If you ask us, OBX Airplanes is very lucky. Every day we get to fly over the location where the first
controlled flights of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft took place. Every day that we fly over the
Wright Brothers National Memorial we are reminded of how aviation as we know it began. When we fly
over the monument in one of our Cessna aircraft or our Waco biplane, we can’t help but think about
how far we have come in just over a century.

The previous OBX Airplanes blog touched on the Wright Brothers National Memorial and on the first
flights that Wilbur and Orville made on December 17 th , 1903. The next blogs will take a more detailed
look at how the Wright brothers developed and accomplished their dream of flying.

Early Career: Newspapers and Bicycles

Neither Wilbur nor his younger brother Orville graduated from high school. After he had completed four
years of high school, but before he could receive his diploma, Wilbur’s family moved suddenly from
Richmond, Indiana to Dayton, Ohio. Moves of this nature were not unusual for the Wright Brothers. As a
bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, their father Milton moved his family two dozen
times before settling finally in Dayton in 1884.

In 1889 Orville, having already designed and built a printing press with his brother’s help, dropped out of
school and opened his own printing business. Soon Wilbur would join his brother’s print shop. In March
of that year they began a weekly newspaper called the West Side News. Orville acted as publisher,
Wilbur as editor. In April 1890 they converted the paper into a daily called The Evening Item. It lasted
only four months. They turned their attention to commercial printing after the failure of their daily
newspaper, but this too would prove short lived.

In December 1892 the Wright brothers opened a bicycle repair, rental and retail shop called the Wright
Cycle Exchange (later the Wright Cycle Company). The company would grow and transition to six
different locations in Dayton. By 1896 Wilbur and Orville were manufacturing and selling bicycles of
their own design. The success of their bicycle business allowed them to focus energy and money on their
true passion: aviation

Experimenting with Airfoils

The Wright brothers’ interest aviation began in 1878 when their father brought them home a toy
helicopter. The toy was made of paper, bamboo and cork. It used a rubber band to twirl the rotor. The
boys played with the toy helicopter until it broke, and then they built their own.

Even as they grew older, the Wright brothers held on to their childhood curiosity and enthusiasm. At the
bicycle shop, the brothers were becoming more and more absorbed with aviation. Wilbur wrote to the
Smithsonian to request information and publications about aeronautics. Then the brothers began
playing with airfoils. They attached a third wheel horizontally above the front wheel of one of their St.
Claire bicycles (which they had designed and manufactured). This third wheel acted as a platform on
which to mount airfoils. They could then ride the bike with the airfoil situated just in front of the handle
bars. This allowed them to literally feel how the air flowed over and around the foil and to see how the
foil would respond.

The next step was to build a six-foot wind tunnel on the second floor of their bicycle shop. Between
October and December of 1901, they tested over 200 different shapes of scale-model wings. These
tests, according to Wright brothers’ biographer Fred Howard, "were the most crucial and fruitful
aeronautical experiments ever conducted in so short a time with so few materials and at so little expense." The experiments would certainly pay off down the road…

Check out the next OBX Airplanes blog to learn how the Wright brothers went from experimenting with
a wind tunnel in a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio to flying gliders off sand dunes in Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina.

​The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills is a 60-foot tall granite monument to the first
controlled flights of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft and to Wilbur and Orville Wright, the two
brothers who accomplished these history-altering achievements. The monument sits atop 90-foot hill,
and so rises 150 feet above the Ocean. A marine beacon shines from the top of the monument to guide
mariners along the coast of the Outer Banks. Inscribed at the base of the monument is the following
phrase: "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."

Captain William H. Kindervater of the Quartermaster Corps was selected to prepare the site for
construction. He planted and fertilized Bermuda grass to secure the sandy foundation on which the
monument was to be built. Construction began in October of 1931 and was completed in November of
the following year. Orville Wright was in attendance for the dedication on November 13th , 1932 as were
approximately 1,000 others who braved the stormy, windy fall day on the Outer Banks. Sadly, Wilbur
had died twenty years earlier in 1912.

