Wright Brothers

First Powered Flight

During a recent beach vacation on North Carolina's Outer Banks we visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk. At this spot, on December 17, 1903, the first powered flight took place. A stone marker, dedicated in 1928, now stands at the launch point. A replica of the launching rail leads to the spot where the airplane lifted off as you can see in the picture below.

The following sign explains the role of the launching rail. (Click on the image to more easily read the text.)

Amelia Earhart was present along with Orville at the 1928 dedication.

The first three flights were only short hops before a much longer fourth flight took place as explained by this nearby sign. (Click on the image for a better view.)

The endpoints all four flights are marked with stones. We were too lazy to walk all the way to the fourth stone in the heat.

The present day memorial has recreated the crude 1903 buildings used by the Wright brothers. One is a hanger, and the other served as a workshop and living quarters.

South of the first flight stone marker is a larger monument erected on Kill Devil Hill. The park ranger explained how the present hill is roughly 200 yards or so from where it was located when the Wrights used it for glider experiments. The hill and surrounding ground were all bare sand in 1903, and the huge hill/sand dune migrated to its present position due to the natural action of winds. Vegetation was added to halt further migration, and you can see grass now covering the original sandy field.

On the south side of Kill Devil Hill sculptor Stephen Smith created a magnificent life size reproduction of the moment the first flight took off. It was hard to get pictures without other visitors in the photos. Next is a panorama showing the entire sculpture. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

The next two pictures show members of the Kill Devil Hills Life-Saving Station who helped the Wright Brothers move the plane and then witnessed the first flight. One of them, John Daniels, took the famous historical first flight photo.

The Wright brothers had flipped a coin to decide who would pilot the first flight. They took alternating turns thereafter. Wilbur made an unsuccessful try on December 14th, therefore, it was Orville's turn to try three days later on December 17th. The sculpture shows Wilbur running alongside as the plane lifts off under his brother's control.

Here's the plane with Orville at the controls next to the motor.

It's hard to believe this contraption actually flew!

I loved this sculpture! It was the best part of the Wright Brothers National Monument.