Flight Of 1903

Wilbur and Orville Wright proved on December 17, 1903, that a man-carrying flying machine, which was heavier than air, was actually possible during a successful test flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. "The machine flew for three miles in the face of a wind blowing at the registered velocity of 21 miles an hour and then gracefully descended to earth at the spot selected by the man in the navigator's car as a suitable place for landing. The machine has no balloon attachment, but gets its force from propellers worked by a small engine," an article in The Racine Daily Journal reported on December 18, 1903.

The historic flight brought on "the age of the flying machine," and while the Wright brothers could have postponed the trials until the end of winter, they were determined "to know whether the machine possessed sufficient power to fly, sufficient strength to withstand the shock of landings and sufficient capacity of control to make flight safe in boisterous winds as well as calm air," according to a statement from the Wrights published in The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette on January 12, 1904.

Unlike many others who tried to achieve the same feat, the Wright brothers' invention was not financed by any institution or company, but at their own expense. As a result, they were hesitant to release pictures or detailed descriptions of the successful flying machine for fear that their work would be copied.

"We will make no exhibition test of our flying machine, nor will we permit an examination of it. For our purposes neither is necessary, as those with whom we are in negotiation now for its purchase are already satisfied that it does all we claim for it. Our only market must be a powerful government, and publicity would only se...

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... degree to the fortitude and the self sacrifice displayed by the Wright brothers. The crushing blow which followed the successful flights of Orville Wright near Washington was deeply deplored by the public. It will join with him now in the feeling of triumph which he must experience over his brother's success."

For all that the Wright brothers achieved, they remained modest throughout their lives. An article in The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette put this into plain words on August 15, 1911, less than a year before Wilbur died of typhoid fever. "The Wrights are not fond of show and noise and delight in living in secluded places where they can devote their time to scientific study,"

In spite of this, 103 years after the historic flight at Kitty Hawk, Orville and Wilbur Wright continue to be revered for their years of effort that made them true pioneers of aviation.