The Wright Brothers’ Museum on the Outer Banks is a fascinating place. It is in Kill Devil Hills close to Kitty Hawk and covers a fairly large area. We first drove round Kill Devil Hill which is surmounted by a large monument to the brothers. It is possible to walk up to the top of the hill where there are good views over the surrounding area but we stayed at the bottom where there is a life size metal statue re-enacting the first photograph of the first manned flight.
The visitor centre is close to the large car park and has comprehensive information about the history and family life of the Wright brothers, the preparation for the first flight and what happened afterwards as well as previous efforts at flight. Regular talks give further interesting information about how the aircraft was designed and worked. Also in this are granite boulders marking the take off and distance reached by the first flights and the reconstructed 1903 hangar and quarters/workshop.
We had planned to “pop in” for an hour before we left on our journey back but it was so interesting that we spent most of the morning there and considered it time well spent. It is run by the National Park Service and cost a very reasonable $4.
