Two Different Timelines: December 17, 1903, the Day the Wright Brothers Claimed They Made the First Powered Flight in History
At Kill Devil Hills, NC: December 17, 1903
Wind speed: 27 mph. Temperature with wind chill: near freezing
Timeline Number One
Timeline Number One
The Wright's Story
Of The Events of December. 17, 1903,
When They Claimed the First Powered, Heavier Than Air, Controlled,
Sustained, and Powered Flights in History
mile away. They will need help launching their machine. Three Life Savers show up: John Daniels, Adam Etheridge, and Willie Dough. Two other people passing by stop to help: a youth named Johnnie Moore and a "lumber dealer" named W. C. Brinkley.
They set up their machine on its rail, facing into the wind. The Wright arrange their glass plate camera on a tripod. Luckily, the near gale force wind doesn't shake or blow it over. Estimating the point at which the plane will take off from the rail, they focus the camera on that spot. Life Saver John Daniels is chosen to squeeze the bulb of the shutter, just as the plane passes in front of the camera.
10:35
After putting gasoline into the tank, Orville climbs onto the lower wing of the plane and lies prone. The engine is started, the plane is released, and starts to run down the track. The engine lifts the plane into the air for 12 seconds and moves it forward an estimated 120 feet. The plane hits the ground, cracks a skid, and breaks a lever..
Later, in a 1908 "Century magazine" article written by Orville Wright, he states that
The Wrights step inside their building to warm up before making another launch attempt. They quickly repair the damage to the plane.
11:20
The group carries the machine back to the beginning of the track. This time Wilbur mounts the plane. In the second "flight he is able to stay in the air for 13 seconds and travel 175 feet before he hits the ground. The plane is carried back again and the camera is set up for another picture.
11:40
Orville climbs on the plane. It is launched and this time remains in the air longer, 15 seconds. The plane travels forward 200 feet. See picture of third claimed "successful flight." (below)
The camera is then set up far to the left side of the track and pulled way back so that the next picture can include both the level track and the plane in the distance. The Wrights somehow guess in advance how far the plane will travel in its next flight.
Again, the machine is carried back to the beginning of the track. Wilbur lies prone on the plane this time and the engine is fired up again.
All of this is accomplished in an amazing 20 minutes, and by
12:00 noon
The machine is launched with Wilbur aboard. He manages to keep the plane in the air for 59 seconds and move forward 852 feet over the ground. Wilbur is traveling so low that he strikes a small hummock of sand when he over corrects the plane. The front elevator is damaged. The Wrights themselves calculate that with the wind speed and the speed of the plane, this flight is half a mile.
1. Orville-- estimated 120 feet (100 feet beyond the track)--12 seconds
Of The Events of December. 17, 1903,
When They Claimed the First Powered, Heavier Than Air, Controlled,
Sustained, and Powered Flights in History
Note: Timeline number one, as narrated in this blog post, is extracted from the documents and statements of Orville and Wilbur Wright. Together with the photographs depicted in this article, it is the official version of Wright historians.
10:00 am or thereabouts
The Wright brothers wake up on the morning of December 17, 1903, to a cold wind, strong enough to attempt a powered flight from level ground. The rail they need to take off from has been moved from the hill.after their December 14 attempt and set up about 200 feet from their camp.. They failed making a successful flight from the hill on the 14th.
The brothers put up their flag to signal their friends at the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station a
They set up their machine on its rail, facing into the wind. The Wright arrange their glass plate camera on a tripod. Luckily, the near gale force wind doesn't shake or blow it over. Estimating the point at which the plane will take off from the rail, they focus the camera on that spot. Life Saver John Daniels is chosen to squeeze the bulb of the shutter, just as the plane passes in front of the camera.
10:35
After putting gasoline into the tank, Orville climbs onto the lower wing of the plane and lies prone. The engine is started, the plane is released, and starts to run down the track. The engine lifts the plane into the air for 12 seconds and moves it forward an estimated 120 feet. The plane hits the ground, cracks a skid, and breaks a lever..
Later, in a 1908 "Century magazine" article written by Orville Wright, he states that
The first flight lasted only twelve seconds, a flight very modest compared with that of birds, but it was, nevertheless, the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in free flight, had sailed forward on a level course without reduction of speed, and had finally landed without being wrecked.http://www.libraries.wright.edu/community/outofthebox/2011/12/17/a-flight-very-modest-compared-with-that-of-birds/
The Wrights step inside their building to warm up before making another launch attempt. They quickly repair the damage to the plane.
