On December 17, 1903 at 10:35 a.m., the Wright Brothers took flight in the sand dunes of Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, completing the first powered flight of a manned aircraft. In doing so, they became the opening chapter in the 100 year history of aviation, innovators that spurred on arguably one of the most important technological advances in the history of mankind. That may sound a bit exaggerated, but when you consider how many other fields the aerospace industry has influenced, then I don’t think it’s an overstatement. As a practicing aeromechanical engineer, I take particular pride in contributing to the continuing history of aviation in my own little way at Patuxent River NAS, the Navy’s premier Test and Evaluation center for all naval aircraft. I didn’t intend to get too schmaltzy on this anniversary, but I’ve always liked this poem that very aptly puts to words the emotional, almost spiritual aspects of flight:
Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.– Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr., High Flight, 1941
There are many centennial celebrations today, but the most important one is in North Carolina, where several replicas of the Wright Flyer are to be flown in tribute of the Wright Brothers’ first flight 100 years ago. Here are some sites dedicated to today’s anniversary:
- U.S. Centennial Of Flight Home Page
- First Flight Centennial
- Air Force Celebrates Centennial Of Flight
- NASA – Centennial of Flight: Rediscovering the Challenges of Flight
- FAA – Celebrating a Centennial Of Flight
- EAA’s Countdown To Kitty Hawk
- Honoring the Centennial Of Flight With Flight
- Wright Experience – Reconstructing the Wright Brothers’ Legacy
- Current weather conditions at Kill Devil Hills, NC
Here are some sites dedicated to the history of aviation, with an emphasis on some pioneers in the field:
- The Aviation History On-Line Museum
- Flight-History.com
- AeroFiles – Dedicated to the aviation history of North America.
- Wright Brothers Photography – an amazing collection of historical photographs
- The Frank Coffyn Collection – another invaluable archive of early aviation photography
- The Wright Brothers – National Air and Space Museum
- Alberto Santos-Dumont – Some argue he is the “Father of Aviation” and the first to fly an “aircraft ‘heavier-than-the-air’ by its own means of propulsion;” very debatable, actually.
- George Cayley: The Englishman Who Wanted To Fly – Known as the “Father of modern aeronautics,” Cayley was one of the first people to identify that an airplane would need a fixed wing and a separate means of propulsion in order to fly.
- A Century Of Romance With Flying – A brief history of the romance of early airline travel.
- Origami Concorde – This post was getting too serious… 😉