Marvel at that first flight - Wright Brothers National Memorial
Written: May 29 '09 (Updated May 29 '09)
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Pros: Site of the first powered flight, Memorial to the Wright Brothers, Good views
Cons: none really
The Bottom Line: If you're in the area of you have to find some time to stop at the Wright Brothers National Memorial
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| jps246's Full Review: Wright Brothers National Memorial |
If you're on the Outer Banks, you can't miss stopping at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. This site is home to the first powered flight and stands as a memorial to the Wright Brothers, who made it possible.
Not much of an aviation person? Doesn't matter, this park is well worth an hour or two of your time, even if you just take in the exhibits in the visitor center and the nearby aviation museum. Plus the view from the actual memorial, on top of Big Kill Devil Hill is great. You can take in all of the surrounding areas of the Outer Banks.
Finding the Memorial
This is one of those parks that's really easy to find. The park is directly off of Highway 158 (you can see the monument from the road) in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. You will have to pay a $4 per person entry fee (as of 2009), but that gives you a week of access to the park and lets you visit all of the attractions in the park. Unless it's really busy, there's plenty of parking and you can either park at the visitors center or drive around to the back side of Big Kill Devil Hill and park back there to climb the hill.
What's so important about Kitty Hawk?
Powered flight began right at this Memorial on the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, NC. Wilbur and Orville built several different gliders and tested them until the came upon the design for their powered glider, which took flight in 1903. The three flights that were made weren't all that impressive, but they ushered in an era of powered flight.
Just think it was only 106 years ago that we first had powered flight. Now airplanes are everywhere and we're out in space exploring the solar system. Pretty impressive stuff from three short flights by the Wright Brothers.
What's there to see?
There are two main exhibit areas in the park. The first is the visitors center which has several rangers on duty, offers an exhibit area that chronicles the Wright Brothers' lives and their struggle towards powered flight. There's also a small theater running a movie on the flight and two models, one of the glider that the Wright Brothers built and the other of the first successful airplane that they flew in 1903. The rangers run several different talks and guided walks out of the visitors center too - just check in at the desk to see what the schedule is.
There's also a separate museum area called the Centennial Pavilion across the parking lot of the visitors center. This is home to several different exhibits on flight, the site and from NASA on space travel.
Once you've gone to these two sites, there are three other major areas to take in, but they are outside and require some walking. The first is a walk out the reconstruction of the living quarters and the hangar that the Wright Brothers used when they stayed in Kitty Hawk. Beyond that you can walk on the actual airfield that the Wright Brothers used and see where the flights in 1903 left the ground and landed. You'd be amazed at how short that first flight really was.
The other main thing to see is the Wright Brothers memorial on top of Big Kill Devil Hill. You can either walk from the airfield area or drive around to the back side of the hill and then walk up it. It's not a difficult walk, but you are climbing a hill. Once you're on top, you can take in the memorial and the wonderful 360 degree view of the surrounding Outer Banks.
Experiences
I've been to the Wright Brothers Memorial several times, mostly as a younger child, but I had the opportunity to recently be there. I think I appreciated it more this time, especially since I spent several years working in the aviation field. We took our time exploring the memorial and it's amazing to think of all that has happened since that first short flight and this site is a great way to get a handle on that.
The visitor center is pretty basic, but for those who don't have much knowledge of the Wright Brothers, it should suffice filling in their basic biographies and then talking about what they accomplished with their flights here at Kitty Hawk.
My partner and I spent about half an hour walking through the visitor center. We discovered that in addition to just touring it ourselves, the rangers offered talks and guided walks at certain times of the day. We didn't end up waiting for the walk, but I think it would be something fun for someone who wants more than just what you can read about on the various interpretive signs.
We left the visitors center and headed out towards the living quarters and hangar. There we took in what life was like for the Wright Brothers when they were there. It's kind of neat to see the photos of the site back then. Instead of a grassy field with a big hill, you've got basically barren sand back then and a giant sand dune.
From there we walked over to the site of where the first flight took off from. It's only 120 from there where the first flight landed. However the remaining three flights of that day progressively got longer and longer until they flew almost 900 feet on their final flight. There are markers that show where each flight landed and it was neat to be standing there thinking about that first flight.
Instead of going back to the car and driving to the back of Big Kill Devil Hill, we just walked from the airfield area over to the memorial. The walk took about a half an hour or so round trip, so it's not like it was miles long, but all told I'd guess if you walk the whole site, you'd probably end up walking about a mile. The trails are all paved and smooth, so if you have a wheelchair or need help walking, you can make it along the trails. The trail up the hill isn't that steep, but it is fairly steady and it is in the bright sun, which can get very hot on summer days in NC. Thankfully for us, it was mid-May so we had sunshine, but it wasn't so hot and the walk around the site was really enjoyable.
The view from the top of Big Kill Devil Hill is great. The memorial sits on top of the hill and from here you can sit and take in views of the ocean to the east, the Outer Banks to the north and south and the bay to west. This was probably my favorite part of the site, even though I really liked the aviation side of things too.
We made our way back down the hill and stopped at the pavilion on the way back. I think my favorite part of it was that it had a/c after having walked all around in the sunshine. There were some interesting exhibits though and we spent about 10 minutes wandering around taking it in.
All told we probably spent about 2 hours at the memorial and I think it was time well spent. My partner had never been there and was really impressed at getting to see the site where the first flight took place and couldn't get over just how short that first flight really was. Something I don't think you can really understand unless you're standing there.
If we had been staying in the area longer than a few days, I'm not sure I would have returned even though paying the access fee gives you 7 day access. Once you've walked the site there really isn't all that much to see and the exhibits aren't so extensive that you can't take it all in during a single visit.
If I was on the Outer Banks again though with someone who hadn't been there, I'd be happy to take them to the Wright Brothers Memorial again.
Final Thoughts
If you're in the Kitty Hawk area of the Outer Banks you have to find some time to stop at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It's an amazing area when you consider what happened there. Not only that, but the view from Big Kill Devil Hill is great.
Spend the money and spend a few hours here, it's well worth it.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: Anytime
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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