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Dreams Come True: The Story of the First Fliaht BY MARY MADEN Illustrated By Vicki Wallace The Story So Far... Wilbur and Orville Wright have left their home in Dayton, Ohio and traveled to Kitty Hawk to experiment with a fly ing machine that they have in vented. The machine is a glider without an engine. The broth ers test the machine in manned flight, as a kite and flying from a derrick. While being flown from the derrick., the machine crashes. Undaunted.-the Wright Brothers decide to fix the glider. CHAPTER NINE: WIND AND SAND Kitty Hawk was the place for wind! Fierce storms that the locals called nor'easters would blow up suddenly, especially in the fall. Early one October morning, after the repairs on the crashed glider were fin ished, a nor’easter hit the Wrights' camp. Frigid 45-mile an-hour winds whipped the ocean waves into foamy white caps. The Wright Brothers woke to the violent shaking of their tent. Its canvas top and sides shook so hard that it sounded like thunder. Wilbur and Orville spilled out of their tent. If they did not secure the tent, it would blow away! Sand stung their faces and blew across their camp in clouds. Orville thought of their little mockingbird friend as he held on to the tent. He hoped he would safely ride out the storm. After the big storm, the villagers looked out of their windows to see if the Wrights’ tent was still there. Even the mocking bird showed his concern. Wilbur and Orville were intact, but the glider was buried beneath a pile of sand. It took all morning to dig it out! “We came down here for wind and sand,” said Orville as he shoveled, “and we have got them!” That afternoon, they continued their experiments They tested how the glider re sponded under different loads and wind speeds. They flew the glider with the tail in differeni positions. Sometimes they fLeve the glider empty. Sometimes they used chains for addec weight. And sometimes thej used a boy named Tom! Tom Tate was Bill Tate’s nephew. Tom was a little fellow who could “...tell more bi£ yarns than any kid of his size.' The Wrights used Tom ir their experiments because he weighed forty pounds less thar Vii& they did, yet he had close to the same surface area as an adult. Tom thought it great fun, but these rides were not play Us ing Tom enabled the Wrights to test the glider even when the wind was too light for them. As they tested the glider, Wilbur wrote his findings in a note book. At the end of the day, they had a clearer idea what the flying machine could and could not do. But Wilbur was troubled and confused by his readings. The glider didn’t lift as he thought it would. Wilbur knew that in order to solve the mys teries of how to control the fly ing machine, they would have to resort to making free glides like the ill-fated Otto Lilienthal. Just before the third week of October, Wilbur was ready to try a free glide. Wilbur, ly ing prone in the glider, watched the sand fly by under him as he sped down the big hill. He could hardly believe it. He was really flying! To his amazement, Wilbur discov ered that fore and aft equilib rium was easy to maintain. By the end of the day, a dozen free flights were made for a grand total of two minutes in the air. the next day, the wind died down. There could be no more exciting glides. Be cause Katharine had had to fire one of the men helping out at the bicycle shop, they would have to return to Dayton. On October 23,1900, they broke camp. The flying ma dhine had served them well, but it was no longer any use to them. They left it lying in the sand. Wilbur and Orville, boarded Israel Perry’s boat on the first leg of their jour ney home. On their trip, Wilbur and Orville thought about what they accom plished. They had not per formed any miracles while at Kitty Hawk, but they were sat isfied. They had not been able to practice with their flying machine for hours and hours. Their time actually flying was anly minutes, but they were generally pleased. All in all, the Wrights’ theories and then flying machine had held up well under real conditions. It was one thing to prove things an paper, but Wilbur and Orville had actually put their theories to the test! “Well, Orv,” Wilbur said as their train sped homeward, “we are able to return without having our pet theories com pletely knocked in the head by the hard logic of experience, and our own brains dashed out in the bargain!” “I can’t wait to go back again!” Orville interjected with excitement. Both brothers became quiet, each lost in thoughts that turned back to a place of wind and