Time On Their Hands

Chapter Seven

(The children have been transported from a small, unassuming farmhouse to the coast of North Carolina. It's bitterly cold and windy and they spy a group of men clustered around an odd-looking machine.)




	Wilbur & Orville Wright

"I know who they are – they're the Wright brothers!" Kate said.

"Very good, Kate. And those other men are members of the local life-saving squad. They came to help push the Wright brothers' small flying machine out to the beach for a launch," Mr. Dreamer said.

Sam's teeth were chattering. "D..d..did they have to p..p..pick such a cold d..d..day?"

"You're right, Sam. It's freezing outside. Today is December 17, 1903, and a winter storm has left ice on the beach. Right now the wind is blowing at more than 20 miles per hour and with the chill factor it feels like it's about 4 degrees. Pretty cold weather for flying," Mr. Dreamer said.

"So why didn't they put it off and do it another day?" Kate asked.

"According to some accounts the Wrights, who were from Ohio, just wanted to go home for Christmas. Today – thanks mostly to their efforts – it wouldn't be a problem. But in 1903, they couldn't just hop on a plane and fly home. Ironic, don't you think?" Mr. Dreamer asked.

As the children watched, the two brothers made some final adjustments to the large "flying machine." The contraption was sitting on what Mr. Dreamer called a "launching rail." After some discussion, the two brothers embraced and Orville took his position on the flyer. While Orville checked his controls, Wilbur crossed the sand to speak to one of the men.

"That gentleman is named John Daniels and he is going to take a picture of the Wright brothers and their attempt at flying. Mr. Daniels is a member of the life saving squad," Mr. Dreamer says.

The children watched as the flying machine began moving. Then, with Wilbur Wright running alongside it, the most wonderful thing happened: It lifted off the ground and flew for 12 whole seconds. Everyone on the beach broke into a cheer.

"The time is 10:35 in the morning and you just saw man fly. No one here really understands just how much this simple moment will change history. And the Wright brothers won't quit with this one. They'll put their machine in the air three more times before the day's out. And each time they do it, they will fly a bit longer and a bit farther," Mr. Dreamer said.

"What was the longest they flew that day, Mr. Dreamer?" Sam asked.

"On the fourth try, they went 852 feet. How long do you think it took them?"

"Uh – I don't know, maybe a couple of minutes?" Kate guessed.

"No. It took 59 seconds. And they would have taken to the air again, if the wind hadn't caught their flyer and sent it tumbling. It was too damaged to try again," Mr. Dreamer told them.

Kate looked puzzled.

"Is something wrong, Kate?" Mr. Dreamer asked her.

"I'm curious, Mr. Dreamer. You said that the reason the Wright brothers flew on such a cold and miserable day was because they wanted to go home to Ohio for Christmas. So – what were they doing here in North Carolina?" she asked.

Mr. Dreamer nodded. "Very good question. Yes, the Wright brothers did come to North Carolina to test their invention. Kitty Hawk, to be exact. Wilbur chose Kitty Hawk because the flying machine started out as a glider and they needed the wind to propel it."

"But why Kitty Hawk? Surely there are other windy places closer to Ohio?" Kate asked.

"Yes, I'm sure there are. But in addition to a steady wind, they also needed soft sand beneath them in order to cushion their landing. Sort of like the knee pads you wear when you roller blade, Kate." He added that Kitty Hawk also provided open space and a hill from which to launch.

The wind was whipping up a fierce chill when Mr. Dreamer looked at his watch.

Something To Talk About:

When people work together as the Wright brothers did, they cooperate with one another. Cooperation is the foundation for teamwork. Without cooperation many of the things we enjoy today would not be possible.

Could your favorite television show be filmed if people chose not to cooperate during its production? How about soccer? Would a team that refused to cooperate win very many matches?

When emergencies strike it's particularly important that people cooperate with one another in order to prevent confusion and resolve the problem. Can you think of emergencies when cooperation is important?

Can you list ways cooperating works in your classroom? How about at home?




	"Time for us to move on. See, there's the door. Come on children." And the three time travelers stepped through the door to the other side, where they found themselves once again on a ship. But this was a completely different ship from the Queen Anne's Revenge. Sam whistled. This ship was huge and it cut efficiently through the ocean waters. "Where are we?" Sam asked. "You're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, my boy, on board the Battleship North Carolina. Welcome to World War II," Mr. Dreamer said.

		Click here to move on to Chapter 8

Vocabulary Words:

unassuming: Modest.

launch: To propel.

ironic: Contradictory.

glider: A fixed wing aircraft.

propel: Make something to go forward.

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Did You Know?

Orville and Wilbur Wright continued for many years to work on perfecting their invention. In 1905, they built what they called "Flyer 5" and kept it up in the air for 39 minutes, traveling over 24 miles by going in circles over a field. It was the world's longest, sustainable flight at that point.

The brothers grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in a close-knit family where creativity was encouraged. The two brothers, whose father was a minister, eventually went into the printing business. But they had a proclivity for tinkering and soon branched out to designing and making bicycles.

From bicycles, it was a short hop to flying.