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Take Off for the Centennial
of the First Flight at Kitty Hawk
By Murray D. Laurie
It may have slipped your mind while you were standing
in long lines at the airport, grumbling about luggage scanners, hour-long
delays, and mediocre snacks, but we are about to celebrate the centennial of
the first manned flight by Orville Wright on a windy day in December of 1903
on the desolate Outer Banks of North Carolina.
You may want to fit in a visit to the Wright Brothers
National Memorial at Kitty Hawk some time next year when there will be a
continuous lineup of events to commemorate the First Flight. You won’t have
to camp out in a tent or a wooden shed as Orville and brother Wilbur did, or
carry all your food in with you and cook it on a jury-rigged stove. There
are now luxurious hotels and beach cottages and a galaxy of splendid
restaurants, as well as all the amenities of a first-rate island vacation
spot.
 When you get to
Kitty Hawk, visit the Memorial Park and climb to the top of Big Kill Devil
Hill where the Wrights launched hundreds of glider flights over a period of
several years while they worked out the dynamics of flight in a series of
wood and canvas air craft that appear as fragile as the bleached skeleton of
birds. A gray granite monument shaped like an immense wing crowns the ridge
of the 90-foot-high sand hill, high enough to catch the constant winds that
blow across the narrow island.
 However,
the First Flight, the first time man flew a powered aircraft that performed
with precision and control, took place on the level ground at the foot of
the hill, landing just 120 feet from the point of lift-off.
 A granite stone
marks the exact spot where flight number one landed. Stones marked 2,
3 and 4, indicating the length of the other three landing that same day,
make a dotted line across the once sandy ground, now covered with grass. The
National Park Service Rangers like Darrell Collins who staff the Wright
Memorial hold their audiences spellbound as they recreate the events of
December 17, 1903, which were recorded by a single dramatic photographic
image clearly showing Orville lifted above the ground and Wilbur running
alongside.
During the year-long celebration of the First Flight
there will be kite flying contests, glider demonstrations, bicycle races,
balloon ascensions, experimental aircraft shows, air races, and gatherings
of women pilots, military and general aviation contingents, pioneers of
aviation, the Tuskegee Airmen, and all manner of the flying fraternity. If
you have ever had a personal connection to aviation, whether in the military
or the private realm, there is sure to be something going on that you will
want to be a part of. Using a replica of the bi-plane the Wright brothers
flew, the First Flight will be recreated on December 17, 2003, a short hop
with a long future.
Powered flight soon became an international reality,
but the celebration of the First Flight of the Wright Brothers in Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina, has a joyous All-American flavor. Orville and Wilbur
grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where they established the Wright Cycle Company.
The two bicycle repair men, who never bothered with a high school diploma or
an engineering degree, seem to be the embodiment of the hands-on, practical,
matter-of-fact American inventor, with a bit of the dare-devil and the
determined dreamer thrown in.
The Wrights chose Kitty Hawk for their flying
experiments because it had steady winds, soft sand hills for launching and
landing gliders, and because they could work undisturbed by crowds of
gawkers. The Outer Banks of North Carolinas, called the Graveyard of the
Atlantic, were largely deserted in 1903 except for a few fishermen and the
crews of the lifesaving service who were stationed on the coast to rescue
seamen who ran afoul of storms or other offshore dangers.
No longer a remote sand spit, the Outer Banks are now
linked to the mainland by bridges and ferries. Visitors who want to feel the
thrill of flight should try hang-gliding from Jockey’s Ridge a few miles
south of Kill Devil Hill, a sport that is open to all ages. To sense what
the Banks might have been like a century ago, take time to explore the
nature preserves from Currituck to Ocracoke that protect the dunes and local
flora and fauna from the vigorous development that seems to come to all
beautiful beaches.
Next time you fly, as you buckle your seat-belt, listen
to the safety precautions before take-off, and relax as you watch the
on-board movie, take a moment to salute Wilbur and Orville Wright who
launched the first successful manned flight one hundred years ago on a cold
day in December, wind whipping, sand flying, and hearts full of confidence.
To find out more about the events of the Centennial of
the First Flight and the features of the Outer Banks, go to the website of
the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau,
www.outerbanks.org .
PHOTOS:
1. Wright Memorial…by Murray Laurie
2. First Flight, photo courtesy of the Outer Banks
Visitors Bureau
3. Ranger Darrell Collins…. by Murray Laurie
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