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WRIGHT Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
by Oskar Hansen, Alfred Easton Poor (click name for more of that artist's work)
Scroll down for 21 pictures
Click here for more info
The newer First Flight monument is just south of Kill Devil Hill
Orville Wright
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0005000/05380_0010038219 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Wilbur Wright
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0005000/05380_0010038229 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Orville Wright with his brother, Wilbur, in the background. The town of Kitty Hawk on the Atlantic Ocean is in the far background.
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0005000/05380_0010038299 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Beside Wilbur, contemplating his 1:54 finish earlier that day in his very 1st race, the OBX Half-Marathon, sits one cool dude.
(The photographer finished a personal best 3:59 in the full marathon).
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0005000/05380_0010038209 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038249 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038259 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038239 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Orville Wright
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0005000/05380_0010038269 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Orville Wright
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0005000/05380_0010038279 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Wilbur Wright
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0005000/05380_0010038289 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Once again, beside Wilbur, muses Dave "1:54" Mueller.
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0005000/05380_0010038309 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038329 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038319 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038379 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038389 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038399 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
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0005000/05380_0010038409 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR BY THE BROTHERS WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT CONCEIVED BY GENIUS ACHIEVED BY DAUNTLESS RESOLUTION AND UNCONQUERABLE FAITH
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0005000/05380_0010038339 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Pitch, roll & yaw
At the turn of the century, this large hill & the 3 hills surrounding it were known as the Kill Devil Hills. Wilbur & Orville Wright performed thousands of experimental glider flights here between 1900 & 1903. The culmination of those tests, a glider performing a simple turn, unlocked the secrets of controlled flight. With this flight, the 3 axes of control [pitch, roll & yaw] were mastered & the age of aviation was at hand.
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0005000/05380_0010038349 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Big Kill Devil Hill
26 Acres of Shifting Sand
Before construction of the memorial could begin, it would be necessary to stabilize the dune from which the Wright brothers conducted their glider experiments. Twenty-five years of steady winds had moved Big Kill Devil Hill 450 feet SW of its 1903 location. The U.S. Army Engineers, using exotic & native grasses & a covering of wood mold, succeeded in stabilizing the "shifting" dune. The Hill stands still now -- supporting a monument to man's greatest dream.
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0005000/05380_0010038359 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
A Monument to the Impossible
The Best Design: Design competition among 35 entrants was won by Rogers & Poor, a NY architectural firm. A 60-foot tower, similar to those used to mark courses in air races, embellished with wings on its side & a 5-point star serving as the base, was to symbolize man's conquest of the air.
No Simple Task: Designed with paper & pencil, it became an entirely different matter to carve 80 tons of solid granite. Using hand & pneumatic tools, the Mount Airy granite was transformed into surgically precise multifaceted blocks. Assembled, they formed the Wright Memorial at the final cost of over $285,000.
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0005000/05380_0010038369 (added ca. 11/17/2007)
Medium: Bronze, Granite
Artist: Oskar Hansen, Alfred Easton Poor (click name for more of that artist's work)
Related subjects: History, American; Orville Wright; Wilbur Wright
Location: Kill Devil Hills North Carolina
Nearest Metro: N/A () (click station name for all sculptures nearby)
Smithsonian American Art Museum's Art Inventories Catalog: Control number 76008625 (dcMem ID #5380 )
Links & other sources
NPS.gov on the Wright Memorial
OuterBanks.com on the Wright Memorial
Wikipedia article on the Wright Brothers Memorial
Wikipedia article on the Wrights
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