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Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the first successful flight by the Wright Brothers. (And for you trivia buffs, it was Orville who piloted the first flight.) A reproduction -- or as faithful as they could get it, based on the limited amount of research material available -- of the 1903 Wright Flyer was present at the ceremonies at Kitty Hawk, NC. Built by a team called The Wright Experience, they tried to fly the craft yesterday. It flew, but only for a second. The wind and the rain were not condusive for a flight demonstration.
Speaking of weather.....it was the main reason why Wilbur Wright chose Kitty Hawk for the site of the early flight tests. If I remember the story correctly.......When Wilbur was starting to design the airplane, he wrote to the National Weather Bureau, asking what the windiest places in the country were. Their response listed several places, and near the top of the list was Kitty Hawk, NC. He visited the site, and found that both the wind and terrain were very suitable for flight testing.
Now, I've never been to the Outer Banks. I heard it's a very nice place, especially in the summer. Maybe someday, I'll go there.
But in the meantime, even though the first flight was in North Carolina, the Wright Brothers called Dayton, OH their home, and continued their flight tests on the Huffman Prairie, which is now part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Before 9/11, I believe it was somewhat open to the public (after getting a special pass from the visitor center). Now, I don't know -- I haven't tried to go there since.
And I'm sure that North Carolina has many other things to claim for their history, besides "First In Flight".
(Card update: The Holiday cards were mailed this morning!)
Speaking of weather.....it was the main reason why Wilbur Wright chose Kitty Hawk for the site of the early flight tests. If I remember the story correctly.......When Wilbur was starting to design the airplane, he wrote to the National Weather Bureau, asking what the windiest places in the country were. Their response listed several places, and near the top of the list was Kitty Hawk, NC. He visited the site, and found that both the wind and terrain were very suitable for flight testing.
Now, I've never been to the Outer Banks. I heard it's a very nice place, especially in the summer. Maybe someday, I'll go there.
But in the meantime, even though the first flight was in North Carolina, the Wright Brothers called Dayton, OH their home, and continued their flight tests on the Huffman Prairie, which is now part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Before 9/11, I believe it was somewhat open to the public (after getting a special pass from the visitor center). Now, I don't know -- I haven't tried to go there since.
And I'm sure that North Carolina has many other things to claim for their history, besides "First In Flight".
(Card update: The Holiday cards were mailed this morning!)
