North Carolina: First In (The Vicinity Of) Flight
Unless you’ve been living in a spider hole you know that today marks the 100th anniversary of the first flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. I’m actually mad at myself that I didn’t plan better for this. I would love to be there in Kitty Hawk today to mark this historic achievement.
The Wright brothers and this achievement have always held a special place in my heart as I was born and raised in a suburb of Dayton, OH, where the Wright brothers were also born and raised. I left Ohio in 1993 to attend college at UNC-Chapel Hill and have made North Carolina my home ever since. I love many things about my new state, but there is one thing that has irritated me ever since I moved here and especially irritates me on a day like today: those “First In Flight” license plates.
It has always bothered me that my new home state takes such pride in an accomplishment that no one from North Carolina had anything at all to do with. Well, I shouldn’t take it that far. Do you know how many people were out there that day 100 years ago besides Orville and Wilbur? Five. John T. Daniels, Adam Etherfdge, and W.S. Dough of the Kitty Hawk Coast Guard Station were accompanied by Johnny Moore of Nags Head and W.C. Brinkley. These men helped the Wright brothers carry the plane and place it on the monorail track from which it was launched. Daniels, who had been strategically placed by Wilbur before Orville took off, snapped the now famous picture of those first moments of powered flight.
That’s it. Five guys from NC helped move the plane that the guys from Ohio designed and built in Ohio and one of those NC guys took a picture of it as it flew for the first time. And somehow North Carolina is “First In Flight”.
Now let’s be fair about a few things. I’m certainly not suggesting that powered flight as we know it didn’t take place for the first time in the state of North Carolina. While the Wright brothers did test prototypes that would eventually lead to the Wright Flyer just outside of Dayton, I think everyone agrees that the first true powered flight took place that day 100 years ago.
The thing that rankles me about the “First In Flight” phrase isn’t that I don’t believe flight first took place in North Carolina. I’m bothered by the inference that actual North Carolinians were somehow responsible for the invention of flight. This bothers me for two reasons. First, it completely ignores the significance of Orville and Wilbur’s Dayton heritage; a heritage that is rich in the tradition of inventing new ideas. We’ll get to that in a minute. Second, it’s not like North Carolina is some two-bit state that has nothing else to be proud of besides the fact that a few people that were from there witnessed an important part of history. There are many people and things that this state has to be proud of. More on this in a minute too.
Though I’ll be the first to admit that Dayton, Ohio isn’t exactly the coolest place on the planet, you cannot discount the city’s history of innovation. At the turn of the century, Dayton, Ohio was the Silicon Valley of the United States. At that time and still to this day, Dayton has more patents issued per capita than any other city in the country. The electric starter, the cash register, the pop-top on pop cans, the creator of the blizzog, and numerous other important creations were all invented in Dayton.
Did you know that in addition to designing and building the airplane, the Wright Brothers also built a freaking wind tunnel to test their creations? A wind tunnel in the 1900s? The point is that what the Wright Brothers did is a big deal and reflects the culture of the city in which they did it. To me the “First In Flight” thing unfairly steals a bit of that thunder by claiming credit for something that was done in Dayton, not NC.
I’m really not trying to bash North Carolina here. I obviously love this place. I went to school here. I met my wife here. I make my home here. My intent here is not to say “Dayton rules! NC Sux! Blah!” Just as a former citizen of Dayton I’m irritated by the claim NC makes to Dayton’s invention, as a current resident of NC I’m embarassed that we choose to hold up this fraudulent claim when this state has so many other things to be proud of.
While North Carolina might not have the extensive inventive history of Dayton, it did bring us things like Pepsi and the Gatlin gun. The state has also given us at least two presidents, Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk. NC has also produced great writers like Maya Angelou and Thomas Wolfe, and journalists such as David Brinkley, Howard Cosell, Charles Kuralt and Edward R. Murrow. Do we even need to discuss the athletes? Jordan (I know, he was born in NY, but he moved to Wilmington as a child and was raised here.), Catfish Hunter, Sugar Ray Leonard, David Thompson.
Charlotte has become one of the largest financial centers in the world. The state boasts many highly regarded colleges and universities - even you Dook and State. Though the tobacco, textile, and furniture industries are not what they once were here in the US, North Carolina was (and is still in furniture - for now) the epicenter of all these industries in their heydey.
