A reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer is an impressive sight for visitors entering the three-story lobby of the North Carolina Museum of History (NCMH) in Raleigh. Suspended at a height of 12 feet, the height of the Wright brothers’ first flight on December 17, 1903, the Flyer is on exhibit at the NCMH while the Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center in Kill Devil Hills is undergoing rehabilitation.
The 1903 Flyer joins a display in the museum lobby that includes a reproduction of the 1911 Wright glider that Orville Wright and British aviator Alexander Ogilvie flew at Kill Devil Hills. The object is based on the glider the men used from Oct. 16 to 26, 1911, to make nearly 100 test glides.
The Flyer was built by The Wright Experience, Inc., of Warrenton, Va., and donated by aviation pioneer Harry B. Combs to the memorial in honor of the 2003 Centennial of Flight. The museum opened the exhibit on December 17, the 113th anniversary of the first flight.
Visitors will also see several airfoils the Wright brothers used in their wind tunnel experiments. In addition, the shovel that Orville Wright and William (Bill) Tate used in the ca. 1933 groundbreaking ceremony of the Wright Brothers National Memorial is on view. Tate was a Kitty Hawk resident who helped Orville and Wilbur, becoming their lifelong friend. Historical photographs, a façade of the brothers’ shed at Kill Devil Hills, and the museum’s own reproduction 1903 Wright Flyer further enhance the exhibit.
About Bill Tate
Capt. William J. Tate, an aviation pioneer, was the North Landing Lighthouse keeper who helped the Wright Brothers assemble their aircraft on the Outer Banks more than a century ago.
Tate was responsible for keeping lit a string of 42 lights stretching over 65 miles of waterway. During his years of service, he was cited frequently in the Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses for saving lives and property, which is no small feat.
Orville Wright (left) used this shovel in 1931 to break ground for the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.
William (Bill) Tate then presented the shovel to Orville in 1933 in Dayton, Ohio.
Image credit: N.C. Museum of History