"THE DISTANCE COVERED WAS LESS THAN THE WINGSPAN OF A 747 JUMBO JET"

WRIGHT BROS ARE FIRST IN FLIGHT

Kitty Hawk, NC (JFK+50) On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright** made the first successful flight of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft here at Kitty Hawk*.

The aircraft, which began its flight at 10:35 a.m., was launched down a single track and after lifting off the ground traveled at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour. The first flight covered 120 feet and lasted 12 seconds.  Five eye witnesses were on hand to observe the historic event.

The plane's 12 horsepower internal combustion engine was manufactured at the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop in Dayton, Ohio and transported along with pieces of the aircraft to Kitty Hawk in the fall of 1903.

According to Eyewitness to History..."The distance covered...was less than the wingspan of a modern 747 Jumbo Jet."

At 11:20 a.m., a 2nd flight was made at 10 feet above the ground and a distance of 175 feet.  The 3rd and final flight of the day came at 11:40 a.m. Wilbur Wright*** flew 812 feet in 59 seconds.  The original Wright Flyer is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

*Kitty Hawk is part of the Outer Banks of NC.  The flights of the Wright Brothers took place 4 miles South at Kill Devil Hills.  The site was selected because of frequent winds & soft sands.  The town was incorporated in 1981.

**Orville Wright (1871-1948) & ***Wilbur Wright (1867-1912).  Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio and Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana.  The brothers opened a bicycle repair shop in 1892 and later began building their own bikes.  They went to Kitty Hawk in 1900 to experiment in manned gliding and there on Dec. 14, 1903, Wilbur's attempt to fly a motorized, propeller-driven aircraft failed.  3 days later, the brothers succeeded.

SOURCES

"This Day in History:  December 17," www.history.com

www.eyewitnesstohistory/

www.wrightbrothers.info/

The Wright Flyer

Air & Space Museum

Photo by RadioFan (2008)

FIRST FLIGHT AT KITTY HAWK

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1800

ORVILLE WRIGHT PILOTS FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (JFK+50) On the morning of December 17, 1903, 112 years ago today, Orville Wright* made the first successful flight of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft here at Kitty Hawk.

The aircraft, which began its flight at 10:35 a.m., was launched down a single track and after lifting off the ground traveled at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour. The first flight covered 120 feet and lasted 12 seconds.  Five eye witnesses were on hand to observe the historic event.

The 12 horsepower internal combustion engine had been manufactured at the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop in Dayton, Ohio and transported along with pieces of the aircraft to Kitty Hawk in the fall of 1903.

According to Eyewitness to History..."The distance covered...was less than the wingspan of a modern 747 Jumbo Jet."

At 11:20 a.m., a 2nd flight was made at 10 feet above the ground and a distance of 175 feet.  The 3rd and final flight of the day came at 11:40 a.m. Wilbur Wright** flew 812 feet in 59 seconds.

The original Wright Flyer is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

*Orville Wright (1871-1948) and **Wilbur Wright (1867-1912).  Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio and Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana.  The brothers opened a bicycle repair shop in 1892 and later began building their own bikes.

They went to Kitty Hawk in 1900 to experiment in manned gliding and there on Dec. 14, 1903, Wilbur's attempt to fly a motorized, propeller-driven aircraft failed.  3 days later, the brothers succeeded.

"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to...pursue intellectual interests;  to investigate what ever aroused curiosity."     

Orville Wright

SOURCES

"This Day in History:  December 17," www.history.com

www.eyewitnesstohistory/

www.wrightbrothers.info/

The Wright Flyer

Air & Space Museum

Photo by RadioFan (2008)

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS

DAVID McCULLOUGH'S LATEST BOOK RELEASED  

New York City (JFK+50) Eighty-one year old acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning historian David McCullogh's latest book, titled "The Wright Brothers," was released last week according to an article by AP's Hillel Italie.

Mr. McCullough covers the brothers' childhood in Ohio, their bicycle shop and the history-making flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.  

In the book, most readers will learn things they never knew about the pioneers of flight.  One of these is the fact that Wilbur Wright* was sent into a severe depression as a teenager after being hit in the head by a hockey stick. 

Wilbur overcame the depression by becoming an "intense reader," and the experience "brought him closer" to his brother, Orville Wright**.

Italie's article tells us that the identity of the boy who wielded that hockey stick had not been brought out in earlier biographies.  McCullough's research led him to the diaries of the brothers' father which contained the "notorious" boy's identity.

David McCullough sees the lives of the Wright Brothers as filled with "failures and humiliations" but their "persistence" in their dream of flight finally led to success.

*Orville Wright (1871-1948)**Wilbur Wright (1867-1912).  Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio and Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana.  The brothers opened a bicycle repair shop in 1892 and later began building their own bikes.

They went to Kitty Hawk in 1900 to experiment in manned gliding and there on Dec. 14, 1903, Wilbur's attempt to fly a motorized, propeller-driven aircraft failed.

Three days later, the brothers succeeded in making the first manned flight and followed it with two more on the same day.

Wright Brothers

Long Island, NY

October 1910

by Cole and Company

Library of Congress Image

"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to...pursue intellectual interests;  to investigate what ever aroused curiosity."         

                                                       

                                                  Orville Wright

SOURCES

"The Wright Brothers: New McCullough book celebrates the famous brothers," by Hillel Italie, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C., May 11, 2015.

www.wrightbrothers.info/