Most of all, this is a really nice place. The beaches, the piedmont, the mountains; you have it all here. Some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen are right here. People come from all over the world to visit here for a reason. Up north, you don’t hear many people say, “We’re going to Ohio this summer for our vacation.”
With all of these other things going for it, I wish that North Carolina would choose to trumpet one or more of them as a point of pride to the rest of the nation instead of this “First In Flight” thing. It not only rings hollow, but it cheapens the contributions of truly great North Carolinians that have helped to make this state what it is.
By your reasoning, Ohio invented the light bulb, electrical power stations, aluminum, and ethyl gasoline, too.
You also conviently forgot to mention that the Wright brothers worked for years at Kitty Hawk to improve their airplane.
And I’m also the home of the world famous “Snigglets” author and former SNL cast member Rich Hall.
Nowhere in my post did I say that because you were born in a state your state deserved credit for your inventions. Edison, Burton, Hall, and Pelton were all born in Ohio but developed their respective technlogies long after leaving their home state. You don’t see any Ohio license plates with “First In Light Bulbs” on them, do you? Why? Because Edison had been away from Ohio for quite some time and was living in New Jersey when he invented the light bulb.
It’s no secret that the Wright Brothers tested kites, gliders, and finally the airplane at Kitty Hawk from 1900 onward. The actual kites, gliders, and airplanes were always built back in Dayton. Kitty Hawk was chosen because the brothers needed a place where they could reliably count on wind gusts of at least 15 mph yet also provided a soft cushion for landing prototypes. They wrote the US Weather Bureau and found that Kill Devil Hills was the 6th windiest place in the country. It also happened to meet their needs for soft landings with the sand and water.
The brothers did have a hangar built at Kitty Hawk where they tweaked models between tests. Yet when they made giant leaps forward in their technology and theories, it was always back in Dayton. The Wrights weren’t North Carolina residents. They didn’t keep their homes there or live with their families there. They lived in Dayton and visited North Carolina to test their ideas because of the landscape, not the people.
My apologies to Rich Hall. You weren’t on my list of famous North Carolinians, but should be.
North Carolina: First In Blizzogs!
No where in my post did I say that we claim to be “First in Flight” because the people who made the first powered airplane were from North Carolina.
On the contrary, my claim to “First in Flight” is quite accurate because it’s the truth. The first powered, manned flight was made in North Carolina. Forget all of your other arguments. Just read that again: The first powered, manned flight was made in North Carolina.
Not in Ohio. I think that’s why you’re so bitter. Don’t worry, you guys are still The Heart of it All!
Furbling - v. Having to wander through a maze of ropes at an airport or bank even when you are the only person in line.
Keyfruit (kee’ froot) - n. The one apple, pear, or tomato in the stand that, when removed, causes all the others to tumble forward.
Telecrastination (tel e kras tin ay’ shun) - n. The act of always letting the phone ring at least twice before you pick it up, even when you’re only six inches away.
You make me proud, Jamie!
I wondered how long it would take for this debate to make it to the Blizzog.
Flight as defined by dictionary.com:
1. The motion of an object in or through a medium, especially through the earth’s atmosphere or through space.
2. An instance of such motion.
3. The distance covered in such motion.
So technically we are the first state to have flight. Ohio was the first state to have an airplane. I’m just saying.
I bet you can drive better in the snow than we can since you from Up-Norf. If you don’t like it, then go back home!!!
Hey, Henry Ford was born in me! Does that mean I’m the “First in Road Rage” state?
It’s all a matter of semantics. My feeling is that when people from outside of NC or OH see the “First In Flight” license plates, they think “Oh, the airplane was invented in North Carolina. Wasn’t that those Wright brother guys? I didn’t know they were from North Carolina.”
Okay, that might not be exactly what they think, but given that the average American - myself included - is not too bright when it comes to US History, you could see where someone that doesn’t know better might easily make the leap that the Wright brothers were from and invented the plane in NC.
If I should be mad at anyone, I really should be mad at Ohio. I don’t think they’ve done such a great job of marketing the Wright brothers. Especially when compared to NC. Anyway, thanks to all of you for entertaining my ranting today. You’re still dead wrong of course, but thanks anyway.