11:20
The group carries the machine back to the beginning of the track. This time Wilbur mounts the plane. In the second "flight he is able to stay in the air for 13 seconds and travel 175 feet before he hits the ground. The plane is carried back again and the camera is set up for another picture.
11:40
Orville climbs on the plane. It is launched and this time remains in the air longer, 15 seconds. The plane travels forward 200 feet. See picture of third claimed "successful flight." (below)
 |
| Purported to be a photo of the third successful flight. |
The camera is then set up far to the left side of the track and pulled way back so that the next picture can include both the level track and the plane in the distance. The Wrights somehow guess in advance how far the plane will travel in its next flight.
Again, the machine is carried back to the beginning of the track. Wilbur lies prone on the plane this time and the engine is fired up again.
All of this is accomplished in an amazing 20 minutes, and by
12:00 noon
The machine is launched with Wilbur aboard. He manages to keep the plane in the air for 59 seconds and move forward 852 feet over the ground. Wilbur is traveling so low that he strikes a small hummock of sand when he over corrects the plane. The front elevator is damaged. The Wrights themselves calculate that with the wind speed and the speed of the plane, this flight is half a mile.
 |
| Claimed photo of Wilbur's last "flight"---852 feet |
1. Orville-- estimated 120 feet (100 feet beyond the track)--12 seconds
2. Wilbur--estimated 175 feet--13 seconds
3. Orville--estimated 200 feet--15 seconds
4. Wilbur --measured 852 feet--59 seconds
3. Orville--estimated 200 feet--15 seconds
4. Wilbur --measured 852 feet--59 seconds
After the final "flight," the Wrights haul their camera and tripod the more than 852 feet to the site where the last flight ends to take a picture of the plane and its broken elevator. See last photo in this article.
They plan another flight, but the wind picks up the machine, tumbles it over, and tears it to pieces, despite John Daniels' attempts to save it. He is caught and blown over with the machine, sustaining some injuries
The Wrights eat lunch and wash their dishes.
2:00 pm
The Wright brothers set off on foot to the telegraph office at Kitty Hawk, four miles away to send a telegram of their success to their father, the Bishop Milton Wright. It states:
The telegrapher Joe Dosher, asks the Wrights if he can spread the news. Despite the fact that the Wrights say absolutely not, the telegrapher(s) release the information to reporter(s) who then submit it to "Norfolk Virginian" newsmen The story appears on the front page of the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper It is made up of some facts, some fabrications.
They plan another flight, but the wind picks up the machine, tumbles it over, and tears it to pieces, despite John Daniels' attempts to save it. He is caught and blown over with the machine, sustaining some injuries
The Wrights eat lunch and wash their dishes.
2:00 pm
The Wright brothers set off on foot to the telegraph office at Kitty Hawk, four miles away to send a telegram of their success to their father, the Bishop Milton Wright. It states:
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| "Success four flights thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas" |
The telegrapher Joe Dosher, asks the Wrights if he can spread the news. Despite the fact that the Wrights say absolutely not, the telegrapher(s) release the information to reporter(s) who then submit it to "Norfolk Virginian" newsmen The story appears on the front page of the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper It is made up of some facts, some fabrications.
Timeline Number Two
What Happened at Kill Devil Hill, According to Primary
Source Documents, Witnesses, and Other References
It is highly recommended that the serious researcher carefully read the Saunders interview of witness John Daniels for Colliers magazine recounted in the book "The Published Writings of Wilbur and Orville Wright," edited by Peter L. Jakab and Rick Young, The Smithsonian Institution, year 2000, pp 274+
It may be surprising to the uninformed investigator that Wright historians deliberately leave out Daniels' statement in this interview that they pushed the plane up the hill for the "first flight" and back up the hill for the second and again to the hill for a third. but at that juncture, the wind picked up the machine and wrecked it. Daniels also states that he was supporting the wing of the plane up to take off. Thus, it would have been next to impossible for him to have taken the first flight picture, as Wrightists try to claim. Daniels took credit for the picture later, but said he didn't remember doing so.
Many of the references for this timeline can be retrieved from the previous essays on this blog truthinaviationhistory.blogspot.com. See the various posts titled "Pieces of the Wright Puzzle, What Really Happened..."; "Original Documents: What Really Happened...," and Harry Moore and How the Wrights' Tall Tales Came to Light." Now for the Timeline--the Corrected Version.
