Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA
(Wright Brothers / Library of Congress)
In December 1903, the Wright brothers changed the nature of human movement forever with a powered flight over the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Prior to that, Orville and Wilbur had carried out hundreds upon hundreds – close to a thousand – of unpowered flights in gliders, such as this one, piloted by Wilbur.
Perhaps their most significant innovation was the control system the brothers developed to allow a flying machine to be steered; the lack of such controls had been partially responsible for the deaths of other flight innovators.
‘Everybody is out of camp today but Will and myself. We went to the beach a number of times and have collected a whole bucketful of starfish besides a lot of shells and a couple of king crabs which we will bring home. Day before yesterday we had a wind of sixteen meters per second or about thirty miles per hour, and glided in it without any trouble. That was the highest wind a gliding machine was ever in, so that we now hold all the records! The largest machine, the longest time in the air, the smallest angle of descent and the highest wind!!! Well, I’ll leave the rest of this “blow” till we get home.’
Orville Wright to his sister, Kitty Hawk, October 28, 1902
