There is not a shortage of aviation themed stuff on this blog. I realized that one thing I had never covered was the First Flight. Obviously I didn’t cover it live given my obvious youth! However, on a vacation to the Outer Banks a few years ago, my buddies Steve and Rich joined me on a trip to Kitty Hawk to see where the Wright Brothers had made the first powered flight. For some reason, none of the three wives wanted to make this trip and they did something else. No idea why…
The layout of the place is pretty simple. There is a monument to the event up on a hill overlooking the site. It is a pretty impressive structure and very much more substantial than anything else there. You have the workshop they operated out of (which I now can’t remember whether it is original or a recreation) and the markers on the ground to show the location of the first four flights they undertook on that day. There is also a museum off to one side and an airstrip located a short distance away. It is a big, wide open area so, even if there are lots of visitors, it is not crowded.
There was a steady breeze while we were there so you could see why it appealed to someone trying to get airborne. Since the whole thing is on a sand dune and the mapping of things has probably improved a bit in the last hundred years, I suspect there is some uncertainty about where exactly everything was. However, that hardly matters. This was the place where the first powered flights took place and the step to regular manned flight was made. Interestingly, once they had achieved this goal, they headed back to Dayton and their further development took place there. Kitty Hawk will always be the first though. If you look at Ohio and North Carolina license plates, you will gather that they still argue over this. Not a fight I need to join though.
Water speed records need two important elements. A long, straight section of water on which to get up to speed (and stop again) and calm conditions to avoid getting out of control. Windermere is a body of water that fits these criteria and that is why Sir Henry Segrave chose it as the location for his record runs. (Later runs would be carried out by other on Ullswater and Coniston Water.) First thing in the morning, Windermere has the appearance of total tranquility if the weather is nice. While the coast in the UK is publicly accessible by law, lakes are not similarly restricted so the majority of the shore is privately held and not terribly accessible. However, there are some spots where you can visit and we checked the water out as we were heading south. You can also take the ferry across the lake if you want a far closer view!
