WORLD TRIBUTE PAID TO FIRST FLIGHT BY MAN

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6812, 16 January 1929, Page 3

WORLD TRIBUTE PAID TO FIR S T FLIGHT BY MAN

Nations Join in Observance of 25th Anniversary INCIDENTS RECALLED BY ORVILLE WRIGHT

KITTY HAWK, N.C., Dec. 17th. Representatives of 40 nations commemorated the anniversary oC the first airplane flight, made 25 years ago Deeember 17, in the presence of Orville AVright, the first human to fly. On the spot where the clumsy flying machine left tho ground for a faltering journey, aviation delegates from European countries and from far off Asia and Australia participated in the dedication of two memorials, one the corner stone of a monument to tho Wright Brothers and the other, a granite boulder, placed as a marker by the National Aeronautical Association and unveiled by Senator Hiram Bingham of Connecticut, president. A shy, slight man, clad in gray overcoat, and hat —Orville AVright responded with an embarrassed word and a wave of the hand to honours paid him. This was the man who, with AVilbur AVright, brought to realisation tho human dream of millenniums, that man should fly.

Travel Over Sandy Plains. In tho group that travelled over tho sandy plains to tho ceremony woro one or two who had witnessed the first efforts of the Wrights, both with the original gliders at the Kill Devil Hills Camp, erected in 1901, and in later developments, in 1903, 1904 and 1905. Already traditions and folk lore havo grown up round tho historical event which this isolated region cherishes as its chief pride/ Some of the tales aro true and some are invention, and to disentangle one from the other is almost as difficult, visitors found, as to discover the exact spot on which tho original wooden hut of tho Dayton bicycle repair men was pitched. Kitty Hawk is a typickl small village composed of farm houses clustered around the nucleus of a country store, while Kill Devil Hills is a slightly larger community. The spot is one of wind-scoured sand dunes that stretch along the coast devoid of vegetation save for occasional shrubs and stunted trees, and low growing grass. The spot was picked by tho would-be aviators because federal weather reports showed it to offer strong, steady winds at all seasons, suitable for gliding, in which the AVrights were first interested. Early Incidents Recalled.

The crowd that walked about the sand dunes during tho ceremonies included tho foreign delegates to tho International Aeronautical Conference, a delegation from Dayton, 0., out-of-town residents W'ho had motored in, and the entire population of Kitty Hawk. Tho latter addressed Mr. AVright as “Orville,” and he remembered a large number by name. As he walked about, Mr. Wright recalled some of the earlier incidents that were interwoven with the great experiment. Gales from the Atlantic roared over the desolate stretch, he said. A few months previous to the 1903 flight a storm blew up in which the wind reached 75 miles an hour. Not long after this storm a stranger passed by the AVrights’ camp and learned that tho two Dayton boys were attempting to fly. He remarked courteously that he supposed they could, provided they got a “suitablo wind,” and Mr. AVright observed that ho evidently 'referred to. a wind similar to tho recent 75-mile-an-hour gale. One of the stops made by the visiting delegation was at the monument outside Kitty Hawk Landing, marking the spot where the AVrights began the assembly of their first experimental glider. This was at “Cap’n” Tate’s hoUSC.

The home-made glider was put together near his front porch and yard. Later the cloth from the glider’s wings was made into dresses for his children Captain Tate recalled. Another name frequently mentioned during the ceremony was that of John Moore. “Johnny” Moore, 25 years ago, came over all agog from the neighbouring community of Nags Head to see a man try to fly. Pirst Plew 120 Peet.

Mr. Bingham and other speakers recalled that the first successful Kitty Hawk flight lasted* 12 seconds, for a distance of 120 feet. It followed a previous unsuccessful effort made by Wilbur Wright several days earlier. The brothers were using a motor made by themsGlves, mounted in a machine made by themselves, and constructed according to theories which They had developed. The first trip on December 17, 1903 was mado by Orville. It was immediately followed by threo other flights, the longest for 852 feet, lasting 59 seconds. Sortly after, a gust caught the machine as it stood by the camp and injured it so that further flights for the year were impossible. Contrasted with the first record of 59 seconds and 552 feet, Mr. Bingham pointed to existing aviation records of sustained flight for 65 hours, 25 minutes and a distance record of 4466 miles.