First Flight is the birthplace of powered flight. Pilots are drawn to this place as it is the birthplace of what we love. CC and I visited First flight back in the late 90s but my Dad never had. He took his first flying lesson in 1944 and has traveled to all 7 continents but somehow had never made it to First Flight.
We had tried before. About a decade ago we planned to go but a low pressure system in September brought huge lines of thunderstorms on our planned days. Last December we looked at the trip but the short winter days made it hard to squeeze into one day. A few months ago we decided to have another go at it. He bought tickets to visit and we figured that with a 3 day window in October we would have one day good enough.
He arrived last night and luck was on our side this time, high pressure was sitting over the South East. We woke around 6 AM and were at the plane as dawn broke. We did the normal checks, I looked silly with one of those forehead flashlights but it really helps to do a good pre-flight. We were soon climbing into the smooth cool morning air.
First Flight has an airport adjacent to the National Monument. It is a nice paved 3000 foot strip and even has a nice planning room and bathrooms provided by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. It does not have fuel though and the trip is 3 hours each way. We flew up 2 hours and stopped at Lumberton, NC to top off. Then it was off to First Flight. We used Lumberton as a fuel stop on the way back. This meant that we only burned 2 hours gas between fill ups and we always had copious reserves.
Arriving at First Flight, I was aware that I was being judge by generations of aviators and we all know a smooth landing is key. Fate was kind again and I was able to gently roll the wheels on and was sure that I got high marks from the unseen judges.
We secured the plane and after taking a bunch of pictures of us and the plane at the First Flight Airport, we walked to the memorial. When I went before they had a nice exhibition building but it is under renovation. Not a problem as the history is not in the building it is the hallowed ground. Our timing was good and we arrived just as the ranger had started to give the presentation on the history. We listened and once it was over we took the "Walk".
The "Walk" is where you start from the spot where man first mastered powered flight and cover the distances of the first 4 flights. It does not take long. Flight 1 was 12 seconds and 120 feet. Did I mention they did not really have the hang of it yet. Flight 4 was 59 seconds and 852 feet, much better. After taking the walk we returned to the "Spot".
The "Spot" is a huge chunk of Granite that commemorates where a heavier than air mechanically powered machine first took flight. Wilbur and Orville had returned and touched this stone as had many other famous aviators and astronauts. The ranger implied that it was the duty of all pilots to lay hands on the rock and who were we to argue.
After poking around a bit more and looking at the historical buildings we headed back to the plane and started the trip home. While the weather had been just about perfect, that high pressure which had been such a good friend played one trick on us. In the morning the high was a bit South of the outer banks but by the afternoon it had moved North. In simple language we had headwinds both directions. Not bad though and it was worth it for the blue skies.
One of my favorite things I have learned at the memorial is about the historic picture of the Wright Flyer. We have all seen the picture in textbooks of the Flyer at Kitty Hawk. I had always thought that was a picture they took after they figured things out but it is not. Oddly in those days people did not carry cameras as part of their cell phone. The Wrights had brought a glass plate camera and set it up before the first flight. One of the local volunteers was told to squeeze the bulb if anything interesting happened. As the flyer rose he did and we have the picture of one of the first seconds of powered flight. Fun fact, it was the first and last picture he took. This picture has become one of the most reproduced photos of all time.
Their first flight lasted 120 feet. We traveled 1111 miles today to visit First flight today. Oh and by the way #38, North Carolina is off the list.
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