sand—to a place that had once sounded so strange. Kitty Hawk. Now it was a place they had come to know well. They thought about the people there, strangers that they now called friends. Israel Perry. The Tates. About the same time that Orville and Wilbur thought of the Tates, Mrs. Tate was think ing about the two Mr. Wrights. She was also busy making her little girls fine new dresses of freshly washed, white French sateen! Next... Chapter Ten: The Wright Brothers vs. the Mosqui toes Provided by NC Press Foun dation Copyright 2000 by Mary Maden. All rights reserved. To access a Power Point about the Wright Brothers, visit the author’s website at: www.marymaden.com SPONSORING THE SERIAL "DREAMS COME TRUE• THE STORY OF THE FIRST FLIGHT —T* r—m—irirrrmi——Mg—-— . i • <-/ • ' * BILL CULPEPPER NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE | Proven Leadership Working for Northeastern North Carolina. March Writing Prompt Think of a new invention, tell me about it, and convince me to buy It. The following essay was submitted by Mrs. Lloyd and Mr. Field's 5th grade classes at Lawrence Academy. What time in the past world would you liked to have lived? I would have like to live in Athens, Greece when the First Olympics were held. I would have liked this time because I would get to see the first people competing in the first Olympics, the games they played back then, and I would have liked to see Athens, Greece when it wasn't old. First of all, I would have liked to see the first people that competed in the Olympics. If I went to Athens, I would have liked to see if other countries besides 6reece competed in the Olympics. I would have liked to meet the first competers that raced in chariot races because we don't have chariot races anymore. If the King judged, I would have tried to meet him. As you can see it would be fun to meet the first competers or people of Athens, Greece. Secondly, if I went to Athens, Greece in the time of the Olympics I would have liked to see what games they played back then. I would see if our sports originated from them. I think bobsledding came from the chariot races. It would be fun to see the games they played back then because they probably had different color medals, they probably didn't have many rules, and the games they played were probably different and more bloody than ours. As you can see the games they played back then were probably different than ours. Finally, it would have been fun to see Athens, Greece when it wasn't old. I would have liked to see the stadium when it didn't have the crack in it. I think the architecture of Greeee would have been superb. It would have been fun to find out what they made their buildings out of and try to make the mixture for a building. As you can see it would have been fun to see things in 6reeee when it wasn't old. I would have liked this time in the past because I would have liked to see the first competers, the games they played back then, and I would have liked to see Athens, 6reece when it wasn't old. I would recommend that if you have a dream to go to the Olympics, go ahead and go for it! Rachael McCarthy ^citcf UO Me e c S - I I rxj NEEDS AND WANTS Artwork by Jay McKinnon, lit Grade, Mrs. Goodman, White Oak Elementary A Special Thank You To All Of Our Newspapers In Education Sponsors! W SPONSORING TWO CLASSES community around jg Christopher Koppelman, D.D.S. • Fran Mclntyre-Smith* Noble Brothers • Nucor Steel • Chowan Chiropractic SPONSORING ONE CLASS reading habits. Albemarle Boats, Inc. • American Legion Auxiliary Post 40 • Britthaven* Carolina Classic Boats, Inc.* Mr. & Mrs. Norman Castellani • Centura Edenton Tea Party Chapter NSDAR • Edenton United Methodist Church • Edenton Urology • Edenton Women's Club • Evans Funerals & Cremations Hood Ellis • Gateway Bank* Bill Gardner* Holt, York, McDarris & High, LLP* Rustin Howell • Kings Training Camps • Ernest & Anne Marie Knighton Doris Larsh • Leary Plant Farm, Inc. Leon Nixon Catering • Magnolia's of Edenton • Regulator Marine • Sound Home Builders Sherwin Williams • Mr. and Mrs. Gary Stanley • Summercorp, Inc. • Whichard & Woolard Investment Group you to Sdeuton THotooo *tux6iH$ tde Student 'Zf&uM A petedUl DENTON OTORS gMBM N. Broad St Ext (252)482-8421 1-800-643-3878 Edenton, NG _. , ’ www.edentonmotors.com (2s Odamo&tm. ¥ PONTIAC « IXUTIHIIT mitus GMC t_1_1 Ctomtwrs Ooriaw Hottey Ed Pur year Earl SfT»ih Ray Wright
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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March 5, 2003, edition 1
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