Orville Learns to Fly
December 17, 1903
1903 1903
75.43W36.05N
SCI

KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA
	When they were children, Wilbur and Orville Wright's father gave them a little flying toy.  The toy didn't last long in the Wright brothers' hands, but it did leave them with a lasting fascination with flying.
	The brothers worked in their bicycle shop and experimented extensively with gliders at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where there is almost always wind.  Then they designed a light-weight engine and mounted it on an updated model of one their gliders.
	On Dec. 17, 1903, among the dunes of Kitty Hawk, Wilbur and Orville Wright launched the first engine-powered airplane into a 27-mile-an-hour wind.  Orville, who was at the controls, flew just 120 feet for 12 seconds.  Nevertheless, they were ecstatic.  Then Wilbur took his turn, flying the plane 195 feet.
	They took three successful flights that day, and began a new era.