Hasn’t NC changed the slogan to “First Flight” because Ohio moaned about this same thing? I think the back of the NC quarter says “First Flight”. If they did change it, it will be a while before the license plates cycle over.
Anyway, Ohio is big sux! Rulez is North Carolina!
Do you know how hard it is to put an airplane on a monorail track? You try it!
BTW, too bad these Ohio guys didn’t think to mount the NC-created Gatlin gun. They could have tore some s$@t up.
- Johnny “Dollar” Moore
Here’s a simple solution:
The first flight took place in NC. End of discussion. Therefore, the “First in Flight” moniker is correct, and no matter how much Ohio hates it, too bad.
The research and stuff took place in Ohio. That’s fine. They can be the “Birthplace of Flight”. That way they can spout off about the Wright Bros. and whatnot and people will say “Hey Ohio, that’s cool. Tell us more.”
Of course that being said, I hear “First in Pissing and Moaning” and “The Crybaby State” are also available
I smell a strongly worded letter coming on. Imagine that….Jamie could be the voice of OH. I am jealous.
I don’t know. Mrs. Voice-of-Ohio does have a nice ring to it.
You all will never convince me that I’m wrong about this. I think there is a huge difference between “North Carolina is/was where the first flight took place.” and “North Carolina is/was first in flight.” The first statement is explicit and self-explanatory. The second statement is vague and open to interpretation.
Does it mean “North Carolina was the first place that flight took place” or “The people of North Carolina were the first to fly” or “The people of North Carolina lead the nation in flight technology” or something else?
My argument is that these days when you hear that an entity - be it a city, state, university, or what have you - is declared “First In” some type of achievement, the most likely conclusions that people draw about the statement are in the following order.
1.) The entity is superior to its peers in the achievement in question. This stands even if the achievement is dubious. For instance, “Harvard is First in Training Lawyers” or “Baltimore is First In Herpes.” Both statements indicate the entity is superior in the achivement.
2.) The people associated with the entity are directly responsible for the creation of the achievement. “IBM is First In Personal Computers.” (I don’t known that this is really the case, but these are just for illustration purposes.)
3.) The location of the entity is the first place the achievement ever took place. “Florida is First In Building EPCOTs.” or “Kettering, OH is First In Producing Jamie Gaines’” (these are lame examples, but the point is the same).
My point is that when you say an entity is “First In” something, I think the very last thing most people think of is “Oh, that must be the first place that achievement ever occured.” You could make the argument that my 2 & 3 above are very close to each other and they are. And that’s where the problem lies. Of course if you think an entity is responsible for inventing something then it’s not a difficult leap to assume that the location of that entity is the first place the invention ever existed. And vice versa. That’s pretty much common sense.
It is the vagueness of the phrase “First In Flight” that I have the biggest problem with. Given how I think that people interpret the phrase “First In..”, which I just explained above, North Carolina’s use of it is at best disingenuous and at worst a flat-out lie.
Is this all nit-picky and crybaby? Absolutely. Like most of my rantings, I wouldn’t pretend they are anything else. I don’t stay up late at night being bitter about this. I stay up late being bitter about other things.
But on the other hand the invention of flight is arguably one of the single greatest technical acievements in the history of modern man. There’s nothing wrong with wanting your hometown to get its rightful place in the history of that achievement.
There is a big difference between “we invented one of man’s most important technologies” and “we helped carry one of man’s most important technologies before it worked the first time.” I’m just trying to make sure the O-to-the-H gets its props where they are due.
You sound just like me when I was a young man.
It’s simple…
The nuclear bomb was first used in anger in Japan. They don’t call themselves, “First in Nuclear Bombs.”
The Super Bowl was held in Arizona in 2008, but I have not seen a license plate on which they proclaim to be the home of the Super Bowl champions.
Is this really all that Ohio has? They’re that upset about the Wright brothers that they put “First in aviation” on their license plates? The first actuall aviation, no matter where the plane was built, was at Kitty Hawk. Parts of all the space ships that have flown into space have been built all over the country, and Florida gets the space title. There are plenty of states that haven’t achieved worldly things, but they’re not posting wannabe status on their plates. Your rant fails in so many ways.