About this image...

Image Title: First Flight, 120 Feet In 12 Seconds, 10:35 A.M.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, 1903

Date: 1903 Dec. 17

Summary: Photograph shows the first powered, controlled, sustained flight. Orville Wright at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright running alongside to balance the machine, has just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine. (Orville Wright preset the camera and had John T. Daniels squeeze the rubber bulb, tripping the shutter.)

Notes: Title and subject note from: Wilbur & Orville Wright, pictorial materials: a documentary guide / Arthur G. Renstrom. Washington: , 1982, p. 57.|Published in: Eyes of the nation : a visual history of the United States / Vincent Virga and curators of the ; historical commentary by Alan Brinkley. New York : Knopf, 1997.

Related Names: Wright, Wilbur, 1867-1912|Wright, Orville, 1871-1948|Daniels, John T.

Subjects: Airplanes--North Carolina--Kitty Hawk--1900-1910
Firsts--North Carolina--Kitty Hawk--1900-1910
Wright, Orville,--1871-1948
Wright, Wilbur,--1867-1912

Original Media: Photograph|Glass negative

Collections: Wright Brothers Negatives » more info...

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