For years we had plans to go to the Outer Banks to see Kitty Hawk. Yet every year there was some reason to bypass it. Either we were passing though when it was too cold or other attractions kept us inland. Finally in 2024 we made it.
The Wright Brothers chose Kitty Hawk for the test flights by reviewing US Weather Bureau data to find a spot with consistent wind. And it was windy when we were there. It also provided soft, sandy landing areas.
Their launch point, Kill Devils Hill was an approximately 90 foot tall natural sand dune.
They had been experimenting with flying machines in their Dayton OH Bicycle store and wrote to the Smithsonian in 1899 to procure any literature they had on flight. In 1900 and 1901 they worked in several prototypes based on the information they received. None of them perform the way they expected. Their conclusion was that “conventional wisdom” on manned flight was wrong.
This led them to build their own wind tunnel and develop their own data on flight characteristics. They refined their wing warping control, increased the wing span and added moveable, vertical tails. These changes finally gave them a glider that could be maneuvered in the air without immediately crashing.
To complete their prototype they still needed power. They built a small engine with just enough power for their plane and developed a propeller based on the principles they developed for their wings.
In 1903 on December 17, three days after the crash of their first attempt, Orville piloted their plane for 12 seconds and covering 120 feet. Subsequent flights that day brought them up to 59 seconds and almost 852 feet.
Now the average flight in the US is typical 2.5 hours and travels about 800 miles. Orville and Wilbur Wright have helped connect us all even though many of us live far from family and friends. Of course some might say that without them we also would not have the mess of air traffic, especially on holidays. I would argue it takes a bureaucrat or a politician to really mess things up.