The Wright brothers made their first powered airplane flight in North Carolina on December 17, 1903.
The flights took place at Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, on the state’s Outer Banks. Orville Wright piloted the first successful flight, which lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Wilbur and Orville made four flights that day.
The brothers were from Dayton, Ohio, where they designed and built their aircraft, so Ohio is closely associated with their achievement. North Carolina, however, was the location of the first controlled, sustained, powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft.
The original site is preserved as Wright Brothers National Memorial. The aircraft used in the achievement, the Wright Flyer, was later restored and is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The state’s “First in Flight” slogan refers to this 1903 milestone.