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JiJi is visiting Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA
In December, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful airplane flights in the sand dunes near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. They chose Kitty Hawk because of its steady winds, high sand dunes where they could start their flight, lack of buildings and trees, and isolation so they could experiment without people watching. The two brothers experimented for almost 3 years, measuring and testing different wing designs and ways to steer, until they were ready to fly. Before their successful flight, they had to deal with broken propellers, engine troubles, and crashes into the sand. They kept at it until Orville flew the first heavier-than-air machine flown by a human 120 feet in 12 seconds. The brothers took turns flying the machine three more times that day, getting better and better until their last flight of the day: 852 feet in 59 seconds.
The December Postcard message will be posted in January.