It’s too bad that the image of the Century of Flight Celebration that was most widely flashed to the non-flying world was of the 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction lying in a mud puddle. The weeklong festivities at Kill Devil Hills were a huge success for every one of the thousands of aviation enthusiasts who attended no matter what happened with the re-creation of the first flight. But the dozens of television cameras and network news reporters on hand were focused on the fragile Flyer, and the few seconds of its roll down the launching rail and flop into the puddle made every newscast.
Just as the Wrights indirectly taught all of us to fly, the re-creation of that first flight on December 17, 2003 holds a lesson for every pilot-the weather still rules the air. Every aircraft has its limits set by the weather, not by any amount of pilot skill, and that may be the only aspect of aviation that hasn’t changed in the last 100 years.
