They seem to always be lumped together. Were they equal? Was Wilbur the genius and Orville deadweight? Was one the engineer and one the businessman/marketer?
(Bonus question, do you believe they were first, or was Gustave Whitehead or Alberto S Dumont?)
In general the brothers always portrayed themselves as equal, but some historians have concluded that Wilbur was more of the driving force.
Author James Tobin wrote,
it is impossible to imagine Orville, bright as he was, supplying the driving force that started their work and kept it going from the back room of a store in Ohio to conferences with capitalists, presidents, and kings. Will did that. He was the leader, from the beginning to the end."
First to Fly: The Unlikely Triumph of Wilbur and Orville Wright, James Tobin, 2004, p. 92.
anyone have any good sources that talk about the relationship between the wright bros and whitehead or deumont? Not so much the relationship but point me in the direction of the debate at least, thanks.