The camera that captured man's first  moment of powered flight.

At 10:20 a.m., the Lifeguards arrived and helped the brothers carry the 700-pound machine from the shed and set it on the rail. At 10:27 a.m., Wilbur instructed John Daniels to man the large box camera he had set up between the buildings and machine. "As soon as the machine gets to the end of the rail, you just squeeze the bulb," he said.

After that, it all happened quickly. A few drops of gas were pumped into each cylinder of the engine. The battery box was connected to it. Wilbur and Orville pulled the propellers and the engine coughed to life. Solemnly, the two brothers shook hands. Then Orville climbed in, shifted his hips to check the wing-warping and rudder mechanisms, then moved the elevator up and down.

At 10:35 a.m., Orville slipped the rope restraining the Flyer and the machine moved down the track, gathering speed to 30 mph and then…lifting into the air! As instructed, Daniels squeezed the camera bulb, unaware he was taking one of the most famous photos in history. The small group watching exploded into a ragged cheer. For 12 seconds, the plane floundered forward, rising and falling, until it finally struck the sand 120 feet from the point it left the rail.

The others raced forward to congratulate Orville, then carried the machine back for more attempts. At 11:20 a.m., Wilbur also flew for 12 seconds, but went 195 feet. At 11:40 a.m., Orville was up for 15 seconds and 200 feet. At noon, Wilbur turned in a remarkably even flight - soaring 852 feet in 59 seconds. Might they not make an even longer flight, he wondered, all the way to the telegraph office at Kitty Hawk?

As the men were talking, fate intervened, when a huge gust of wind overturned the glider, damaging it so badly it was of no further use. No matter. The point was: The Wrights had done it! History had been made. For the first time, man had flown a machine that raised itself by its own power into the air, sailed forward without reduction in speed, and finally landed at a point as high as that from which it had started.

Wilbur watches as Orville and the Flyer lift into the air.

"Success four flights Thursday morning # all against twenty one mile wind started from Level with engine power alone # average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home #### Christmas.

Orevelle Wright."

A sending error had knocked two seconds off the time, and Orville's name was misspelled. But the message to the Bishop was clear. They had done it.

This "Kitty Hawk Moment" is brought to you by EAA, whose Countdown to Kitty Hawk program, presented by Ford Motor Company, includes an exact flying reproduction of the Wright Flyer. It is the centerpiece of EAA's national tour during 2003, which will conclude with a four-day celebration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright flyer will fly again at exactly 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2003, commemorating 100 years of powered flight.