Wright Brothers’ First Flight

Hello! My name is Orville Wright. My brother, Wilbur, and I loved to watch the birds. We would see them flap their big wings and soar through the sky. Up, up, up they would go! We dreamed that one day, we could fly just like them. We had a little bicycle shop where we fixed bikes. We loved to build and tinker with wheels and gears. We thought, if we can make a bicycle move, maybe we can build something that flies! We just knew we had to try and touch the clouds, just like our bird friends.

So, Wilbur and I decided to build our very own flying machine. It looked like a giant kite with two big wings made of wood and cloth. We called it the Wright Flyer. We took it to a big, sandy beach called Kitty Hawk because it was always very windy there. The wind would help lift our Flyer into the air! On a chilly day, December 17, 1903, it was time. I laid down on my tummy on the lower wing. My heart went thump-thump-thump with excitement. The engine started with a loud, rumbly-bumbly sound. Wilbur ran alongside and gave our Flyer a big push to help it go faster and faster.

Then, whoosh! I felt a little bump and then the ground was getting farther away. I was flying! For 12 whole seconds, I was really, truly flying like a bird. I could see the sand and the waves below me. It was the most wonderful feeling in the whole world. Then, the Flyer landed softly back on the sand. Wilbur was cheering and running toward me. We did it! We had made our dream come true. We showed everyone that people could fly, and that if you have a big dream and work hard, anything is possible.