Kitty Hawk, NC – Home of the Wright Brothers National Memorial

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a small city which probably wouldn’t be as famous had the Wright Brothers not chosen it to be the place they would make history. According to the website www.kittyhawk.com they state that Kitty Hawk which was once a remote area, has grown into a summer resort area and provides some of the best beach recreation on the North Carolina Coast.

When Orville Wright stepped ashore in Kitty Hawk Village in the fall of 1900, he probably already knew that he and his brother were destined to make history as discoverers of flight. After all, they had chosen this remote fishing village on the Outer Banks partly for privacy from prying eyes. Three years later, they would indeed break the bonds of earth for the first time in their heavier-than-air flying machine.

From that moment forward, Kitty Hawk would forever be associated with the Wright Brothers as the birthplace of aviation -although the actual flight took place four miles south from the base of Kill Devil Hill. Today, the once-tiny sound side village is one of the largest townships on the Outer Banks. On the ocean side, thousands of rental homes, restaurants, and shops are part of the development that has characterized the northern Outer Banks from Nags Head to Corolla.

The date was December 17th, 1903. It is a day that will live in our memories forever. We visited the Wright Brothers National Memorial in 1999 and were told about the plans that were being made for the centennial flight 4 years later. We found out much later that they had actually been designing and building the replica flyer for 18 years. It was exciting to be there and see how excited they were about the upcoming event. Early in 2003, I decided just to start looking around for a room in the area.  I finally got a reservation in Jarvisburg. It was a year out and the area was already getting booked up. Crazy.

Finally, the time for our trip came and we made our way down from Washington D.C. Traffic wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be, but it was bad enough. Anyway, we found our room and got to bed early because we wanted to be there by 7:00 because they said security would be a nightmare. They had a really good bus service setup up to get people to and from Kitty Hawk. It was really well organized.

Anyway, we got there and got our chairs, and started waiting and looking at some of the booths they set up. It wasn’t too cold until it started RAINING!!! I mean raining. It was coming down in buckets. It was pathetic. Of course, we weren’t prepared for the rain, so we were all drenched from head to toe. The place was so muddy, it wasn’t even funny. It was up to our ankles. We did get to see the president land in his helicopter and got to see and take some pictures of John Travolta (he was the emcee of the event). That was pretty exciting.

The original flight was at 10:32 and they had wanted to recreate it exactly, but it was raining too hard. So they were going to cancel the flight which really made me upset. Here we spent all this time and money to see something that wasn’t going to happen. Plus I was wet and sick already. I was not a happy camper.

We were getting ready to leave about 1:00 (mind you, we had been in the rain since 7:00 that morning) when we decided to go see the actual replica that they were going to try and fly. We actually got to see the pilot that was going to fly it but didn’t get a chance to shake his hand because they said that the rain had stopped enough, and they were going to try and fly it. YEAH!!!

Everyone went back outside and watched as they rolled this huge replica 1903 flyer out of the hanger. They kept checking the wind speed over and over again. Finally, they tried to start the engine. It wouldn’t start until the third or fourth try. By this time everyone was holding their breath. Finally, it started. They checked airspeed again several times and finally, he was ready to do it. He started rolling, he got air for about 2 seconds and then it flopped into the mud. Very sad and depressing. They rolled the flyer back into the hanger to check to see if everything was ok, and they might make another attempt.

We knew they probably wouldn’t (especially since it started raining again) so we just left. While we were on the bus on the way back to the parking lot, it came down worse than it had all day. We were glad we left. We got back into the car, changed into warmer clothes, and listened to the rest of the events on the radio as we drove to Raleigh to spend the next few days or our vacation. They never did make another attempt, they only were able to show video of some of the flights they had done earlier in the month. After I was warm again and less mad, I did feel sorry for everyone who worked so hard on the project. I’m sure nobody wanted it to be more successful than them.

All in all, I’m glad we were there, but it wasn’t what we were hoping for. Oh well, maybe next century…lol.  If you’d like to see a smaller replica version, check out the one at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It is quite interesting. Anyway, here is information below if you’d like to visit in the future.

Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Information in
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

Address:

1000 North  Croatan Highway Drive
Kill Devil Hills, NC 27848

Phone:

252-473-2111

Hours:

Wright Brothers National Memorial is open seven days a week, year-round, 9:00 am–5:00 pm. The only day the park is closed is Christmas Day, December 25.

Prices:

Pass	Description	Cost
Individual	Adult (16 and older)	$10
	Children (15 and younger)	Free
	With Federal Recreational Lands Passes	Free
	With Every Kid in a Park Pass (4th-grader & family)	Free
Wright Brothers Annual Pass		$35
Commercial Tours	Sedan (seating capacity of 1-6 passengers)	$25 + $7/person
	Van/ Small Bus (seating capacity of 7-25 passengers)	$40
	Motorcoach (seating capacity of 26+ passengers)	$100

Directions:

North (From Norfolk, VA)

Follow I-95 South to Richmond, Virginia. Take I-64 East toward Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, Virginia. Take I-64 or I-664 to Chesapeake, Virginia. From I-64, take Exit 291B to Route 168, the Chesapeake Expressway*. Once in North Carolina, Route 168 turns into US 158 East. Follow US 158 through Kitty Hawk to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

* – Chesapeake Expressway is a toll road.

West (From Rocky Mount, NC)

Via I-95 into North Carolina. Take US 64 East toward Rocky Mount. Follow US 64 east through Williamston and Plymouth. From Plymouth, continue east to Nags Head and the junction of US 158 through Nags Head to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

South (From Florence, SC)

Coming from South Carolina, take I-95 to Wilson, North Carolina. Take US 264 East through Greenville and Washington. From Washington, take State Route 32 to Plymouth, and follow US 64 East to Nags Head. Continue on US 158 through Nags Head to Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

 Public transportation

Public bus transportation is not available in the area. Visitors access the memorial via personal vehicle, local taxi service, or small personal planes.

Air

There are several ways to view or reach Wright Brothers National Memorial by air. The Manteo/ Dare County Regional Airport (MQI) services private aircraft. The First Flight Airstrip (FFA) at the park has a 3,000′ runway and tie-downs. Use is limited to daylight hours. There are NO services (fuel, hanger space, repair service, etc) at the airstrip.

Accessibility:

The visitor center parking and exhibits are accessible. There is an accessible concrete path leading from the visitor center to the First Flight Boulder and the base of Kill Devil Hill. Wheelchairs are available for check out on a first-come, first-serve basis from the front desk of the visitor center.

Several resources are available for persons who are visually impaired. When you first enter the visitor center, there is a tactile map of the park. The map, along with several descriptive exhibits, does have braille. Audio Descriptors of the exhibits are available for checkout at the front desk and a limited supply of braille brochures is also available. The Flight Room of the visitor center is equipped with a tactile model of the 1903 Wright Flyer.