First powered flight

The first controlled and sustained power-driven flight occurred near the Kill Devil Hill, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA at 10:35 a.m. on 17 December 1903, when Orville Wright flew the 9-kW (12-hp) chain-driven Flyer I for a distance of 36.5 m (120 ft). He maintained an airspeed of 48 km/h (30 mph), a ground speed of 10.9 km/h (6.8 mph) and an altitude of 2.5–3.5 m (8–12 ft) for about 12 seconds. The Flyer I, which was constructed by Orville Wright and his brother Wilbur, is now exhibited in the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, USA.

The flight was witnessed by his brother Wilbur, four men and a boy.