By 1903 the Wright Brothers were ready to build a powered man-carrying flying machine. Their experiments had shown them just how much moving air was necessary to create lift in such a machine. To create the needed thrust, an engine having eight horsepower and weighing not over 200 pounds had to be fitted into the machine. Such an engine was not available, so the Wrights built one in their shop at Dayton, Ohio. They were ready to ship their airplane to Kitty Hawk, N. C., in the fall of 1903. [Illustration: 1903 WINGSPAN 40 FEET LENGTH 19 FEET THE WRIGHT BROTHERS’ AIRPLANE WAS THE FIRST HEAVIER-THAN-AIR MACHINE THAT WOULD REALLY FLY UNDER ITS OWN POWER. ONE 4-CYLINDER 16-HP. GAS ENGINE IT WAS POWERED WITH A 4-CYLINDER WATER-COOLED ENGINE, DESIGNED AND BUILT BY THE WRIGHT BROTHERS. ONE HOUR 30½ MILES THE FIRST WRIGHT AIRPLANE HAD A TOP SPEED OF ABOUT 30 MILES PER HOUR. RANGE 120 FEET THE LONGEST FLIGHT IT MADE ON THE FIRST DAY’S TRIALS WAS 120 FEET, LESS THAN THE WINGSPAN OF OF THE MODERN _SUPERFORTRESS_. CEILING 20 FEET IT FLEW AT LOW ALTITUDES. MOST OF THE FLIGHTS WERE AT ALTITUDES OF FROM TWELVE TO TWENTY FEET. ONE PERSON IT CARRIED BUT ONE MAN, THE PILOT. ALTHOUGH THE FIRST FLIGHTS OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS WERE NOT SPECTACULAR FROM A POINT OF SPEED, HEIGHT OR DISTANCE, THEY DID PROVE THAT MAN COULD FLY AND THAT THE WRIGHTS HAD DISCOVERED THE SECRET. FROM THAT TIME FLIGHT HAS BEEN BASED ON THEIR ORIGINAL IDEAS.] [Illustration] A cold wind whipped across those buff stretches of Kitty Hawk on Thursday, December 17. A coin was tossed into the air between Orville and Wilbur Wright. Orville won the toss, climbed up and stretched prone on the wing of the flying machine. He clutched the controls. There were no cheering crowds; a mere handful of people were there. Running along its launching track, the 750 pounds of plane, engine, and passenger shot up into the air so fast that Wilbur, at the wing-tip, could not keep up. For three and one-half seconds the plane was in the air. It came to rest 105 feet from the take-off. Powered flight was born! WRIGHT BROTHERS’ AIRPLANE Three more flights were made on that epochal day at Kitty Hawk. The last flight of the day, with Wilbur at the controls, proved to be a breath-taking adventure. For fifty-nine seconds the roaring, white-winged craft pitched and rolled in the fitful wind. Flying low with its pilot tense at the controls, it covered a distance of 852 feet. There was no question now in the minds of Orville and Wilbur. They had proved conclusively their theory and were anxious to get back to their shop to continue improving their first flying machine.