort created so many aircraft designers, builders and aircraft pilots, that the Wrights were not particularly valuable at the end of the war… Also the war effort sunk the Wrights patents… there was not going to be any way for their patents to be enforced… well in modern times they might have made a claim after the war ended, but back then the gov could just give away the patent rights and not have to pay compensation. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/33 "2015-01-07T03:09:38Z")
One of the brothers, don’t recall which one, hit on both of The Wong sisters. (Betty & Sally). They turned him down flat, proving… …2 Wongs won’t \*make \*a Wright. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/34 "2015-05-08T19:28:15Z")
There’s a new book out: > [@](#): > > “John Adams” writer David McCullough has scored another hit with his new book “The Wright Brothers.” > > “The Wright Brothers” was released on May 5 and, as the title implies, centers on brothers Orville and Wilbur and their fateful accomplishments in the world of flight as well as other components of their lives. Both the Monitor and Amazon selected “The Wright Brothers” as one of the best books to be released this month, with Monitor reviewer Danny Heitman calling it “typically engrossing.” > **[David McCullough's 'The Wright Brothers' sells well, gets positive reviews](https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2015/0508/David-McCullough-s-The-Wright-Brothers-sells-well-gets-positive-reviews)** > > 'The Wright Brothers' looks like another hit for the 'John Adams' and 'Truman' author. The book was released on May 5. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/35 "2015-05-09T12:06:40Z")
I’ve always wondered if, in the overall scheme of things, if they actually provided a net positive contribution to aviation or if their subsequent actions perhaps stalled the pace of development to a greater degree than their initial leap had done. Heavier than air, fully controlled flight was just on the brink of becoming a reality, it’s not even clear at all if they were the first ones to do it. > [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Does anybody know why they didn’t marry? One of them nearly did, and was looking forward to spend the rest of his life with Mrs. Wright; but then he found out her first name was Always, and bailed out of it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/36 "2015-05-09T12:29:20Z")
Brand new biography: [The Wright Brothers](http://books.simonandschuster.com/The-Wright-Brothers/David-McCullough/9781476728742) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/37 "2015-05-09T14:28:53Z")
One thing about why there is no Wright Brothers Aircraft Company today is the tendency of new industries to initially have a number of companies that dwindle to few, either through failures or mergers. The initial Indianapolis 500 automobile race in 1911 was won by a Marmon automobile. The company exists today but makes electrical and industrial. The pace car was a Stoddard-Dayton that appealed to richer clients. Ultimately they were undercut in price by Ford’s Model, got bought out by Maxwell Motors (the car Jack Benny supposedly drove) which merged with Chrysler (which has had various financial difficulties for decades). Other entries were by Simplex, Lozier, National Motor Vehicle and others. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/38 "2015-05-09T18:44:18Z")
Back about 25 years ago I worked for a company that did a lot of business with a local machine shop. I had to go over there one day to check on some contract stuff, and noticed that the owner of the company (about 75 years old) had put his pilot’s license up on their bulletin board. The license had been signed by Orville Wright. So, until not too many years ago, Orville evidently signed every pilot’s license issued in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/39 "2015-05-09T20:31:27Z")
Haven’t read the new biography, but another good one I can recommend is “The Bishop’s Boys” by Tom Crouch. Read it a few years back, and it was very enjoyable, covering most if not all aspects of Wilbur and Orville’s lives and their work before and after their historic first flight. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990/40 "2015-05-10T01:10:30Z")
> [@Idilia\_Dubb](#): > > Does anybody know why they didn’t marry? They were brothers. It would have been illegal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-wright-brothers/708990.md?page=3)