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"First In Flight"
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
17 December 1903

Background Music
"I Believe I Can Fly"

Over the years, there has been controversary between North Carolina and Ohio as to who should have the credit for the Wright Brothers first flight. However, the disagreement became somewhat more heated with the minting of the U.S. Commemorative State quarter coins. It seems that both states are clamoring for their individual coin to represent Orville and Wilbur Wright's first flight.

By rights (no pun intended here) the Wright Brothers spent most of their adult lives in the state of Ohio as this is where the two brothers did most of the research and development that went into designing the first airplane.

However, credit is due and should be given to North Carolina because the wind and weather conditions at Kitty Hawk made it the most favorable location for a successful flight.

So it seems (and rightly so) that both states will receive recognition for the phemoninal accomplishments and the contributions that the Wright Brothers made to the world.

According to Coin World Online the North Carolina coin has been approved and will be released this year.

"United States Mint officials released photographs of the final versions of the 2001 State quarter dollars on December 11, 2000. The North Carolina quarter design shows an observer standing on the ground while the original Wright Flyer takes wing. North Carolina is the site of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, at Kitty Hawk in December 1903. The coin should be released in early March. The Wright Flyer has never been depicted previously on a U.S. coin, but because of a sequence of events, could appear on five different coins issued in 2001, 2002 and 2003."

"Ohio’s quarter dollar, scheduled for release in 2002, could also feature an image of the Wright Flyer, the subject of several finalists among the designs being considered for the coin. Wilbur and Orville Wright were from Dayton, Ohio, where they developed the first powered aircraft and later models. While the first flights took place in North Carolina Dec. 17, 1903, the brothers refined their design and learned how to fly and control an aircraft in more extensive testing and flying in the Dayton area in the years immediately following the 1903 flights."







The following inscription appears on the 1903 flyer at the Smithsonian Institution

THE ORIGINAL WRIGHT BROTHERS AEROPLANE

THE WORLD'S FIRST POWER-DRIVEN, HEAVIER-THAN-AIR MACHINE IN WHICH MAN MADE FREE, CONTROLLED, AND SUSTAINED FLIGHT
INVENTED AND BUILT BY WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT
FLOWN BY THEM AT KITTY HAWK, NORTH CAROLINA DECEMBER 17, 1903

BY ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH THE WRIGHT BROTHERS DISCOVERED THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN FLIGHT AS INVENTORS, BUILDERS, AND FLYERS
THEY FURTHER DEVELOPED THE AEROPLANE, TAUGHT MAN TO FLY, AND OPENED THE ERA OF AVIATION




Click for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Forecast






I'd Rather Be Flying!
Miz Dixie Belle


ONLINE RESOURCES

Wright Brothers Biography-Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

Kitty Hawk History

First Flight Society Kitty Hawk, N.C.




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I created this page in 2001. Since then, the N.C. coin has been released and is now is circulation.

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