The First Flight - Thursday, December 17, 1903
The History: With the wind blowing at 20-25 miles/hour Orville and Wilbur, both wearing business suits, prepared the machine for flying. They sent a signal to the life saving station. Adam Etheridge, John Daniels, Will Dough, W. C. Brinkley and Johnny Moore came to help the brothers. Orville set up a camera.
At 10:35 AM Orville laid on the machine for the first flight of the day. The machine began to move 7-8 miles/hour and rose into the air. John Daniels snapped the photo just as the Flyer lifted off the rails.
The First Flight - December 17, 1903 10:35AM |
Orville noted that he had difficulty controlling the front rudder. The machine would leap up and then down, up and down. The flight ended 12 seconds later and the machine had traveled about 120 feet.
The skid under the rudder cracked and a lever controlling the engine broke. They spend about 20 minutes making repairs and at 11AM, Wilbur attempted the second flight. Wilbur was successful too, traveling about 175 feet. The men from the life saving station helped carry the machine back and at 11:40AM, Orville made the third flight and traveled about 175 feet. At noon, Wilbur made the fourth and final flight. The machine pitched up and down again, but Wilbur controlled it well. He traveled 852 feet in 59 seconds, but the front rudder was badly damaged.
They removed the rudder and brought the machine back to the campsite. They began discussing the last flight when a gust of wind caught the machine and began turning it over. The men rushed to try and hold the machine down. John Daniels was caught in the middle by the engine as the machine rolled over the men. The machine was badly damaged, but no one was hurt.
After dinner the Wrights went to Kitty Hawk, sent a telegram to their father and paid visits to captain and Mrs. Hobbs, Dr. Cogswell and the men at the Kitty Hawk Life Saving station.
Telegram From Orville To Bishop Milton Wright |
Later in the day their sister, Katherine, telegramed Octave Chanute to tell him the news:
Chante telegramed back that same evening. "I am deeply grateful to you for your telegram of this date advising me of the first successful flights of your brothers. It fills me with pleasure. I am sorely tempted to make the achievement public, but will defer doing so in order that they may be the first to announce their success. I earnestly hope that they will do still better."
Quotation from the book The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Volume 1 by M. McFarland.
There was no fanfare, celebration, screaming, shouting or jumping for joy. The Wrights were pleased they had accomplished what they intended on doing. The men from the life saving station did not realize that they had witnessed a historical event.
