100 Years Of Flight

This Dec. 17, 1903, black-and-white file photo shows the Wright Brothers' Flyer lifting off in Kitty Hawk, N.C. The 100th anniversary of man's first powered, heavier-than-air flight was celebrated with six-day festival at Wright Brothers National Memorial, which is located on the site.

Wilbur Wright, left, and his brother, Orville, in an undated photo. On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville was at the controls for that first hop that lasted all of 12 seconds. He and Wilbur alternated for four flights that day; the last, by Wilbur, lasted 59 seconds and ran for 852 feet.

Ken Hyde, of the The Wright Experience, speaks in front of his organization's 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction during an unveiling ceremony at Reagan National Airport, March 18, 2003. The 605-pound, 7-foot-tall airplane, built primarily of wood, steel and muslin, was to sail the exact path of its prototype to commemorate the 100th anniversary on Dec. 17, 2003.

Boy Scout Jonathan DeLucia, 11, holds the U.S. flag at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Dec. 12, 2003, during the opening ceremonies of the First Flight Centennial to honor the Wright Brothers and 100 years of flight.

Amanda Wright Lane, great grand-niece of the Wright brothers, shakes hands with Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart as a portrait of the Wright brothers is unveiled at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Dec. 16, 2003. Former astronaut Neil Armstrong is at left, Ken Mann, center, and Lane's brother, Stephen Wright, is on the right.

Kevin Kochersberger, who was to pilot the 1903 Wright Flyer replica during its historic recreation flight, checks the flight rail at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Dec. 13, 2003.

Harry Brinkley Schiffer looks over the exhibits inside of the First Flight Centennial Pavilion in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Dec. 14, 2003. Schiffer is a relative of Cef Brinkley, who assisted Orville and Wilbur Wright with their historic flight 100 years ago.

Ben Bener, right, of Wethersfield, Conn., helps his son Sandro, 2, pilot a toy 1903 Wright Flyer around the Experimental Aviation Authority Pavilion, Dec. 16, 2003, in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Pedestrians walk from the escalators towards the airline gates as they pass a replica of the Wright Flyer hanging in the Boise Airport rotunda in Boise, Idaho, Dec. 16, 2003.

Crowds fill the grounds of the Wright Brothers Memorial, Dec. 16, 2003, in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., during the First Flight Centennial to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight.

A skydiver arrives with the U.S. flag, Dec. 16, 2003, in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., during the First Flight Centennial to honor the Wright Brothers and 100 years of flight.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology student takes pictures of a full-size replica of the Wright Flyer placed atop the Great Dome by pranksters to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Dec. 17, 2003. The rough replica, which appeared to be made of 2-by-4 wooden planks and some sort of plastic or cloth sheeting, was discovered by MIT police just after sunrise.

A B-2 flies over the Wright Brothers Memorial at the beginning of a wreath-laying ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight, Dec. 17, 2003, at Wright Brothers Hill on the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Winds buffet the U.S. flag as it is raised Dec. 17, 2003, in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., for the First Flight Centennial to honor the Wright Brothers and 100 years of flight.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, left, and actor John Travolta, center, listen to President Bush during a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, Dec. 17, 2003, in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Visitors fill the hill in front of the Wright Brothers Memorial as they wait to see the flight of the 1903 Wright Flyer replica, Dec. 17, 2003.

The 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction, piloted by Kevin Kochersberger, fails to take off, Dec. 17, 2003. On a rainy day when the winds on North Carolina's Outer Banks were uncharacteristically calm, a team of engineers tinkered with the plane and waited for the breeze to pick up before they finally gave up trying to match the feat from 100 years earlier.