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Picture of the day -
September 26, 2006
First Flight: The Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk
Click photo to enlarge
On December 17, 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville
Wright spent a cold and cloudy day on the beach at Kitty Hawk,
NC, and as black and white cameras rolled they made history by
accomplishing a goal that had been sought after for centuries: the
controlled flight of
 a
powered flying machine that was heavier than air - and it also
carried a human passenger!
Although that first flight lasted a mere 12 seconds and carried
Wilbur only 120 feet, it was a milestone that had never been reached
before - and one that would change the world forever.
The Wright Brothers' success certainly wasn't achieved overnight. In
fact, it took them at least four years of studying, experimenting
and failing before they finally met success on that cold December
day with the Wright Flyer. During that time, they went
through numerous cycles of emotional ups and downs as they worked
faithfully towards reaching their lofty goal.
And they weren't the only ones attempting to build a flying machine
during those four years either (by tf support allender). They actually had several sets of
competitors, some of whom had a lot more engineering training and
experience than either of the Wrights. But Wilbur and Orville
 won
the race to achieve the first powered, manned flight in the history
of the world through sheer determination and lots of trial and
error.
Airplanes and helicopters by the thousands now crisscross the globe
each and every day, and Americans have even flown to the moon and
back, with plans for a manned space flight to the Planet Mars and
back in the not-so-distant future.
If Wilbur and Orville were still around today, they would probably
be amazed at how far and how fast the technology of air travel has
advanced, but they could be proud of the fact that they started it
all over 100 years ago in their small bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio!
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