Museum and Learning Center

"Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so that we could discover them!!"
- Orville Wright, June 7, 1903

Plans to improve the Visitor Center at Wright Brothers National Memorial 
in Kill Devil Hills, NC are underway.

Wright Brothers National Memorial 
Plans for the New Museum and Learning Center

Wright Brothers National Memorial is a celebration of the work of the Wright brothers and serves as a reminder of our capabilities as individuals. 

" This flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world" - Orville Wright, 1913

In December, 1903, on the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers achieved the milestone of manned, controlled, powered flight. Today, the location of the first flight is protected by the National Park Service for its value and significance in our nation's heritage. The dream of flight realized by the Wright brothers at this site changed the world forever.  

Inspired by the centennial of flight in 2003, millions of people will journey to Wright Brothers National Memorial over the next several years. But the setting for much of the visitor experience must be improved.

The Foundation and the National Park Service are partners in restoring and preserving the National Register-listed Wright Memorial Visitor Center, while improving the educational and inspirational experience for visitors through the construction of a new adjacent Museum and Learning Center.

The National Park Service will rehabilitate the historic building and infrastructure. The Foundation is raising funds for architectural and exhibit design, construction of the new Museum and Learning Center, and installation of state-of-the-art exhibits.

Together, the historic Visitor Center and the new Museum and Learning Center will preserve and renew resources at the Memorial. In addition, our ability to tell the story of the Wright brothers and their discovery will provide a legacy for human potential and educational opportunities for future generations.

We are pleased to share with you our plans for helping millions of visitors over the next several years re-discover how the Wright brothers first invented flight through the new Museum and Learning Center.

   

Kitty Hawk and The Outer Banks

This exhibit area will take the visitor back in time to the Outer Banks of 1903.

We will see the Wright brothers’ early campsite and get an idea of what it was like living and working in these spare facilities in often uncomfortable weather. We will also show visitors how the Outer Banks have changed over the last century.  

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A recreation of the Kitty Hawk Life Saving Station will tell the story of local residents who helped the Wright brothers conduct their experiments.  And, because the wind is still a constant element of the environment of Kill Devil Hills, we are planning an anemometer exhibit displaying the current state of the winds outside of the Museum.   

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Wrights in Dayton

This area will provide our opportunity to see where the Wright brothers came from, what family, educational, and cultural forces built their characters, and where they went in the years after their 1903 flights in Kitty Hawk.

  
Wrights as Scientists and Engineers

Arranged as a timeline, this area will be dedicated to the engineering efforts and scientific research the Wright brothers conducted from 1899 to 1903.  This area follows the design paths of the Wright brothers: flight stability and control (roll, pitch, and yaw), lift (wing warping & the refinement of the wing design information), power (engine design and construction), thrust (propeller design).  

Each of the four elements of the Wright brothers' work has associated with it several interactive and hands-on elements. These allow the visitors to examine for themselves the principles and methods employed by Wilbur and Orville to understand and overcome the difficulties they encountered.  

The Flight Room

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Thanks to the National Park Service’s commitment to renovate and preserve the existing Visitor Center with its distinctive dome and excellent views of the first flight grounds, the Foundation can seek funding to improve an already popular visitor experience.

The Flight Room will continue to house historically accurate reproductions of the 1903 Flyer and 1902 glider. To improve this experience, the new arrangement of the reproductions will allow visitors a view between the lower and upper wings of the Flyer and a view of the 1902 Glider suspended above and tilted downward slightly for a view of its workings.

In the Flight Room, National Park Service Interpreters describe the history, physics, and flights of the Wright brothers’ creations, and is for many visitors one of the best parts of coming to Wright Brothers National Memorial. These personal presentations will be enhanced through special lighting and an audio-visual system which will enable all visitors to see and hear the details of these fascinating machines. Additional improvements planned for the Flight Room include more seating.

Additional exhibits and spaces are currently being designed, and we hope you check back here to learn about our progress.

One exciting development currently in the works is a specially commissioned film for the new auditorium in the Museum. We believe that this engaging and high quality audiovisual production will allow visitors to soar away from the sands of Kill Devil Hill and experience the astonishing sights and feelings that come with flying. 

December 17, 1903 . . . From that day forward, powered human flight changed the way we live, work, play, fight our wars, and explore our world. Sharing the impact of aviation and sparking the dream of flight in visitors young and old is one of our goals for this project.

Join us now to ensure that we can celebrate the centennial with a new Museum and Learning Center to honor the Wright brothers and to inspire future generations. Our goal to complete fundraising for the new Museum is Fall 2001 in order to be open for the 2003 centennial season.

Contact us to support this Campaign, or send your gift to First Flight Centennial Foundation, Post Office Box 80337, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27623. All donors will receive a tax receipt, and your support will be gratefully received and wisely invested in this important initiative.

To learn more about how you, your family, your company or other organizations can receive recognition for major gifts to this project, please contact us.

For more information:  
Julie Ketner Rigby  
Director of Development  
Phone: 919/840-2003 
Fax:    919/840-5476  

Post Office Box 80337
Raleigh,
North Carolina 27623


Tel: 919-715-1362
Fax: 919-715-1382

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email: info@firstflightcentennial.org