The Desire to Fly the Wright Way

Happy Fourth of July America.

Today is about an amazing American accomplishment.

How the world learned to FLY.

This is how it went down, I became a little stir crazy with the kiddos after brunch one morning. Since I feel the Smithsonian Museums’ in Washington D.C. are a religious experience, I decided to drag the kids to the Wright Brother’s Monument for a little home schooling.

The monument/museum to the Wright Brothers was dedicated in November of 2003.

Did you know the Wright brother’s had their first flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Thinking about what mankind has done in 100 years since their first lift off is quite an achievement.

Their math, architecture, design and intelligence allowed their fellow American’s to succeed. Consider the legendary solo flight across the Atlantic by Charles Lindbergh in 1927, only 24 years later. Or perhaps Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in 1947, followed by Neil Armstrong walking on the moon in 1969, and now in 2010 a multi-national space station. All of these events were due to the efforts of two brothers, messing around in their workshop, trying to make their invention fly.

They left their families in Ohio, went to the the Outer Banks in the dead of winter to freeze their booties off, just to catch some good wind and propel themselves into world history.

My favorite part about those brothers was their love for photography. Above is one of their cameras. They photographed EVERTHING. I began to sense they were the first National Geographic photo documentarians. How great is it they took photos profusely leading up to their launch for everyone to enjoy now in 2010?

The monument is a celebrations of America’s spirit.

Standing beneath the wing-shaped monument reaching for the sky, looking out at the Atlantic, you can’t help but get caught up in the excitment they must have felt.

The words read ‘Achieved by Dauntless Resolution and Unconquerable Faith’

Goosebumps.

And how cool is this, the memorial doubles as a lighthouse. Its bright lights at night can be seen from miles around, helping aviation and sea travelers find their way. Those two brothers would be proud.