115 years ago today, Wright Brothers slipped the surly bonds of Earth

December 17, 2018

Kill Devil Hills monument to theWright Brothers
Wikipedia description: Standing sixty feet (18.3 meters) tall and perched atop a ninety foot (27.4 meters) stabilized sand dune known as Kill Devil Hill, this monument towers over Wright Brothers National Memorial Park in Kill Devil Hills, NC. The park commemorates and preserves the site where the Wright brothers launched the world’s first successful sustained, powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine. The inscription that wraps around the base of the monument states “In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. Conceived by genius, achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith.” Photo by Ken Thomas, taken with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 in Dare County, NC, USA.

At this site, on December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright first achieved flight in a heavier-than-air machine.

“Surly bonds of Earth” refers to that poem written by the Canadian pilot, popular with the Air Force and almost every pilot I’ve ever known, “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

I am unaware of any proclamation for flag flying today, but you could have, had you wanted to and had you known.

More:

Leave a Comment » | Airplanes, History, Poetry | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell