Wright Brothers' First Attempt at Powered Flight

On December 14, 1903, near Kill Devils Hill and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina,Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first successful attempt at flying a heavier-than-air powered aircraft, the Wright Flyer I. The Smithsonian Institute called it "the first powered heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard."*

The Wright Brothers had shipped their flyer disassembled from Ohio to North Carolina. While they readied the plane, they practiced flying with a glider. On December 14, with the help of some men from the nearby life-saving station, they moved the Wright Flyer and its launching rail to a nearby sand dune. The brothers tossed a coin to determine who would pilot the craft first, and Wilbur won. 

The plane left the rail, but Wilbur pulled up too sharply, the plane stalled, and it came down in about three seconds, sustaining minor damage. After three days to repair the plane, the brothers made four other tries on December 17, but these also ended in a bumpy, uncontrolled landing. However, the last flight went 852 feet and stayed aloft for 59 seconds, more successful than any others. It showed that such a plane could stay in the air and that the Wright Brothers patience and persistence had paid off.

*Information from Wright Flyer exhibit at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D,C.

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