Orville Wright’s birthday gave National Aviation Day its date, and this year it comes on Thursday, August 19, 2027. Congress backed the idea in 1939.
Why August 19?
Dayton, Ohio, is where Orville was born, on August 19, 1871. The day honors flight on his birthday.
From a Dayton Print Shop to a Federal Day
Before airplanes, Orville and Wilbur ran a print shop in west Dayton. It printed the Dayton Tattler, edited by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, for the city’s Black community.
In spring 1893, the brothers opened a bicycle shop. Repairs and sales became their main source of income.
Kill Devil Hills, 1903
On December 17, 1903, they were camped at Kill Devil Hills on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. A 27-mph wind was blowing, stronger than they wanted.
It was their second try, after a December 14 attempt failed. The brothers used a sheet to signal volunteers at the lifesaving station that they were ready again.
At 10:35, Orville released the restraining wire. He covered about 120 feet before the Flyer hit the sand.
John Daniels, from the nearby lifesaving station, snapped a preset camera as the craft left the ground. Wilbur is running alongside.
They made four flights that day. Wilbur’s last one covered 852 feet in 59 seconds, before a gust rolled the machine and badly damaged it.
The Flyer’s long trip home
London’s Science Museum got the 1903 Flyer on loan from Orville in 1925. Orville was angry that a Smithsonian label called Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome “capable” of flight before the Wrights.
That feud lasted almost 20 years. In 1944, after Smithsonian Secretary Charles Abbot published a retraction, the two men reached an agreement.
Its homecoming came on December 17, 1948, the 45th anniversary of the first flight. The Flyer went on display in the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building.
Congress steps in
Congress approved a resolution on May 11, 1939. President Franklin Roosevelt followed that July, naming August 19 of that year and every year after as National Aviation Day.
Wright lived to see the honor. He died in Dayton on January 30, 1948, at 76.
The law now sits in Title 36 of the U.S. Code, section 118. It lets the president proclaim the day each year and ask that flags fly on all government buildings.
Stirring Interest in Flight
Inspiring people is the point. The statute aims to “further stimulate interest in aviation.” Roosevelt’s 1939 proclamation pointed to the field’s rapid progress.
Orville’s own life showed the risks. In 1908, during Army trials at Fort Myer, Virginia, his plane crashed and killed his passenger, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge.
Aviation policy kept his attention. He served on the federal aeronautics committee that came before NASA, the National Park Service records.
Ways to Mark the Day
- Visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.
- Walk Huffman Prairie, about eight miles east of Dayton, where the brothers kept testing after 1903.
- See Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood, the mansion Orville moved into in 1914.
- Read Miracle at Kitty Hawk, a book of the brothers’ letters edited by Fred Kelly.
- See the original Flyer at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
- Fly a flag, as the law asks of federal buildings.
- Pace out 852 feet to feel the length of Wilbur’s best flight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big was the 1903 Flyer?
It was 40 feet long and weighed 605 pounds.
How fast was Orville’s first flight?
Groundspeed was just 6.8 mph into the headwind. Airspeed was 34 mph.
Who ran the Wright Company?
Wilbur led it first. Orville took over after his brother died in 1912 and sold his stake in 1915.
Sources
- U.S. Code – 36 U.S.C. 118, National Aviation Day
- The American Presidency Project – Proclamation 2343, National Aviation Day (1939)
- National Park Service – The First Flight
- National Park Service – Orville Wright’s Life Story
- Smithsonian Libraries – National Aviation Day (2012)
- Smithsonian Institution Archives – The Wright Brothers: Pioneers in Aviation