How This All Started
I was scrolling through YouTube shorts one night drinking stale coffee, you know how it is, when some airplane history clip popped up. They kept mentioning the Wright brothers obviously, but then there’s this quick throwaway line about “L. W. Wright”. My brain just stopped. L. W. Wright? Who the heck is that? Is he like the third forgotten brother nobody talks about? I gotta know. It bugged me enough I actually got off the couch. Grabbed my ancient laptop instead of just googling it on my phone. Real effort, I tell ya.
My First Try: Just Search It Up
Opened the browser, felt proud already. Typed in “L. W. Wright” and smacked enter. Big mistake. The whole first page was just Wilbur and Orville Wright stuff. Tons of it. Biographies, museums, their plane patents… but our guy? Nothing useful. I could feel my shoulders slump. Had to get smarter. Added terms like “who is” and “entrepreneur L. W. Wright” next time. Got less airplane and more finance stuff. Weirdly specific articles popped up about him founding companies back in the 80s. Alright! Progress! Wrote down what stood out:
- Founded some software company tied to aviation data
- Focused on business jets specifically? That felt niche
- Seemed big on data services before that was cool
My Second Way: Hunting Clues on Social
Okay, regular web search gave scraps. Time to dig deeper in the public chatter. Hopped onto some old-school forums and searched his name again. Found this dusty thread from like 2015 on this business aviation blog. Folks argued if his approach to jet sales data was “revolutionary” or just “overpriced fluff”. Real passionate comments! Took forever but pieced together he launched things nobody else offered back then. Also stumbled across a brief mention in an archived LinkedIn post by this retired CEO, calling L.W. “stubbornly ahead of his time”. Was starting to see a picture: smart guy, kinda pioneer in aviation software for corporate jets, maybe not super famous.
My Third Way: The News Archive Grind
I wanted solid facts now. None of this “some guy online said…” stuff. Searched newspaper archives next. Typed “L. W. Wright” into a few big newspaper databases I access through my library card. Filtered from 1970s to early 2000s. Bingo! Found a few legit articles buried deep. One profile piece called him an “unsung architect of business aviation data,” another mentioned his founding company got acquired by a bigger player. No fancy photos though! Just text. Saved the most telling quote:
“Wright understood that data wasn’t just numbers; it was the runway for billion-dollar deals in the sky.”
What I Actually Figured Out & A Random Tangent
Turns out L.W. Wright isn’t related to the famous flyer brothers! He was this entrepreneur laser-focused on business jets and the software needed to track sales and leases. Pioneered some early data services. Not a household name, but clearly made waves in his specific corner. Felt like I solved a tiny mystery! Funny enough, my nephew came over later, saw my messy notebook with “WHO IS L.W.W???” scribbled all over it, and thought I was researching spies. Kid’s obsessed with Bond movies. Ended up wasting half an hour explaining corporate aviation software instead of playing video games. Worth it? Maybe not to him, but my curiosity itch got scratched.