Many of the references for this timeline can be retrieved from the previous essays on this blog truthinaviationhistory.blogspot.com. See the various posts titled "Pieces of the Wright Puzzle, What Really Happened..."; "Original Documents: What Really Happened...," and Harry Moore and How the Wrights' Tall Tales Came to Light." Now for the Timeline--the Corrected Version.
10:00 AM or so
The Wrights raise their flag to signal the Life Savers at Kill Devil Hill Life Saving Station a mile away. There is a good wind that morning. They will attempt a powered flight with their 12 horsepower engine attached to their new 1903 machine. They will use the assistance of the wind and the gravity of Kill Devil Hill a quarter of a mile from their camp to launch their aircraft and to help propel it forward. Since the plane weighs over 600 pounds without its pilot they will need at least five men to haul the plane to the base of the hill and move it up the flank of the hill.
The Wrights raise their flag to signal the Life Savers at Kill Devil Hill Life Saving Station a mile away. There is a good wind that morning. They will attempt a powered flight with their 12 horsepower engine attached to their new 1903 machine. They will use the assistance of the wind and the gravity of Kill Devil Hill a quarter of a mile from their camp to launch their aircraft and to help propel it forward. Since the plane weighs over 600 pounds without its pilot they will need at least five men to haul the plane to the base of the hill and move it up the flank of the hill.
Life Savers John Daniels, Adam Etheridge and Willie Dough respond to the signal for help. and walk the mile from their station to the Wright camp. Two other passers by stop to help: an eighteen year old named Johnny Moore and a farmer named W. C. Brinkley, who is searching for driftwood that morning.
The track is already set up on the hill. It was set up for the December 14 flight attempt.
Witnesses don't mention the Wrights setting up a camera in their statements.
According to witnesses John Daniels and Adam Etheridge, they push the plane up the track on the big hill for the first flight. In his interview for Colliers magazine, John Daniels says that he supports the wing of the plane until it takes off.
The Wrights step aside to consult each other privately, then Orville climbs on the plane. The engine is started; the plane is launched. Wrights claim Orville "flies" for 12 seconds and is propelled forward 120 feet before he hits the ground, cracking the skids and breaking the lever for throwing off the engine.
About 10:40
After the first flight attempt, John Daniels and Willie Dough walk over to the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, a mile away, which would take about fifteen minutes. From here, they telephone Joe Dosher, who mans the telegraph in Kitty Hawk to send a telegram to Henry Moore, their friend and a cub reporter. They have secretly promised Moore, who lives in Norfolk, Virginia, that they will let him know right away if there is a powered flight.
At least one of the Wrights appears to have walked to Kill Devil Hills station to initiate a telegram by phone to the Wrights' sister Katherine. This is likely the telegram that was received by Alpheus Drinkwater in Currituck and relayed on about the first "flight." This telegram, according to Drinkwater, says, "Tell no one."
There is only one attempted "flight" that morning for the obvious reason that a number of people needed to launch the plane have left the camp.
A little after 11:00
Charles C. Grant, the telegraph operator in Norfolk, Virgina, receives the telegram from Daniels and Dough, addressed to Harry Moore. Charles Grant personally walks it over to Harry Moore's home in Norfolk.
In his later affidavit about the event, below, Grant states that the Life Savers said,
"Wrights made a short flight this morning and will try again this afternoon." (Full transcript at the end of this blog post.*)
11:40
With telegram in hand, Moore phones the Life Savers at the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station for details.
After 12 noon
Harry Moore writes up a story about the "first flight" to submit to the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper.
In the afternoon, the Wrights and the Life Savers haul the plane back up the hill and launch another flight, this time with Wilbur on board. The plane stays airborne, according to the Wrights, for 57-59 seconds and travels forward in a straight line for 852 feet. Wilbur hits a small hummock of sand, ending the flight/glide. He breaks the front elevator.
The crew hauls the Flyer back to the hill for another attempt. At this point, an unexpected gust of wind picks up the Flyer and tumbles it over and over. Daniels becomes tangled in the machine trying to save it and sustains some injuries. The plane is so damaged, no more attempts at flight are possible.
1:40 pm
Reporter Harry Moore delivers his scoop about the Wrights' "flight" to the "Norfolk Virginian" newsroom.
