First Flight

Introduction/Motivation

One hundred years ago, on December 17, 1903, on a lonely stretch of the North Carolina coast known as Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers successfully completed the first mechanically-powered human flight. Because of the risk they might not succeed, the Wrights did not invite members of the press to witness the event.

"Five hundred years from now when Americans look back at this era, the greatest accomplishment of this century will be flight," said prominent historian Douglas Brinkley of the University of New Orleans." It was the beginning of seeing Earth as a whole. ... Humankind had been trying to figure out how to be airborne since our earliest days, and here on the shores of North Carolina it had occurred."

In this activity, you will become a witness to history. You will recreate this great historical moment in the style of the classic television program, "You Are There." Broadcast live from 1953-57, this TV show reconstructed significant historical events using authentic primary sources and actual quotations. Real CBS News reporters acted as if they were witnessing the events, interviewing participants "live." The series was based on a radio program of the same name that was broadcast from 1947-50. If you prepare a radio program instead of a television program you will not have to build props, but you will have to make up for the lack of visuals by describing the action.

Procedure

December 17, 2003, marked the 100-year anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight with an attempted re-creation by a reverse-engineered replica of the original 1903 Flyer the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although weather conditions prevented the fragile little replica Flyer from actually taking off, the attempt conveyed the challenges the Wrights had to overcome to realize the dream of human flight.

In this activity, students present a recreation of the Wright brothers' first flight in the style of a popular 1950s CBS television program called "You Are There." The program premise was that real network correspondents reported events as if they were presenting live television news coverage of a memorable moment in history.

Divide the class into teams for various tasks: Research, scriptwriting, cast, set design, videography. The teacher acts as director.

Observing

To prepare the script for your program "First Flight," use authentic primary sources and learn about the television program, "You Are There." Utilize the following to research:

• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wright/

• http://www.paperlessarchives.com/wright_brothers_papers.html

• https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/thefirstflight.htm

Thinking

Historians treasure primary sources, such as eyewitness accounts, because they provide a first-hand perspective on events. It is important to bear in mind, though, that an eyewitness account has its limitations. It is one person's view and may be biased. Historians prefer to have a large number of primary sources in order to crosscheck facts and get a more complete picture of events.

An eyewitness account such as Amos Root's reporting of early flights by the Wright brothers at Huffman Prairie, Ohio, is a true gem because it so successfully captures what it felt like to witness for the first time a human being take off in an airplane. We are given the privilege of living the moment along with Mr. Root (to set the dramatic stage, read his eyewitness account aloud to the class):

At first there was considerable trouble about getting the machine up in the air and the engine well up to speed. They did this by running along a single-rail track perhaps 200 feet long. It was also, in the early experiments, found advisable to run against the wind, because they could then have a greater time to practice in the air and not get so far away from the building where it was stored. Since they can come around to the starting-point, however, they can start with the wind even behind them; and with a strong wind behind it is an easy matter to make even more than a mile a minute. The operator takes his place lying flat on his face. This position offers less resistance to the wind. The engine is started and got up to speed. The machine is held until ready to start by a sort of trap to be sprung when all is ready; then with a tremendous flapping and snapping of the four-cylinder engine, the huge machine springs aloft.

When it first turned that circle, and came near the starting-point, I was right in front of it; and I said then, and I believe still, it was one of the grandest sights, if not the grandest sight, of my life. Imagine a locomotive that has left its track, and is climbing up in the air right toward you — a locomotive without any wheels, we will say, but with white wings instead, we will further say — a locomotive made of aluminum. Well, now, imagine this white locomotive, with wings that spread 20 feet each way, coming right toward you with a tremendous flap of its propellers, and you will have something like what I saw. The younger brother bade me move to one side for fear it might come down suddenly; but I tell you, friends, the sensation that one feels in such a crisis is something hard to describe.

For Mr. Root's full eyewitness account, see The First Reporter, at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/wright/reporter.html.

Writing

Prepare your First Flight script. Include in your cast of characters -- one (or both) of the Wright brothers and someone giving the interview. You will need to include:

• Five questions that you have prepared

• Five answers that those questions

You will then record the interview using the camera on your Chromebook -- this means you will have to have a second person to help you (parents and siblings are always great choices). You may read off the script, by try to be dynamic! This is Theatre!!!!