The History: Today, Wilbur wrote his father and described life in Kitty Hawk and the status of his gliding machine.

Wilbur tells his father he is staying with the William "Bill" Tate family in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Tate acts as the postmaster, notary public and county commissioner.

Tate's house is one of the best in the area. Yet by Dayton, Ohio standards it is sparse. There is little furniture, rough exterior siding, the house is unpainted, no carpets on the floors or plaster on the walls. However, he finds the people friendly and does not feel the people in this area suffer in spite of these conditions.

Wilbur doubts that a resident's yearly income is $200. Most of the income is earned through fishing, The fishing season in Kitty Hawk is a 3-month period beginning in October.

The gliding machine is almost finished. Wilbur promises his father he will be careful and conveys that he is experimenting to learn and not for any potential financial profit. He does not believe he will solve the problem of flight. Wilbur thinks of this trip to Kitty Hawk as a vacation and will not be upset if his experiments are unsuccessful.

He describes the machine to his father. It will not have a motor. His goal is to learn how to maintain equilibrium [balance, control] of the machine. He will fly the machine just a few feet from the ground and if it does fall it will hit the soft sand.

Wilbur has built the machine with sturdy, strong construction techniques which will support 5 times his weight.

Milton Wright, Orville and Wilbur Wright's father was a minister and later bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The Wrights respected Sunday as the Sabbath and did not work, although reading and letter writing was allowed. Subsequently, we often observe longer letters written by the Wrights on Sundays.