Wilbur and Orville Wright tested and proved their flight theories in Dayton, Ohio. To test actual flight, however, they needed a special location to experiment. Using U.S. Weather Bureau statistics, they looked for a place that was windy, sandy, out of the public eye. They found Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on the Outer Banks to be the right area to test their gliders. The Wright Brothers’ First Flight is so important to the state’s history and significance that it is still shown in NC vehicle licenses plates.
Kitty Hawk is credited as the home of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, but it was simply telegraphed from the town via the Kitty Hawk Weather Station. The first flight actually took place in neighboring Kill Devil Hills, which was not a “town” at the time, but was officially incorporated about 50 years later.
On December 17, 1903, at 10:35 am, Orville Wright made the world’s first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight. This year, we’ll celebrate 123 years since First Flight! (I will also celebrate 24 years since my first airplane solo! Best thing I ever did!)
Back in 2022, I had the good fortune to teach a Rusty Pilots seminar for AOPA in Kitty Hawk and visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial. What an honor! The museum has a full-sized, accurate reproduction of the 1903 Flyer that took powered flight from fantasy to reality (the original Flyer is at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C).
They flew the aircraft four times, each progressively getting better in controllability and range. The Flyer’s engine, built by Charlie Taylor, had a one-gallon fuel tank suspended from a wing strut, and the gasoline fed by gravity down a tube to the engine.
The brothers lived and worked in Kitty Hawk during their 1901, 1902, and 1903 testing seasons, late summer through autumn. The reconstructed buildings at the site depict their 1903 camp and hangar.
The Wright Brothers taught us to fly and, for that, I’m forever grateful! If only they could see today how far flight has come… I think they’d be pretty proud of what they started, mostly with bicycle parts!
The modern airport, First Flight Airport (KFFA), has a runway for us to use, during daylight hours, while visiting Kitty Hawk. Runway 03/21 is 3,000 ft long by 60 ft wide.
I also loved seeing other “flight,” “Wright Brothers,” and “Flyer” references throughout town, too, throughout my stay.
Go see Kitty Hawk in NC and the original 1903 Flyer in D.C. Very worth it. To understand where we’re going, we need to understand where we came from!
For more information about air trails and other flying destinations, visit www.airtrails.weebly.com. Fly safe, fly often!
