The birth of flight in North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - As we prepare to celebrate 250 years as one of the greatest countries on earth, we’re also just around the corner from another significant milestone in United States history.

Take a step back in time with no internet, no A.I., and no air traffic controllers. Just two brothers— inspired since preteens in the 1800s to take flight.

The Ohio natives, Wilbur and Orville Wright, were fascinated with air travel from a young age. They would take up careers in bicycle sales and repairs, and experience success— but there was still that desire to fly the friendly skies.

In 1903, they would change the trajectory of traveling.

“December 17 was the culmination of several years worth of research, of testing, of experimenting, and it came together for four flights that day”, Rachel McManimen with the Sullivan Aviation Museum said.

It took years of trial and error; the brothers’ journey to flight was not overnight, and may not have happened at all if it weren’t for a tiny community on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and some guidance from a mentor and fellow aviation pioneer, Octave Chenute.

“Coupled with the advice from Chanute for sand, water, and wide open space, they saw Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on there. Chenute also recommended somewhere along the Eastern Coast of the United States”, McManimen said.

With a small population of less than 4,000 people today, what Kitty Hawk lacked in size, they never lacked in heart.

From day one, Wilbur Wright showed up on the postmaster’s front porch, that family gave Wilbur food and shelter until Orville arrived.

The local community helped them source supplies, they helped them build their hangar, the U.S. Lifesaving Station at Kitty Hawk served as the first ground crew the morning of December 17th, 1903."

Travelling from Dayton, Ohio, almost 700 miles to the Outer Banks, the first sustained, controlled, powered flight would ignite the fire in other aviation enthusiasts.

The Wright’s first flight was 12 seconds.

Today, there are nearly 29 million flight hours recorded each year.

“When you think about the first flight happening in 1903 and thinking about where we are in 2025 with the technology in the aviation airspace industry, it is fascinating how quickly we have evolved from such small and humble beginnings on the coast of Kitty Hawk”, McManimen said.