S1E3: Twelve Seconds

Wilbur and Orville Wright were two bicycle mechanics from Ohio with no college degrees and not much money. The famous scientist Samuel Langley had government funding and a big reputation, and his flying machine crashed into a river twice. The Wrights failed too: their gliders crashed, their numbers didn't work, and Wilbur once predicted nobody would fly for fifty years. But instead of quitting, they built a wind tunnel in their shop, discovered the experts were wrong, and figured it out themselves. On a freezing morning in 1903, they flew for twelve seconds and changed the world. Today, pieces of their plane have been to the moon and to Mars. The point: failure is a teacher, but only if you're willing to learn from it (Proverbs 24:16). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit start2finish.substack.com