12 SECONDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
May 8, 2012
We decided to take a little ride before we leave the MSU behind. So we drove down to the Kill Devil Hills, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX). Our destination was actually Cape Hatteras but we did not make it that far. We were stopped by a very high hill with an impressive monument atop what was at one time just a very large sand dune. Turns out that it is the National Monument to the boys from Ohio that managed “heavier than air” flight back in 1903. The story is more than I remember from the paragraph in my grade school history book, far more. Orville and Wilbur pulled off something that was nothing short of a scientific miracle. Others came close but to the man they all managed to kill themselves in the effort. The Wright boys did not like that outcome and they knew the real challenge was actually controlling the flying machine in the three axis of flight, roll, pitch and yaw. One by one, they devised controls to do that and one blustery December day; they managed four flights from level ground with the “Flyer”. Those flights are marked with a six ton granite rock and markers on the actual flight path showing four distances of flight. The first was a 12 second flight that changed the world and marked the genesis of flight to the present day. NASA took a piece of the Flyer to the moon on the first lunar landing. It is in the museum along with a glider Wilbur personally supervised and a very expensive copy of the Flier upon which the lecturer demonstrates the controls. That monument is the only one in the US that was christened by a living a person named on same. Amelia Earhart was in attendance. What a place!
It’s back to Why Knot tomorrow when we are expecting a strong cold front and rain. We are ready to sail into the Chesapeake on Thursday.

The monument (memorial) at Kill Devil Hills, NC honoring the Wright Brothers