Anyone who has ever flown on a plane in their life, big or small, to destinations near and far, owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who helped engineer, test, and develop manmade modes of flight. Any traveler including myself would not be able to do what we love and explore our own countries and the wider world without those people. Thus, it was special for me to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in the Outer Banks region recently.
Honestly, I am as far as knowing much about aerospace engineering as most people, yet it was a real thrill to learn just how much testing, how many materials, and how many unsuccessful trials it took for Wilbur and Orville Wright to achieve their dream of many years of manmade flight. When you visit the memorial, there is a special kind of energy there where you can feel just the history and emotions that occurred on that special hill where the Wright Brothers launched their 1903 Flyer (Wright Flyer).
The two men risked their money, their futures, and even their lives to get their flyer in their air and it took many attempts to get it to work effectively. With Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they had what they needed to make their elusive dream a reality. The Wright Brothers were from Dayton, Ohio originally but set up shop in Kill Devil Hills nearby to Kitty Hawk to begin building their flyer or airplane. “We came down here for wind and sand, and we have got them.” Orville Wright had written to his sister in 1900 before beginning to test their flyer that they had constructed in Dayton and had continued to work on Kitty Hawk to adjust so the flyer could do some test runs.
On that momentous day of December 17th, 1903, the Wright Brothers made their dream a reality and at the National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, any visitor can see each of the four markers where the four flights were made by Wilbur and Orville that momentous day. You can also walk the entire length of the 852 feet of the longest flight made as the fourth and last marker towards the end of the field of flight. When you are there, you can really get a sense of just how windy Kitty Hawk is, how the sand could help with any potential landing or crash and how difficult the conditions would be in the Winter to fix the flyer in case adjustments would need to be met.
The Wright Brothers are memorialized beautifully by the National Park Service and there is an excellent museum discussing their lives, their family (especially the role of their brilliant sister, Katharine, who unbeknownst to me was hugely influential in helping her brothers achieve their dream), and there is a full scale replica of the Wright Flyer on display at the museum too. The actual flyer is located at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC for visitors to see there as well. More than anything, it was great to hear from the excellent National Park Service (NPS) rangers who do such a great job of telling and re-telling the story of how the Wright Brothers made such a giant leap forward for aviation with their monumental achievement.
If you have some extra time at the memorial, there is a stunning monument at the summit of the hill where the Wright Brothers Flyer took off from where both men are immortalized there. At the summit of the hill, you can explore the granite monument, whose six relief panels represent the conquest of the air and look like the wings of a plane as well. The name of the hill is called ‘Big Kill Devil’ Hill and is still used today as a way for people to exercise, go running, biking, or just take in the beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean or of Kitty Hawk Bay and the Croatan Sound. If you do decide to visit one of America’s most important national memorials, make sure to plan a few hours there as the park is open between 9 AM – 5 PM every day except for national holidays. Don’t forget to wear a hat, drink water for the climb up to the monument, and wear some sunscreen on a clear day to avoid sunburn as well, especially in the summertime.
If you want to keep the Orville Brothers’ spirit in mind and experience the joy of flight on your trip, you’ll want to consider going up in a biplane or a small Cessna plane on an air tour for 45 minutes or an hour thanks to the OBX Airplanes tour agency nearby at the Dare County Regional Airport (MQI). They do a sensational job of showing visitors fantastic views of lighthouses, the Outer Banks coastline, the various bodies of water that feed into the Atlantic and pointing out other sights of interest including the Orville Brothers National Memorial. On a clear sky day, there is no other way to spend an afternoon, especially to feel the cool breeze and experience flights closer to how the Wright Brothers did. A biplane or a small Cessna four-seater is a much more intimate experience than a commercial jet that you fly to get to the Outer Banks for your trip.
For myself, having taken hundreds of flights over the course of my life, I had never experienced flights in such an intimate way and the OBX Airplanes tour agency prioritized both safety and knowledgeability and were extremely accommodating during my experience. For a day of enjoying learning about both the history and experience of flight on the Outer Banks, you cannot go wrong with this back-to-back itinerary of the Wright Brothers National Memorial followed by an air tour and ride nearby via the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo.
Travel has always been about experiencing life to the fullest while learning more about the history and cultures that make our world what it is today. Being able to experience such a great memorial to America’s greatest inventors in such a beautiful and peaceful place is a memory I won’t soon forget. To experience the beauty of manmade flight shortly after as well and to step back in time to get a sense almost of what it would feel like to be flying in a small plane albeit in a more modern way was also incredible for me to take part in.
Being able to experience new activities, learn more about history, and see beautiful places on the Outer Banks made this recent day in early September such a memorable and joyful one for me. I hope you’ll get out to the OBX soon and experience this kind of day for yourself. I promise you won’t regret it at all, and you’ll find both experiences enriching and memorable too.
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