THE FLYERS In Search of Wilbur & Orville Wright

Much has been written about the Wright brothers, the Dayton, Ohio, bicycle mechanics who steered twentieth-century history with their airplane and the first successful motorized flight. But Noah Adams takes listeners on a journey through place and time and explores, not just the inventors and their era, but also people today whose lives still touch the famous pair. For instance, at the Ohio prairie where the Wrights did a lot of testing, Adams talks to a biologist who is preserving native prairie plants inside a large Air Force base. He also drops all manner of interesting historical tidbits. For instance, a wind tunnel used to test a modern version of the Wright Flyer plane is used most often to test racing stock car designs. Adams’s delivery is smooth and effective. His voice and manner carry the story along. It’s the kind of performance that will make commuters take the long way home just to finish a chapter. And a tip of the hat to the producers for ending each disc with the close of a chapter. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]