Flight at Kitty Hawk December

¶ … flight at Kitty Hawk

December 17, 1903, is the day when Orville Wright, the pioneer of aviation, first piloted an aircraft. The airplane rose twenty feet above the ground, lasted for 12 seconds, and returned to the ground after 120 feet. This was a historical moment for the Wright brothers, for aviation, and for mankind as a whole, considering the fact that it provided humanity with the ability to seriously expand the limits of its dreams. The actual flight was the final product of a series of projects and studies that the two brothers had performed previous to December 17 and it embodied the fruit of their hard work.

The term passion perfectly describes how Orville and Wilbur Wright felt in regard to flying. Their determination to create a powered aircraft that would be heavier than air and that would fly for a longer period of time had no limits, considering the resources that they invested in the progression. In an attempt to find out more regarding the solutions that he had to his dilemma Wilbur Wright wrote to Octave Chanute, an aviation author that was recognized for his involvement in manned, powered flight. "In fact, Wilbur not only told the engineer that he expected to spend a lot of money experimenting, but that he also expected to lose his life in the process" (Dixon-Engel & Jackson 39). The aviation pioneer was well acquainted with the fact that it was very likely for him to suffer greatly as a result of falling with his machine. As a consequence, Chanute instructed Wilbur to choose a place that only contained water and sand, so as for the person flying the aircraft to risk as little as possible when landing. Considering Chanute's advice, Wilbur found the beach at Kitty Hawk and believed that it would provide them with the perfect place to test their plane.

The two brothers did not see their obsession with flight as something that would bring great profits and they actually compared it with a hobby. One of the reasons for which they were hesitant about 'going big' with their plan was the fact that they did not want other individuals to take over their business. They were well aware that dealing with investors would mean that they would come across a series of restrictions imposed by these individuals. Furthermore, they were certain that they had access to enough resources to reach the goal that they initially set.

Kitty Hawk provided the Wright Brothers with the perfect place for their tests, as it was the closest suitable location for flying an experimental plane and as its beaches contained winds that were strong enough to lift the plane off the ground. The two brothers were particularly nervous about testing their Flyer in December and they chose the fourteenth day of the month as the day that they would do so. They knew that the weather would worsen consequent to that day and were reluctant to wait until spring to be advantaged by calmer weathers. Orville and Wilbur wanted their event to be public and hence pretended to be in need of assistance from lifeguards who were in charge of the beach. They put across their intentions when the lifesavers arrived and they influenced them in becoming the witnesses of the first manned power flight in the history of humanity. These individuals were actually enthusiastic about taking part in this event and assisted the brothers in taking the plane in the location where it needed to be placed in order to be able to take off. They all placed the plane on top of the largest dune that they found on the beach and hoped for the best. They immediately started the plane when everything was in order and they practically terrified everyone standing near it at the time. "The boys and the dog who had come to watch ran away in fright" (Tucker 21). The two brothers were uncertain in regard to which of them would fly the plane and tossed a coin with the purpose of letting fate decide. In spite of the fact that the plane crashed, the brothers were fueled by how it behaved and they were certain that it would not be long before they could actually send a manned, powered aircraft, into the air.

The two brothers returned to the beach two days consequent to their failure and this time Orville operated the machine. They called the lifesavers with the purpose of having witnesses to their invention and they started to make all the preparations that they needed. It was much colder than it was two days before and the wind was particularly strong, these two factors being especially disturbing for the brothers, as they were afraid that it would impede their attempt to fly. "They waited until 10:00, hoping the wind would calm down a little. But finally they decided to give it another try" (Tucker 21). Orville set up his camera because he felt that this event would be different from the others and asked one of the lifesavers to operate it as he went up in the air. He started the engine, warmed it up, and raised it in the air more slowly than the last time they tried, as he was taking up from a leveled place. Orville actually described the event: "The flight lasted only 12 seconds, 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 full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it had started" (Political Science 57).

In spite of the fact that the other three flights that the two brothers performed that day were longer than the first, the moment when Orville first rose into the air was the most important moment in their lives and it basically represented the fruit of their hard labor and determination. In spite of the fact that the machine was very unstable and the wind was making it difficult for him to fly, Orville struggled across the twelve seconds that he spent above the ground and managed to keep the plane steady.