It’s almost 121 years since the Wright Brothers made the first plane flight on December 17, 1903.
At 10:30 in the morning at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, this airplane rose for a few seconds to make the first powered, heavier-than-air controlled flight in history.
The first flight lasted 12 seconds and flew a distance of just over 100 metres.
The brothers made three other flights that day — the longest lasting just under a minute and covering around 800 metres.
It was the culmination of years of research by two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio.
What is not widely known is that Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up as Christians.
They didn’t work on Sundays. They didn’t drink liquor and they didn’t smoke tobacco.
Their father Milton was a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
They were described by a friend in Kitty Hawk as “Christian gentlemen and moral to the core.”
Their upbringing emphasised moral integrity, hard work and intellectual curiosity — all of which influenced their pioneering work in aviation, according to the Baptist Press.
That’s prompted The Wonder Project, an independent studio dedicated to faith and values-driven storytelling, to make a movie about their life simply called Flyer.
It will be directed by Jon Gunn who made Ordinary Angels starring Hilary Swank.
“Wilbur and Orville changed the course of human history, but how they did it is just as extraordinary as what they achieved,” he said.
“Flyer is a uniquely American story about the power of perseverance, and it’s full of heart, humour and spectacle,” Jon Gunn proclaimed.
It is currently still in pre-production.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