2:00 pm According to the Wrights, they set off for the town of Kitty Hawk where there is a telegraph office at the Life Saving and weather station. They will send a telegram to their father about their claimed successes at powered flight. Walking the four miles, we have to assume they arrive there about 3:00 pm. By this time Harry Moore has already delivered his story to the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper. According to the newsmen who were there, the story isn't taken seriously by Keville Glennan, and it's tossed into his waste basket.
3:00 pm The Wrights are at the Kitty Hawk telegraph office when Harry Moore phones that office for more information. Possibly Harry has heard of another "flight" besides the first one at 10:35. Joe Dosher, the telegraph operator, asks the Wrights if he can relay information to Harry. The Wrights say, absolutely not.
6:30 pm and after
Newsman Howard Dean comes into the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper office and reports that he has heard of the first flight attempt through the Norfolk weather bureau office. The weather bureau office is the only telegraph connection from Kitty Hawk and is the link to the commercial telegraph lines to the outside world. So the news of the telegram received by C. C. Grant to reporter Harry Moore is getting out.
At the urging of C. G. Kizer, who is in charge of the "Norfolk Virginian" news department, Keville Glennan retrieves the story written by Harry Moore from the waste basket under his desk. Working together with Harry Moore that evening, the newsmen compose the feature that is published on the front page of the Norfolk Virginian newspaper on December 18, 1903. The story includes some facts with some fabrications to pad it out. It takes the Wrights by surprise,and they soon release to the newspapers a story that they want to be the official one.
Summary: As is the case in much of the history of the Wright brothers, there are serious discrepancies in their version and the testimony of witnesses. If the version of events of December 17 narrated by various witnesses and participants is true, the Wrights did not make four controlled, sustained, powered flights the morning of December 17 from level ground. Most testimony backs up only two flights attempted, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both ended in unintended crashes, causing damage to the plane. They would not be considered sustained or even powered if they were launched from the hill. Perhaps they would be defined as powered glides.
William Tate, the Wrights' staunch and loyal friend, is quoted as saying the Wrights' flights were from level ground. That is merely hearsay, because Tate didn't witness the flight attempts. There are other statements by Outer Banks people that back up that the flights were from the hill.
As for the later statements that three of the witnesses pinpointed the spot where the flights were launched, they testified twenty five years later, and history states they had difficulty finding the spot because the landscape was rearranged by wind and weather. The big hill had moved 450 to 500 feet. It's a fact that sand dunes move, and the movement of the dunes on the barrier islands is continual, as the prevailing winds and weather shift the sands. http://www.ncnatural.com/Coast/dynamics.html At Kill Devil Hills, the National Park Service had to stabilize the shifting of the dunes by planting vegetation.
Although Wikipedia is not considered by serious investigators as a reliable reference, here is a link to this group that lists serious storms, such as hurricane and tropical storms that have affected and sometimes devastated the Outer Banks of North Carolina over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Carolina_hurricanes_%281900%E2%80%9349%29#1910s
The National Park Service believes and states on its web site that the flights were made from level ground less than one hundred feet from the Wright camp. In their first news release, the Wrights say it was 200 feet.
Regardless, if the flights had been made near the Wright camp from level ground, the approximate spot would have been easy to find and the shifting of the hill would have made little difference in locating the area. It would have been a simple matter of pinpointing the foundation of the camp and assessing the direction of the wind that day. Indeed, William Tate stated they were able to find the foundation of the camp, but on the "Wright Stories" site (a Wright biased web site), we have the following statement. "The task was not easy because the landscape had significantly changed since 1903." http://wrightstories.com/finding-the-location-of-the-first-flight-in-1928/
From the First Flight Foundation website:
Building the [Wright] monument was tasked to the Army Quartermaster Corps. The first task was to address a moving sand dune. Big Kill Devil Hill was stabilized with inches of straw, leaf, wood mold, and imported grasses of tannic, hairy vetch, and marram after being fenced to keep wild hogs and cattle out. This process began in 1929 at a cost of $27,500. By summer of 1930 the sand dune was a stable hill and construction began February 1931. Big Kill Devil Hill, 90 foot tall is 450 ft southwest of its location when the Wrights flew gliders from its slopes. http://firstflightfoundation.org/the-monument/
http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/wrbr/hrs/chapter2.pdf
Witnesses don't mention the Wrights setting up a camera in their statements.
