First flight, colorized

Swipe to compare the colorized frame with the original archival negative.

At 10:35 a.m. on December 17, 1903, Orville Wright lifted the Wright Flyer from the sand at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; the first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. 1

The photograph shows Orville prone at the controls while Wilbur runs alongside after releasing the forward upright of the right wing; the starting rail, wing-rest, coil box, and other preparation gear remain visible behind the machine. 2

John T. Daniels of the Kill Devil Life-Saving Station tripped the shutter on a camera Orville had set up before the attempt, making this one of aviation history's defining eyewitness records. 3

Credit: John T. Daniels / Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppprs-00626. Rights: public domain; no known restriction on publication. 2