Home > The First Flight in North Carolina

By: Fleur Paipa

The “Tarheel State” of North Carolina has an unusual boast. The state is home to the very first airplane flight, made on the sandy hills of the tiny town of Kitty Hawk on the chain of Barrier Islands known as the Outer Banks. Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright may have lived in Ohio, but they took their flying contraption south in hopes of making it fly!

The Wright brothers owned a bicycle shop in the town of Dayton, Ohio when the notion struck them to develop a flying machine. After a great many designs and problems, the duo completed their famous “Wright Flyer” using wood, metal, and canvas stretched across the wings. In order to fly the plane, the pilot must lay flat on his stomach to steer the controls.

Building a newfangled flying contraption was quite strenuous and time consuming, taking the Wright brothers from approximately 1899 until 1903 to figure out the proper aerodynamics necessary to create an airplane. Even after their historic flight, the brothers kept working on the design until 1905, when the pair created the first practical airplane. Building these monsters was certainly a family affair, as the Wright sister helped the boys sew and stretch the canvas across the wing’s fame.

The Wright brothers visited Kitty hawk many times before they actually completed their flying machine. They went to the North Carolina coast and tested gliders to get a better idea of aerodynamics. Finally, they left for Kitty Hawk in Spetember 1903 to take their first test flight. They have now become well versed in local topography and often used the services of local people to help them in towing and maintaining the flying machine.

The 1903 version of the Wright Flyer was much heavier than the previous planes. It was 125 pounds heavier than the brothers intended and they had to build a 15-foot launching rail to help propel the plane skyward. People called it the "Grand Junction Railroad".

The brothers had to often abandon their daily tests because of the stormy weather in the late fall and early winter in 1903. They sometimes wondered whether they would be able to accomplish this massive feat this year as they intended. However the North Carolina weather cooperated with them at last and they successfully made their tests and their subsequent flight into the history books.

Finally on 17th December 1903 the brothers were succesful in realising their long cherished goal. After doing a toss to decide on who would pilot the airplane, Orville got into the machine to fly off at 10.35 am. Inspite of cold weather the fight was successful and lasted for 12 seconds. The plane travelled a mere 120 feet but it was enough to put the brothers and their flying machine into history books for eternity.

The brothers made three more flights after their maiden flight. Wilbur took credit for the longest flight, he flew for 59 minutes and covered 852 feet. The State of Carolina witnessed this historic feet on a cold December day. A monument was constructed on top of a hill called Devil Hill, North Carolina to honor this miraculous feet of engineering and the willpower of man.