Vacationing in Kitty Hawk? - Wednesday, August 20, 1902
The History: Bishop Milton Wright traveled a great deal on church business. During this time period the Bishop traveled to a church conference. Daughter Katharine (Wilbur and Orville's younger sister) wrote the bishop that her brothers Will and Orv were preparing for Kitty Hawk. She said the trip would be good for them. "Will is thin and nervous and so is Orv." She tells the bishop that Wilbur spins at the sewing machine all day while Orville marks the places on the fabric for Wilbur to sew. They are constructing the fabric cover for the 1902 glider.
Katharine teasingly complains about "the racket" her brothers are making but says she'll miss them next week after they have gone.
We may think of the Wrights as inventors, aeronautical experimenters, bicycle mechanics, or businessmen conducting serious research in aviation. We probably do not think of them taking vacations.
Yet, that is just how the Wrights felt. In his biography of the Wrights, Fred Kelly, a friend of Orville Wright wrote that the brothers thought of their trips to Kitty Hawk as vacations.