According to witnesses John Daniels and Adam Etheridge, they push the plane up the track on the big hill for the first flight. In his interview for Colliers magazine, John Daniels says that he supports the wing of the plane until it takes off.
The Wrights step aside to consult each other privately, then Orville climbs on the plane. The engine is started; the plane is launched. Wrights claim Orville "flies" for 12 seconds and is propelled forward 120 feet before he hits the ground, cracking the skids and breaking the lever for throwing off the engine.
About 10:40
After the first flight attempt, John Daniels and Willie Dough walk over to the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station, a mile away, which would take about fifteen minutes. From here, they telephone Joe Dosher, who mans the telegraph in Kitty Hawk to send a telegram to Henry Moore, their friend and a cub reporter. They have secretly promised Moore, who lives in Norfolk, Virginia, that they will let him know right away if there is a powered flight.
At least one of the Wrights appears to have walked to Kill Devil Hills station to initiate a telegram by phone to the Wrights' sister Katherine. This is likely the telegram that was received by Alpheus Drinkwater in Currituck and relayed on about the first "flight." This telegram, according to Drinkwater, says, "Tell no one."
There is only one attempted "flight" that morning for the obvious reason that a number of people needed to launch the plane have left the camp.
A little after 11:00
Charles C. Grant, the telegraph operator in Norfolk, Virgina, receives the telegram from Daniels and Dough, addressed to Harry Moore. Charles Grant personally walks it over to Harry Moore's home in Norfolk.
In his later affidavit about the event, below, Grant states that the Life Savers said,
"Wrights made a short flight this morning and will try again this afternoon." (Full transcript at the end of this blog post.*)
 |
| Primary source document. Letter signed by telegrapher Charles C. Grant, who received the telegram from Life Savers John Daniels and Willie Dough the morning of Dec. 17, 1903, announcing Orville's attempt at powered flight. Transcript of this document is at the end of this article. * |
11:40
With telegram in hand, Moore phones the Life Savers at the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station for details.
"I got in touch with one of the Life Savers by telephone, and he told me that 'at last the nuts had flown. One of those fellows flew just like a bird. The two of them put gasoline in the engine in their contraption and after it glided down a hill on a wooden track, it went up. It was Orville that flew and he came down safely.'"--Harry P. Moore, reporterMoore's statement indicates that the Life Savers were back at their station, not launching more flights that morning, as the Wrights claim.
After 12 noon
Harry Moore writes up a story about the "first flight" to submit to the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper.
 | ||
| A page from Henry Moore's story about the Dec. 17 "flight" in his own handwriting. |
In the afternoon, the Wrights and the Life Savers haul the plane back up the hill and launch another flight, this time with Wilbur on board. The plane stays airborne, according to the Wrights, for 57-59 seconds and travels forward in a straight line for 852 feet. Wilbur hits a small hummock of sand, ending the flight/glide. He breaks the front elevator.
The crew hauls the Flyer back to the hill for another attempt. At this point, an unexpected gust of wind picks up the Flyer and tumbles it over and over. Daniels becomes tangled in the machine trying to save it and sustains some injuries. The plane is so damaged, no more attempts at flight are possible.
1:40 pm
Reporter Harry Moore delivers his scoop about the Wrights' "flight" to the "Norfolk Virginian" newsroom.
2:00 pm According to the Wrights, they set off for the town of Kitty Hawk where there is a telegraph office at the Life Saving and weather station. They will send a telegram to their father about their claimed successes at powered flight. Walking the four miles, we have to assume they arrive there about 3:00 pm. By this time Harry Moore has already delivered his story to the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper. According to the newsmen who were there, the story isn't taken seriously by Keville Glennan, and it's tossed into his waste basket.
3:00 pm The Wrights are at the Kitty Hawk telegraph office when Harry Moore phones that office for more information. Possibly Harry has heard of another "flight" besides the first one at 10:35. Joe Dosher, the telegraph operator, asks the Wrights if he can relay information to Harry. The Wrights say, absolutely not.
6:30 pm and after
Newsman Howard Dean comes into the "Norfolk Virginian" newspaper office and reports that he has heard of the first flight attempt through the Norfolk weather bureau office. The weather bureau office is the only telegraph connection from Kitty Hawk and is the link to the commercial telegraph lines to the outside world. So the news of the telegram received by C. C. Grant to reporter Harry Moore is getting out.
