Wright Brothers National Memorial (called Kill Devil Hill Monument until 1933), Outer Banks, Dare County, North Carolina, USA

Wright Brothers National Memorial (called Kill Devil Hill Monument until1933), located in Kill Devil Hills, in Dare County, North Carolina, USA, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. The memorial tower, built in 1932, was designed by Rodgers and Poor, a New York architectural firm. From 1900 to 1903, Orville Wright (born August 19, 1871 - died January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 - May 30, 1912) came here from Dayton, Ohio, attracted to the area's steady winds and privacy. The town of Kitty Hawk (established in the early 1700s as Chickahawk) was made famous on December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers made the first controlled, powered airplane flights six kilometers (4 miles) away near the sand dunes known as Jockey's Ridge. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible. The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of "three axis-control", which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium, a method which became standard on modern fixed wing aircraft.

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Contained in galleries: NC: Outer Banks

Wright Brothers National Memorial (called Kill Devil Hill Monument until1933), located in Kill Devil Hills, in Dare County, North Carolina, USA, commemorates the first successful, sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. The memorial tower, built in 1932, was designed by Rodgers and Poor, a New York architectural firm. From 1900 to 1903, Orville Wright (born August 19, 1871 - died January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 - May 30, 1912) came here from Dayton, Ohio, attracted to the area's steady winds and privacy. The town of Kitty Hawk (established in the early 1700s as Chickahawk) was made famous on December 17, 1903, when the Wright brothers made the first controlled, powered airplane flights six kilometers (4 miles) away near the sand dunes known as Jockey's Ridge. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible. The brothers' fundamental breakthrough was their invention of "three axis-control", which enabled the pilot to steer the aircraft effectively and to maintain its equilibrium, a method which became standard on modern fixed wing aircraft.