I'm biased, but I think everyone should visit Kitty Hawk at least once- it will completely reframe one's perspective on modern air travel. The idea that I routinely work flights where the plane *itself* is longer than the distance of the first flight is wild to think about.
The black and white photos work very well. I visited Kitty Hawk in the summer of 2019, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I was moved by the place.
Thank you. Like Kevin said in another comment, it really does reframe your perspective to recognize that it was only 122 years ago that modern flight was invented. And then to think of everything that has happened since is enough to make your head spin.
If it makes you feel any better, I've visited Kitty Hawk a number of times over the past fifty years. I can remember only one visit to the "old" Wright Brothers monument when the day was actually sunny and bright. The last time was in 2021 just after COVID and it rained the whole time we were there. But my kids, as "scientific" as they are, were indeed fascinated. They were finally old enough to appreciate the expereince, weather and all. T'was nothing an umbrella and a couple of "Disney" rain ponchos couldn't overcome. Thanks for the story and thanks for reminding us of that beautiful moment in history. BTW, I remember when the town of Duck, just north of Kitty Hawk, was not a town at all. Just a few beach cottages and a "country store" or two. It's now quite the upscale locale for people with deeper pocket books than mine.
Kitty Hawk is fascinating not so much for the memorial and statues but what one realizes touring the site: how science, determination, and luck came together that afternoon to lift humans above the ground and put us on the moon just a few decades later.
Thanks, Mark. I'm blown away when I go to these types of "living history" places. Maybe it's child-like naïveté on my part, but I still find it thrilling to be in the same place where history was made.
Black and white was a great call!
I'm biased, but I think everyone should visit Kitty Hawk at least once- it will completely reframe one's perspective on modern air travel. The idea that I routinely work flights where the plane *itself* is longer than the distance of the first flight is wild to think about.
Thanks, Kevin. And I agree wholeheartedly about Kitty Hawk. It definitely puts things into perspective.
I love the black and white!
Thanks, Kristin!
The black and white photos work very well. I visited Kitty Hawk in the summer of 2019, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I was moved by the place.
Thank you. Like Kevin said in another comment, it really does reframe your perspective to recognize that it was only 122 years ago that modern flight was invented. And then to think of everything that has happened since is enough to make your head spin.
If it makes you feel any better, I've visited Kitty Hawk a number of times over the past fifty years. I can remember only one visit to the "old" Wright Brothers monument when the day was actually sunny and bright. The last time was in 2021 just after COVID and it rained the whole time we were there. But my kids, as "scientific" as they are, were indeed fascinated. They were finally old enough to appreciate the expereince, weather and all. T'was nothing an umbrella and a couple of "Disney" rain ponchos couldn't overcome. Thanks for the story and thanks for reminding us of that beautiful moment in history. BTW, I remember when the town of Duck, just north of Kitty Hawk, was not a town at all. Just a few beach cottages and a "country store" or two. It's now quite the upscale locale for people with deeper pocket books than mine.
Thanks, Frank. I can't help but think it's the luck of the draw. Appreciate you taking the time to comment, as always.
Kitty Hawk is fascinating not so much for the memorial and statues but what one realizes touring the site: how science, determination, and luck came together that afternoon to lift humans above the ground and put us on the moon just a few decades later.
And good call on the b/w!
Thanks, Mark. I'm blown away when I go to these types of "living history" places. Maybe it's child-like naïveté on my part, but I still find it thrilling to be in the same place where history was made.