The First Flights on the Outer Banks

On December 14th , 1903 Wilbur (who had won the coin toss determining which brother would control
their Wright Flyer I) took off for the first time from a sandy dune on the Outer Banks. This first flight
ended abruptly when the aircraft stalled shortly after takeoff. This first flight lasted only three seconds
and resulted in minor damage to the Flyer. Wilbur would write that this first attempt saw “only partial
success,” but that "the power is ample, and but for a trifling error due to lack of experience with this
machine and this method of starting, the machine would undoubtedly have flown beautifully."

The brothers repaired the damage to their aircraft and waited for another weather window, which
presented itself on December 17th . That day, each brother took off twice into a cold and gusty headwind
and changed the world forever. Orville was the first to fly. He took off at 10:35 am and flew 120 feet in
twelve seconds. The next two flights, by Wilbur and Orville respectively, covered 175 feet and 200 feet.
They each flew about ten feet off the ground.

The brothers must have seen the real potential for the future of manned, powered flight with their final
attempt of the day. Wilbur took off and, after faltering at the beginning with the difficult controls,
managed to fly over 850 feet in about one minute. According to Orville’s account:

“Wilbur started the fourth and last flight at just about 12 o'clock. The first few hundred feet were up and down, as before, but by the time three hundred ft had been covered, the machine was under much
better control. The course for the next four or five hundred feet had but little undulation. However,
when out about eight hundred feet the machine began pitching again, and, in one of its darts
downward, struck the ground. The distance over the ground was measured to be 852 feet; the time of
the flight was 59 seconds. The frame supporting the front rudder was badly broken, but the main part of
the machine was not injured at all. We estimated that the machine could be put in condition for flight
again in about a day or two.” Despite the rough landing, the final flight that day opened the door to the future of aviation.

Fly Over the Wright Brothers National Memorial

OBX Airplanes offers air tours that fly over the monument that commemorates the Wright Brothers and
the location where they made history on that cold, breezy day in 1903. We take off from Dare County
Regional Airport and circle over the Wright Brothers National Memorial before heading north or south
along the beautiful coastline of the Outer Banks. Call us today to book an air tour in one of our Cessna
airplanes or our Waco Biplane and experience the beauty of the OBX from the air.

Waves crashed over her low free board and flooded her vents. The heavy turret made her unstable in the rough seas and she rolled and pitched violently. Leaks began to appear at her seams. The water made its way to the engine room where it stifled the furnace fires and wet the unburned coal. Soon there was not enough heat to create adequate pressure to run the steam pumps. The commander order men to the hand pumps but it was too late; the USS Monitor sank sixteen miles south east of Cape Hatteras with the loss of sixteen souls. Forty-seven men were rescued by life boats from the USS Rhode Island.

See Shipwrecks from the Sky: The Triangle Wrecks  

There are several wrecks in the shallows close to the beach along the Outer Banks. These wrecks can be viewed from the air when the ocean is clear. OBX Airplanes offers air tours that fly along the beach and provide amazing views of these shipwrecks. 

The Triangle Wrecks near Second Street in Kill Devil Hills is where two large ships ran aground in the same location two years apart. The first was the Kyzickes, a 292-foot Greek crude oil tanker in route from Baltimore to Spain in 1927. She was damaged and disabled in a storm and drifted south onto a shoal off Kill Devil Hills. 

The Second ship that makes up the Triangle Wrecks is the 244-foot freighter Carl Gerhard. In 1929, The Carl Gerhard was battered by a storm for five days before finally running into the partially submerged remains of the Kyzickes. The Carl Gerhard cut the tanker’s hull in half as it plowed onto the sandbar.    

OBX Airplanes would like to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day…and give you some ideas for how to
really impress that special someone. Now we’re not knocking the classic Valentine’s Day expressions of
love. There’s nothing wrong with flowers, cards, chocolate, and romantic candlelit dinners. We’re just
saying that those things are slightly overused on this particular day of the year. If you really want to
impress your Valentine, we suggest you take her (or him) on an exciting and romantic flight over the
Outer Banks.

We offer many different types of Air Tours at OBX Airplanes and can tailor these to help you up your
romance game. You could take your loved one on a romantic sunset Air Tour in one of our Cessna
Aircraft (followed of course by that romantic candlelit dinner). You could go for an adventurous and
romantic flight in our beautiful red WACO Biplane (also available for a sunset flight). If you really want to
score some points, you could write a message in the sand before the flight and point it out to your loved
one as you fly over that section of the beach. Get creative with the message. It could be a giant heart
with both of your names inside, it could say “[Insert Name], will you marry me?” Just be sure to double
check the spelling and consider the tide as you don’t want the ocean to wash your message away before
he or she gets to see it!

