Pride

Wilbur and Orville were men who changed the world.  Their ingenuity, tenacity, and courage resulted in  man rising from the sand dunes of the Outer Banks and powering through the air.  That act has impacted all of our lives.  The machines that resulted and the capacity they have has brought great blessing and sorrow.  I doubt that they could have envisioned all that would come of December 17, 1903.

The original flight path is marked by stone markers indicating the direction and landing spot of the first efforts.  The length of the first flight was shorter than the wing span of some modern aircraft.  But, it was an amazing accomplishment, not the least of which was controllability.  That was the crux of the matter - how to control the machine once it got into the air.  They did so through a process called "wing warping".  A bit of controversy still surrounds just who thought of wing warping first.  Glenn Curtis or the Wrights.

There is a large and quite impressive memorial which stands as a sentinental over the field in which all of this takes place.  It is inscribed with the words: In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable.  Frankly, that is a bit of overstatement.  Can it truly be said that man has conquered the air?  Sorry for the nitpicking and I certainly do not want to take away from what the Wrights accomplished.  I was and am in awe.  But, it is just like man to proclaim that he has conquered something when in reality he has, at least, learned to work with it and in it as an environment.  Pride goes before a fall.  I am not sure Orville and Wilbur felt like they conquered anything.  They discovered that man can fly.  But, the air can still win if we do not respect the laws of God and believe that we are invincible.