At the urging of C. G. Kizer, who is in charge of the "Norfolk Virginian" news department, Keville Glennan retrieves the story written by Harry Moore from the waste basket under his desk. Working together with Harry Moore that evening, the newsmen compose the feature that is published on the front page of the Norfolk Virginian newspaper on December 18, 1903. The story includes some facts with some fabrications to pad it out. It takes the Wrights by surprise,and they soon release to the newspapers a story that they want to be the official one.
Summary: As is the case in much of the history of the Wright brothers, there are serious discrepancies in their version and the testimony of witnesses. If the version of events of December 17 narrated by various witnesses and participants is true, the Wrights did not make four controlled, sustained, powered flights the morning of December 17 from level ground. Most testimony backs up only two flights attempted, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both ended in unintended crashes, causing damage to the plane. They would not be considered sustained or even powered if they were launched from the hill. Perhaps they would be defined as powered glides.
William Tate, the Wrights' staunch and loyal friend, is quoted as saying the Wrights' flights were from level ground. That is merely hearsay, because Tate didn't witness the flight attempts. There are other statements by Outer Banks people that back up that the flights were from the hill.
As for the later statements that three of the witnesses pinpointed the spot where the flights were launched, they testified twenty five years later, and history states they had difficulty finding the spot because the landscape was rearranged by wind and weather. The big hill had moved 450 to 500 feet. It's a fact that sand dunes move, and the movement of the dunes on the barrier islands is continual, as the prevailing winds and weather shift the sands. http://www.ncnatural.com/Coast/dynamics.html At Kill Devil Hills, the National Park Service had to stabilize the shifting of the dunes by planting vegetation.
Although Wikipedia is not considered by serious investigators as a reliable reference, here is a link to this group that lists serious storms, such as hurricane and tropical storms that have affected and sometimes devastated the Outer Banks of North Carolina over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_Carolina_hurricanes_%281900%E2%80%9349%29#1910s
The National Park Service believes and states on its web site that the flights were made from level ground less than one hundred feet from the Wright camp. In their first news release, the Wrights say it was 200 feet.
Regardless, if the flights had been made near the Wright camp from level ground, the approximate spot would have been easy to find and the shifting of the hill would have made little difference in locating the area. It would have been a simple matter of pinpointing the foundation of the camp and assessing the direction of the wind that day. Indeed, William Tate stated they were able to find the foundation of the camp, but on the "Wright Stories" site (a Wright biased web site), we have the following statement. "The task was not easy because the landscape had significantly changed since 1903." http://wrightstories.com/finding-the-location-of-the-first-flight-in-1928/
From the First Flight Foundation website:
Building the [Wright] monument was tasked to the Army Quartermaster Corps. The first task was to address a moving sand dune. Big Kill Devil Hill was stabilized with inches of straw, leaf, wood mold, and imported grasses of tannic, hairy vetch, and marram after being fenced to keep wild hogs and cattle out. This process began in 1929 at a cost of $27,500. By summer of 1930 the sand dune was a stable hill and construction began February 1931. Big Kill Devil Hill, 90 foot tall is 450 ft southwest of its location when the Wrights flew gliders from its slopes. http://firstflightfoundation.org/the-monument/
http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/wrbr/hrs/chapter2.pdf
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| The iconic picture of the first flight claimed to be taken by John Daniels.The photo is full of anomalies, including the perspective. |
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| Purported to be a photo of the third successful flight. |
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A distant view of the Wright machine submitted by Wright historians as Wilbur's 852 feet flight in 1903.
|
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| The Wrights supposedly carried their camera and tripod in the near freezing wind for 852 feet to the site where the last "flight" ended to record the damage to the elevator. * Transcript of C.C. Grant's affidavit. Grant was the telegrapher who received the telegram sent by Life Savers John Daniels and Willie Dough addressed to Harry Moore, reporter, the morning of December 17, 1903 Norfolk Va., April 11, 1929 I was bureau telegrapher at the Norfolk weather bureau, located on the top floor of the Citizens Bank of Norfolk, on December 17, 1903. Shortly after 11 a. m., a message came through on our wire government owned and controlled, from Kitty Hawk N.C. It was addressed to Harry P. Moore and it was signed Dough and Daniels. It stated that the "Wrights made a short flight this morning and will try again this afternoon." I delivered the message in person to Mr Moore at his home190 Charlotte street, opposite the Norfolk Academy. It was about 11.40 when I arrived. Very Truly C.C. Grant For Mr Harry Moore or any others who may be Concerned |
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