A Day With The Wright Brothers

So here we were in Alligator River Marina with what appeared to be several days of high winds ahead of us. What to do... what to do?

We had already decided to rent a car if/when we were across the "Big Waters" so we decided to do it before  we crossed instead. Our main idea was to go to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and more specifically to the location of the Wright Brothers first flight, Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk.

Having had a private and commercial pilot's license years ago, this was like going to the "home office" for further training on the theory of flight. We were happily accompanied by Hampton and Connie from Snark.

As most people know the Wright brothers...

 were from Dayton, Ohio where they owned and operated a successful bicycle shop. Underneath it all though they were very curious about the  mysteries of flight and being mechanics/engineers helped them sort out many of the ideas that they had. First they learned to fly gliders and how to manipulate and control them. Then they took on motorized flight.

The museum at Kill Devil Hills is first rate. Through films, lectures, and photographs their story is told. Inside the museum there is a full size model of the glider they built and flew.

Next to it is a model of the airplane they flew.

That flight took place on December 17, 1903. Actually they flew the plane 4 times that day. Orville got to fly first. Some say he won a coin toss; others say he drew the long straw. I'm guessing it was rock-paper-scissors, best two out of three. Either way Orville flew for 12 seconds covering 120'.
They had a camera set up with a friend who had never taken a picture before at the control. He was so excited that when the flight ended, he could not remember if he took the picture or not. He did!

The second flight was Wilbur's. He went 175' in 12 seconds.
Orville went again and covered 200' in 15 seconds followed by Wilbur and the fourth flight of 852' lasting 59 seconds.

The museum has recreated the whole event very nicely. The separate hangar and living quarters buildings have been reconstructed and placed on site.

The wooden starting track is set up and acted as a directional guide prior to take off. The plane itself sat on a dolly with wheels that rolled down the track as the plane gained speed.

Each flight distance is designated by a granite monument on the site.

The last one is a little hard to see in a photograph being so much further than the rest.

There is a huge monument to the Wright Brothers and the whole occasion on the top of Kill Devil Hill.

The view of the valley below and the site of the first flight is spectacular. The area was selected by the Wright brothers because of the prevailing wind direction and the "soft" sand which was to cushion the plane when it landed [without wheels].

The monument includes bronze busts of each brother, one pictured here with Debi.

The museum has some great displays...

and beautiful murals of this important event.

One of the most important statistics noted was that it took only 66 years to go from first flight to walking on the moon!

Nautical Word For The Day:

Airfoil:

1. A shape of material such as a blade, wing, or sail over which air is forced to flow faster on one side than the other causing lift.

From Great Loop Jargon:

2. Thank you Wilbur and Orville!