A Cold Day in December
O
changes the world
n the wild and beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina, in the small town of Kill Devil Hills, is a high circular hill with a tall monument on top, the memorial to two brothers who, 108 years ago, dramatically changed forever the world we live in.
Wright Brothers Memorial
Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Especially here in Costa Rica, we take flying for granted, for didn’t we all arrive by ‘plane. Daily, thousands of jetliners and smaller commuter planes shuttle millions of passengers around the world. This vast and rapid movement of people was made possible by the persistent efforts of two bicycle experts from Ohio – the Wright Brothers.
In the early 1900s the North Carolina Outer Banks was a remote, barren, unattainable series of barrier islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It was chosen by the Wrights for their experiments in flight due to its lack of trees and its very predictable, strong and steady winds. The brothers, convinced that they could build a powered flying machine, settled there and built a workshop where they constructed a series of gliders. The gliders (photo above) were launched from the top of the huge sand dune on the coast, experiments in controllability of flight. After long years of trials, hardship, disappointments and accidents which destroyed several gliders but gave them knowledge of the control they needed, the brothers built a biplane, powered by two hand-made engines - the Wright Flyer. On a freezing December day, the aircraft, with Orville at the controls, roared along a rail, while Wilbur and helpers ran alongside holding the wings steady. Taking sluggishly to the air, the Flyer travelled 120 feet in 12 seconds, the first-ever powered flight (right). The next attempt, with Wilbur as pilot-in-command, covered 175 feet; then Orville upped that to 200 feet. (All three flights would fit comfortably within the fuselage of a Boeing jetliner). The fourth, and last, flight travelled 852 feet in 59 seconds. The Age of Flight had arrived, on December 17, 1903. Although all flights were made at Kill Devil Hills, the telegrams announcing the historic event were sent from the post office at nearby Kitty Hawk, which has ever since held the honour to be the site of the first flight. An inscription on the Wright Brothers Monument reads: “In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. Conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.”