First Flight: The Wright Brothers National Memorial, North Carolina

The Wright Brothers National
Memorial is located at
Kill Devil Hills....

Kitty Hawk is just up
the road from here.

Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio and flight fascinated them.  By 1892 the brothers were running a bicycle repair shop and learning a lot about mechanics. They followed the work of others who were experimenting with powered flight and started their experiments in 1986.  Orville and Wilbur came to Kill Devil Hills, an area known for constant, steady wind to test their theories in 1900.

Eric and I started our visit at the air field the brothers experimented at and eventually 

flew over.

The Wright Brothers' sheds operated as living quarters and the hangar for their work.  These buildings are replicas.

The Wright Brothers lived here,

off & on, from 1900 through
 December, 1903.

Accommodations were
spartan.

They slept in the loft.

The hangar

I thought it would
be larger.

There were failures.  Orville and Wilbur Wright learned a lot along the way.  They disproved some commonly accepted calculations for aerodynamics.  Flying gliders here helped Orville and Wilbur learn more about wing shape, length and how to use a rudder.  Powered flight brought with it many new problems that were puzzled over, theories were tested and each challenge was conquered.

This boulder marks the spot where

the Wright Brothers' plane took

off on December 17, 1903.

Spoiler alert... there were four

powered flights that day.

The metal track that runs
in front of the boulder
was used by the Wright
brothers to line up &
start each flight.

The brothers tossed a coin to determine which one of them would pilot the first flight. Locals, John Moore, Willie Dough, John T. Daniels, Adam D. Etheridge and William C. Brinkley, helped Orville and Wilbur push the plane to its take off spot.

Orville's flight lasted

 12 seconds & he

 flew 120 feet.

Wilbur piloted the second
flight that also lasted 12
seconds & landed 175
feet away from the
starting point.

I notice that as we walk along the field and read the markers, each successive marker is taller, reflecting the increased length of flight.

Orville took the controls

 & flew 200 feet in

15 seconds.

Wilbur flew the last flight
of the day....

He flew 852 feet
in 59 seconds.

The flight field... The "take off" boulder is on the left.  

The markers for the first three flights are easily seen.

The fourth marker is to the right of the

barely visible water tower.

Walking the length of this field helps me appreciate what Orville, Wilbur and their ad hoc crew accomplished on a windy Thursday, December 17, 1903.