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  • From: ids AT idisplay.com
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] the history books
  • Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 15:13:11 -0400

>but not as important as the entire rest of the process.
...no part of the process left behind, that's what I always say ;-)
NC didn't pay much attention to the fact that the Wright's had flown at KH for a long time. The monument itself wasn't built until nearly 30 years after 12/17/1903 flight, and then to promote the outerbanks area. The monument and a bridge (so the trip no longer required a boat trip over the Albermarle Sound) did change massively what had been a very remote, out of the way, location that first attracted the Wrights.

But the people themselves, they contributed. I mean, think about it, somebody asks you to take off work and help them schlep a 675 lb machine around the sand! They did. The Wrights probably couldn't have made their flights without the help from the NC Outerbankers. ... so does this mean that the state deservers to say "First in Flight"?

They could have gone to Chicago by lake Michigan, or Florida, or San Diego, but through this quirk of climate and geography, etc., went to KH.

>Sep 12, 1900 - Arrived in Kittyhawk
>Oct 32, 1900 - Leave for Dayton
>There ~7 weeks

>Aug 27, 1902 - Arrive at Kill Devil Hills
>Oct 20, 1902 - Left for Dayton
>There ~7 weeks

Sept 23, 1903 - Arrive At Kitty Hawk
Dec 20, 1903 - Left for Dayton

Ed W.




At 11:06 AM 4/28/03 -0400, you wrote:

On Monday, April 28, 2003, at 10:05 AM, ids AT idisplay.com wrote:

>The Wright brothers spent only about 3 months actually in NC.
.... per year during the years 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903

While they did visit multiple times, the visits were substantially less
than 3 months, especially when you consider they weren't actually in NC
the entire time. On each trip they typically had to make multiple
train trips back to Dayton because the personnel and machines required
to repair and build parts were all there. This was especially true in
the later visits with the planes and not the relatively simple gliders.

Sep 12, 1900 - Arrived in Kittyhawk
Oct 32, 1900 - Leave for Dayton
There ~7 weeks

Aug 27, 1902 - Arrive at Kill Devil Hills
Oct 20, 1902 - Left for Dayton
There ~7 weeks

I don't know that this makes them "natives" but the Wrights did get to
NC more than once.

It not only doesn't make them natives, it doesn't make them citizens
either. They were visitors taking advantage of the good weather.

What they did first was learn to fly in a glider version of the 1903
machine. (fly it, crash it, fix it better, fly it again, until they
got it right). They couldn't have done this in Dayton. But Dayton,
home of NCR (The "Cash" I think it was referred to), did have
industry, the machine shops, and information. But KH was an ideal
skunk works (did Shea say this? yes). Perfect for the proof-of-concept
1903 machine.

It is true they couldn't have done this test flying in Dayton, and had
difficulty in 1904 learning to fly the planes in the relatively light
winds in Dayton.

My definition of a "skunkworks" is the place where an R&D group
actually does the research and development. In this case, the only part
of the process that took place in NC was learning to fly and field
testing, which *is* an important part of the process, but not as
important as the entire rest of the process.

________________________________________________________________________ _________
Run, run, run, as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the stinky
cheese man!
-- michael at czeiszperger dot org, Chapel Hill, NC

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