By Cara Beth Lewis
North Carolina… First in Flight, thanks to the Wright brothers. On December 17th of each year, the Wright Brothers are celebrated nationally, thanks to a Presidential Proclamation marking this day as “National Wright Brothers Day.”
“Wilbur and Orville Wright were American inventors and pioneers of aviation. In 1903 the Wright brothers achieved the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane flight; they surpassed their own milestone two years later when they built and flew the first fully practical airplane,” according to History.com.
Interestingly enough, neither Orville or Wilbur Wright attended college. However, their younger sister Katherine did. Wilbur was very intelligent and had plans to attend Yale University, but his plans were derailed when he underwent a hockey injury that sent him into a depression, greatly affecting his academic career, and resulting in not completing high school and never attending college like he had planned.
The brothers had many interests, and they had a tendency to work together. In 1889, they started their own newspaper called “West Side News.” The brothers also had a great interest in bicycles, which were rapidly gaining popularity, so they opened a bike shop together, too. There, they designed and created their own bicycles.
According to History.com, “Always working on different mechanical projects and keeping up with scientific research, the Wright brothers closely followed the research of German aviator Otto Lilienthal. When Lilienthal died in a glider crash, the brothers decided to start their own experiments with flight. Determined to develop their own successful design, Wilbur and Orville headed to Kitty Hawk, NC, known for its strong winds.”
After much observation and research, the Wright Brothers finally came up with the “magic formula” for flight on December 17th, 1903. For 59 seconds, covering just over 850 feet, Wilbur flew the first free-controlled flight of a power-driven, heavier-than-air plane.
Although many were reluctant to believe the brothers’ extraordinary claims, eventually they found a more accepting audience in Europe, where they sold their airplanes until they returned to the US in 1909. They became wealthy, successful businessmen as a team in both the United States and Europe.
Thanks to the Wright Brothers, North Carolina was “First in Flight.”
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