Our banner towing service is another great way to express your message of love. It could be a unique
way to propose to your future wife or a great way to say, “Will you be my Valentine?” Take a bottle of
wine and a picnic out to the beach (it’s a beautiful, sunny, spring-like day here on the Outer Banks) and
watch your Valentine’s surprise as the message flies into view.
​
Of course, OBX Airplanes is not suggesting you limit your expressions of love and romance to just
Valentine’s Day. One of our Air Tours or Biplane Rides is the perfect thing to do as a couple on the Outer
Banks any day of the year. Whether it’s a first date or a 50 th wedding anniversary, flying over the
beautiful beaches of the OBX is sure to impress and be something you will both remember forever.

OBX Airplanes offers a wide range of aerial services: banner towing, flight instruction, biplane rides, and
Cessna tours. We are proud to employ a team of highly skilled certified pilots to provide these services.
Continuing with the employee introductions that we began a few weeks ago, we are happy to introduce
you to another pilot on our team: Elijah Whyte.

Elijah Whyte grew up all over the Eastern U.S. and learned to fly at the Liberty University School of
Aeronautics, which has been awarded the Loening Trophy for the outstanding all-around collegiate
aviation program in the U.S. as well as the American Airlines Safety Award. At OBX Airplanes, Elijah
spends much of his flight time in Citabria and Cessna aircraft towing banners and leading air tours.

Elijah’s favorite plane to fly is the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser, which was the first light personal aircraft to
circle the globe (Clifford Evans and George Truman flew around the world in two PA-12s from August 9
to December 10, 1947). When asked what airplane he would most like to fly, Elijah’s answer is the
Fokker Dr.I Triplane, the aircraft associated with Manfred Von Richthofen or the Red Barron. When he’s
not in the air, Elijah enjoys white water kayaking, mountain biking, surfing, collecting rocks, and cooking.
Elijah is an ideal pilot to take you and your friends and family on a scenic air tour of the Outer Banks. This winter Elijah accepted a position with Aerwood Aviation as a tail wheel instructor. We would welcome him back at OBX Airplanes anytime!  On these air tours you will enjoy amazing views of the beaches, inlets, shipwrecks, piers, bridges, and lighthouses. We do our air tours in a variety of Cessna aircraft: Cessna 172s, Cessna 177s, and Cessna 182s.



​These planes provide for the best views with their high wings and panoramic windows. Not only
are our air tours a unique and adventurous way to experience the beauty of the Outer Banks, they are
also surprisingly affordable. Plane rides start at only $15 dollars a person and from there you can choose
from our other offerings: a $69 Discovery Flight, a $99 Tour, a $149 Inlet Tour, a $249 Custom /
Photography Tour, or a $299 Sunrise / Sunset Tour. These tour prices are per plane and can
accommodate groups of up to three with individual seats and plenty of room. Consider doing something
exciting and unique on your next vacation. Come fly with us at OBX Airplanes for an Outer Banks
adventure you’ll never forget!

In addition to WACO Biplane tours, Cessna tours, and banner towing services OBX Airplanes also offers flight training with the best flight instructors around. If you are interested in getting your private pilot’s license, take the first step; schedule an introductory lesson with one of our experienced instructors. 
Philip Reep is our maintenance manager at OBX Airplanes as well as one of our certified flight instructors. Philip is from Greensboro / Lexington, NC and learned to fly at the Davidson County Airport. The excitement of flying drew Philip to flying when he was nineteen years old and he decided to get his pilot’s license because flying is “one of the coolest things you can do.” Philip spends much of his flight time in one of our Cessna aircraft, with the Cessna 150 being his favorite plane to fly. 

The first step towards obtaining a private pilot’s license would be to schedule an introductory flight lesson with one of our qualified instructors. This lesson will begin with a brief pre-flight ground school and continue with flying time with your certified instructor. You will take off from the Dare County Regional Airport on the North End of Roanoke Island and soon see the beauty of the Outer Banks from a new perspective – one that will have you hooked on flying right away!
​
At OBX Airplanes much of our flight training is conducted in a Cessna 150, one of the safest and most reliable aircraft ever built. The Cessna 150 is also one of the most widely used aircraft for flight instruction. 

