Wright Brothers National Memorial, located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. From 1900 to 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright came here from Dayton, Ohio, based on information from the U.S. Weather Bureau about the area's steady winds. They also valued the privacy provided by this location, which in the early twentieth century was remote from major population centers.
Above and below quotes are From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Brothers_National_Memorial |
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There is a charge to get in, but they accepted the Two RV Gypsies' National Pass. The park closes its gates at 5 p.m. |
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 Authorized as Kill Devil Hill Monument on March 2, 1927, it was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. Congress renamed it and designated it a National Memorial on December 4, 1953. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the National Memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The memorial's visitor center (which was closed on the date the Two RV Gypsies were here), was designed by Ehrman Mitchell and Romaldo Giurgola, and designated a National Historic Landmark on January 3, 2001. The memorial is co-managed with two other Outer Banks parks, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
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The above photo was taken By RGRAVIS - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48577487 and permission to use it was on the website as long as credit was given to RGravis. |
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A 60 feet tall granite monument, dedicated in 1932, is perched atop 90-foot-tall Kill Devil Hill, commemorating the achievement of the Wright brothers. They conducted many of their glider tests on the massive shifting dune that was later stabilized to form Kill Devil Hill. Inscribed in capital letters along the base of the memorial tower is the phrase "In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith." Atop the tower is a marine beacon, similar to one found in a lighthouse. |
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Below: Just as the Two RV Gypsies started the long, uphill walk to the Wright Brothers National Memorial Monument, it started to rain hard. Everyone else scampered down the hill to their cars, so the Two RV Gypsies had the area to themselves. Lee Duquette took partial shelter under the narrow ledge over the locked doorway. Karen doesn't like umbrellas, so she got wetter than Lee.
The doors of the tower are stainless steel over nickel, with a price of $3,000 in 1928 (equivalent to $35,193 in 2018). The relief panels represent the conquest of the air. |
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Below: When the rain stopped, Karen photographed each of the two pillars beside the monument of Wilber and Orville Wright. |
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Plaque on the Pillar |
Lee Duquette on the walkway
behind the monument |
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Below: zoomed-in views from the Monument |
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Below: zoomed-in photo taken from the Monument of The Centennial of Flight, which is shown in closer details further down this page. |
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Wordage inscribed around the bottom of the tower - " In Commemoration of The Conquest of the Air The Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright Conceived by Genius, Achieved by Dauntless resolution and unconquerable Faith ." |
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Below: Flowers and a butterfly along the path down from the monument. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies drove to the Centennial of Flight monument and looked back up at the tower. |
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Below: Centennial of Flight |
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On December 17, 2003, the Centennial of Flight was celebrated at the Park. The ceremony was hosted by flight enthusiast John Travolta, and included appearances by President George W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Chuck Yeager. The Centennial Pavilion was built for the celebration and housed exhibits showing the Outer Banks at the turn-of-the-century, the development of the 1903 replica, and NASA provided displays on aviation and flight. |
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Below: Orville Wright piloted the first flight on December 17, 1903 for
12 seconds, 120 feet. |
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Sign showing the view from behind the airplane, describing the statues in the pictures that the two RV Gypsies took (shown further below). |
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Below: John T. Daniels, a member of the U.S. Life-Saving Service at Kill Devil Hill, took the famous photograph of the Wright Brothers' first flight. |
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Below: W.C. Brinkley, Adam Etheridge and Johnny Moore observed the flight. |
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Below: The three pictures below show Wilbur Wright as he straddled the wing, then let go as the flyer lifted off. |
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Due to the weather, the Two RV Gypsies did not walk the field nor visit the replica of the hangar used by the Wright Brothers. It is possible to walk along the actual routes of the four flights, with small monuments marking their starts and finishes. Two wooden sheds, based on historic photographs, recreate the world's first airplane hangar and the brothers' living quarters. |
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