December 17, 1903

Wright Flyer

The Wright brothers complete four controlled powered flights at Kill Devil Hills

John T. Daniels had never operated a camera before Orville showed him how to squeeze the shutter bulb. He then took one of history's most recognizable photographs.

10:35 a.m., 17 December 1903

At 10:35 a.m. on 17 December 1903, near the Wrights' camp at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, Orville Wright piloted the Wright Flyer off a level launching rail under its own engine power. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet over the ground.

Five documented witnesses watched — three men from the Kill Devil Life-Saving Station and two from Nags Head. One of them, John T. Daniels, operated the preset camera Orville had positioned.

Four flights before noon

The brothers alternated as pilot, following the result of an earlier coin toss, and made four flights between about 10:30 a.m. and noon, each covering more ground than the last. Wilbur piloted the fourth, staying airborne 59 seconds and covering 852 feet.

They had waited three days for this: Wilbur's 14 December attempt ended in a stall after a launch from a slope and damaged the machine, which they then repaired.

Grounded by noon, telegraphed by afternoon

The fourth landing damaged the forward elevator, and soon afterward a gust overturned the Flyer and broke all its wing ribs. The machine never flew again.

That afternoon the brothers walked about four miles to Kitty Hawk and telegraphed their father with news of four flights and instructions to inform the press. A transmission error turned the best flight's 59 seconds into 57.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 8 sources 3 audit passes

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

What the sources leave uncertain

The date, pilots, first-flight measurements, and fourth-flight measurements are exceptionally well documented by Orville’s diary, the telegram, the photograph, and witnesses.
The flights took place at the Wright camp on the Kill Devil Hills sand flats, several miles south of the village of Kitty Hawk. “Kitty Hawk” is the traditional broad location, but “Kill Devil Hills” is more geographically precise.
Claims of “first flight” depend on criteria. The Smithsonian and Library of Congress identify these as the first sustained, controlled flights of a piloted, powered, heavier-than-air machine; earlier experimenters had achieved unmanned, uncontrolled, disputed, or brief powered hops.