In the third year of the Twentieth Century, in the week before Christmas, at 10:35 in the morning, the Wright Brothers launched their homemade craft into the cold wind from Kill Devil Hill on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Airborne for only 12 seconds, it was the first sustained, powered flight to ever carry a man into the air.

Orville Wright lay with hips in the cradle which operated the critical wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright ran alongside to help balance the craft for liftoff. John T. Daniels squeezed the bulb to trip the shutter and thus create this record of initial take off.

After calculating the requirements for thrust, power and speed, the brothers had constructed a craft with a wingspan of 40 feet that was 21 feet long and 9 feet high. A 12 horsepower engine lifted the airplane. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine.

Medium : 1 negative: glass, dry plate; 5x7 inches

Created/Published : December 17, 1903

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: firfligbrdec