Wright Brothers Day

Today, December 17th, is Wright Brothers Day, which commemorates the first successful powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, NC. The flight of the Wright Flyer forever changed transportation, was the fruition of years of work and the tremendous ingenuity of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

A Wright Brothers glider - predecessor to thw Wright Flyer

The Wright brothers actually made four flights that day. They tossed a coin to see who would go first, and Wilbur won the toss. Unfortunately, his attempt didn’t get off the ground, so it was Orville that, on the next attempt, piloted the first flight. They continued to take turns, and on the fourth flight, Wilbur flew the longest of the day, a 59-second flight that covered 852 feet. Unfortunately, after the fourth flight a strong gust of wind flipped the plane, severely damaging it. They plane was crated up and sent back to their home in Dayton, Ohio, never to fly again. It was eventually restored and donated to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in 1948, where it became a centerpiece exhibit.

On their return to Dayton, they continued to improve and refine their design. The Wright Flyer II incorporated several design changes as did the Wright Flyer III. The latter was a two seater with a top speed of 35 mph and a range of 40 miles - a vast improvement over the earlier versions. By 1909, their plane was able to remain aloft for more than an hour, carry two people and achieve an average speed of 40 mph.

The Wright Flyer III

The Wright Flyer III at an exhibition in France

Today, the brothers’ legacy is honored by the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, which preserves the site of their first flight, as well as the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in Dayton, which does a great job chronicling their lives and achievements. In years past, we’ve visited both, and found them to be fascinating. You can check out our blogs on each here and here, as well as a tribute to the genius of the Wright brothers here.

Wright Brothers Day was first designated a national observation day by President Eisenhower in 1959, and made permanent by Congress in 1963. Today it is celebrated at both locations with bands, speeches and Air Force flyovers.

Wilbur died at the young age of 45 in May, 1912, of typhoid fever. Orville died at age 76 on January 30, 1948, over 35 years after his brother, following his second heart attack. Over the course of their lives, they were conferred a number of awards and honors, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Legion of Honor by the French government, the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of the Arts in Great Britain, and numerous honorary doctorates from universities around the world. Two different postage stamps were also made in their honor. Not bad for two high school dropouts who started out as proprietors of a bicycle shop.

See you next time…