The Moral Vision
Quiet Endeavour
~ 173 ~
QUIET ENDEAVOUR
On December 17, 1903, the brothers Orville and
Wilbur Wright became the first men to successfully
pilot a heavier-than-air craft under both control and
power.
Orville and Wilbur Wright were bicycle makers
from Ohio. When they set out to construct a flying-
machine, they started from the most primitive
constructions, and persevered until they had
developed a craft fit to usher in a new age for man.
While engaged in their preparation, they
maintained the utmost secrecy. In order to ensure
privacy, they bought a 600-acre farm in Kitty Hawk,
a remote spot in the North Carolina coast. They
made no attempts to publicize their project. When
the first flight was made, Harry P. Moore, marine
reporter for the Norfolk Virginian Pilot, heard the
news 55 minutes later from a guardsman at Kitty
Hawk, Dan Simpson. He gave Moore the news that
Orville Wright had been aloft for 12 seconds and
had covered 120 feet.
