First Flight

The Dream

A man named Wilbur Wright loved to watch birds. He wondered how they could stay up in the sky. Wilbur and his brother Orville built many small models. They tried to make a machine that could fly like a bird.

The Big Day

On December 17, 1903, the brothers went to a beach in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their airplane was called the Flyer. It had two wings, a light engine, and a wooden frame. Orville sat in the seat and ran to help the plane go fast. When the Flyer left the ground, it stayed up for 12 Seconds and traveled 120 Feet. It was the first time a powered, heavier‑than‑air machine flew.

Why It Matters

The Wright brothers showed that people could build machines that fly. Their idea started a new world of airplanes, helicopters, and space rockets. Today, we can travel far away in just a few hours because of that first brave flight.