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SEBRING — It was a chilly on the morning of Dec. 14, 1903 as two
brothers, with the help of five lifeguards from the beach of the
outer banks of North Carolina, toted a 600-pound contraption
one-quarter mile to a coastal hill suitable for introducing an
unsuspecting world to air flight.
Selected by the flip of a coin, Wilbur Wright the elder brother was
at the controls. The four-cylinder, 12 horse power engine was
started, and the flying machine started its descent down a 60-foot
monorail track. The plane, however, nosed up, then fell to the
ground, breaking several parts. It took two days to repair the
damage. On Dec. 16, everything was once again in readiness,
but the wind failed to cooperate. But on the following day,
Dec. 17, the winds picked up to about 25 mph. This time the
track was laid on level ground, and the younger brother, Orville,
took his turn at the controls. For the first time in history,
man flew in a power-driven plane on a sustained flight. The
32-year-old man had remained airborne for 12 seconds and traveled a
distance of 120 feet. At 10:35 on the morning of Dec. 17,1903
America entered into a new age.
There were three additional flights that day. Wilbur flew next for
almost 200 feet, and Orville reached 200 feet on his second turn at
the controls. Then Wilbur traveled an astounding 852 feet,
staying in the air for 59 seconds.
Commemorating the day 100 years later, members of the Highlands
Radio Control Club gathered at their airfield on the grounds of the
Highlands County landfill off Arbuckle Creek Road. They were
gathered to honor the Wright Brothers and their achievements.
There was a chill in the air, and as it was a century before, the
winds were blustery. "I'd say it's about 25 to 30 (per hour,
wind speed)," Jim Messer, the club's secretary estimated.
Unlike the Wright's flight, however, that much wind is almost too
brisk for the radio-controlled models to handle.
Members had begun arriving to the field at 8 a.m., preparing for the
event. At that time the weather was much better. During
practice flights, the group managed to get six planes in the air
together. Then the weather conditions took a turn for the worse.
But the flyers remained undaunted. There would be no second chance.
"I'm going anyway," said Frank Duplessie, who at 86 is the senior
member of the club. "If your going, then I am too," Ray
Estabrook said supportively. At 10:30 a.m, Duplessie's plane
was airborne, followed shortly by Estabrook's. Not wanting to
chance missing this historic moment, members Pat Elmore and Ron
Willett soon followed suit. So at 10:35 a.m., with a squadron
of four model planes in the air, members of the HRCC paid tribute to
the men who paved the way for all men and women who longed to see
what lie beyond the clouds.
As the four miniature planes soared to heights reaching 300 feet,
one member said quietly, "It's truly a historic moment." And
another remarked "If Orville and Wilbur could see this..."
Bundled against the chilling wind the club's president, Jim
Welborn, said about the synchronized flight plan, "We did this for
no other reason than to commemorate the day."
The HRCC was established about 20 years ago by a group of model
airplane enthusiasts. For years members used property by the
Sebring Airport as their home field. Then three years ago, the
county offered the club space out at the Highlands County landfill.
This afforded the modelers the opportunity to establish for
themselves a more permanent facility with two 450-foot-long
perpendicular runways and storage units.
The four-acre field was dedicated on Nov. 7,
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