on the morning of december 17th 1903, 10:35 am, orville wright at the controls, takes flight for 120 feet. that is the first time a man has entered into the air in power flying machine. at the end of the day, after four flights where orville, wilbur, they alternate, the fourth flight with wilbur at the controls, 852 feet, 30 miles per hour at an altitude of 30 feet. and they usher in this aerial age, the age of aviation, and how they came to create that moment is very important because not only do the right brothers invent the airplane, but they invent aeronautical engineering in the process that are needed to create actual flying machines. so, beginning in 1899, wilbur and orville wright, they are unmarried, on a bicycle shop leona printing business, they are yankee mechanics. they knows tools, they know mechanical devices, and they take that interest and applying it to printing presses, bicycles, and they apply it to solving the problem of building a flying machine. so, in 1899, they write the smithsonian institution, and ask for all of the literature for orville. they learn about

but it comes to 1948 when orville with great fanfare donates the wright flyer to the smithsonian institution, where it's been on display in the old arts building and with the opening of the national air and space museum in 1976, the wright flyer went on display. and 2003, in the centennial of the wright brothers' first flight, this gallery was opened to tell the story of the making of the first airplane. and with it, aeronautical engineering. what you see here is the original airplane, the wright flyer. but it has been restored and things have been changed over the years. so the fabric you see is not the original fabric from 1903 but it's actually been applied in the same sewing methods and construction as the 1903 airplane. so they made the airplane look better for when it went to england. but in the 1980s, this airplane underwent a restoration. so the spruce structural members, the engine, one of the propellers, that's all original. over in the corner is one of the original propellers, you'll see. because when it took a tumble it propeller. we just left the wright brothers. and the airplan