Flight training in a Cessna 150 is also surprisingly affordable. With prepayment of 10 hours, the cost of renting the plane for a lesson comes to only $90/hr (including fuel). The instructor rate is $55/hr. These competitive rates will allow you to get your instrument rating for under $5,000. For more information about our flight training, click here.
​
The Outer Banks is truly one of the most beautiful places in the country to fly. Our certified instructors at OBX Airplanes can help you get your pilot’s license within a matter of weeks, so call us today learn to fly where the Wright Brothers did!  

OBX Airplanes is proud to employ a team of skilled professional pilots to provide a wide range of flight services.  Is your family looking for a fun and exciting way to see the beauty of the Outer Banks? Then fly with one of our pilots on a scenic air tour over our beaches and lighthouses. Maybe you want a little more adventure? Soar with one of our pilots in our open cockpit WACO biplane. Would you like to give your local business a boost? An OBX Airplanes pilot can tow an advertising banner that will be seen by thousands of potential customers up and down the beach. Or have you always dreamed of flying yourself? Take off from the Dare County Reginal Airport with one of our experienced qualified flight instructors and you can be on your way to getting your private pilot’s license.

Continuing with what we started in our last blog post, OBX Airplanes is happy to introduce another of our pilot’s: Luke Williams, originally of Virginia Beach, has been flying with OBX Airplanes since February of 2018. We are happy to have him on our team. Luke began flying when he was sixteen years old in a Citabria aircraft. He completed his flight training at McClellan-Palomar Airport (KCRQ) in Carlsbad, California. Luke’s favorite plane to fly (and the plane he flies most often) is our WACO YMF-5C biplane. When Luke isn’t cruising over the beaches of the Outer Banks in the open cockpit biplane, he enjoys surfing, snowboarding trips, and generally anything outdoors. 

If you are looking for an exciting Outer Banks adventure, then come fly with Luke in our beautiful red WACO biplane. You’ll hear and feel the power of the R-755 Radial Engine, smell and feel the salt air as you soar through it in an open cockpit. The WACO YMF-5C combines the romance, beauty and adventure of the 1930s Golden Era biplane with the modern safety and technology of an FAA certified aircraft. Our biplane can accommodate two passengers, and we guarantee that flying with Luke over the lighthouses, bridges, and beaches of the Outer Banks will make for an unforgettable adventure.  

OBX Airplanes is the premier provider of flight services on the Outer Banks. We are happy to offer flight
instruction, air tours, and aerial banner advertising services. In order to provide all of these flight
services we employ a team of highly trained and dedicated pilots. Over the next few blog posts we are
proud to introduce our expert team.

John Eric Midyette, 31, of Engelhard, North Carolina began flying in High School. He took flight lessons
with his Dad and it was “love at first sight.” John completed his flight training at OBX Airport with Jenny
Hawk, the owner of OBX Airplanes. Like other flight students at OBX Airplanes, John learned to fly on our
fleet of Cessna Aircraft. A dedicated pilot, he now works as a flight Instructor at OBX Airplanes. In
addition to flight instruction, John also tows banners and provides air tours to tourists and locals alike.
John’s favorite plane to fly is a Citabria, a light single-engine, two seat aircraft designed for flight training
and utility and capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses of +5g to -2g. Citabria is truly a sports plane
designed for aerobatics. In fact, “Citabria” spelled backwards is “Airbatic” and that is no coincidence.
John loves this aerobatic and high-g style of aviation. When asked what aircraft he would most like to
fly, he came back with two answers: the Extra Flugzeugbau EA 300 and the Space Shuttle. The Extra 300
is capable or ±10g with one person and ±8g with two. It was designed to be the ultimate aerobatic
competition aircraft.
​
In addition to flying, John also loves “piano, guitar, volunteering with [his] church, and Daddying.” We
are happy to have John as a member of our team at OBX Airplanes and hope that you will come fly with
him soon! When it comes to John’s aviation career “the sky’s the limit.”