Exhibit A – North Carolina “First in Flight” License Plate:

north carolina first in flight

Exhibit B – Ohio “Birthplace of Aviation” License Plate:

ohio birthplace of aviation

North Carolina and Ohio seem to be making conflicting claims on their license plates.  What is the basis for their claims and which state is right?

North Carolina

North Carolina claims to be “first in flight,” and they are correct.  In 1903, the Wright brothers took their famous first flight in Kitty Hawk, NC.

Ohio

Ohio makes a more interesting claim, calling themselves the “birthplace of aviation.”  Orville Wright was born in Dayton, Ohio, and the family called Dayton home.  The brothers owned a bicycle shop there, where they developed and built their aircraft.  Ohio was also the birthplace of astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.  Because of this, the slogan is sometimes changed to the “birthplace of aviation pioneers.”

Official Ruling

In 2003, Congress actually voted on the matter (why?), and Ohio “won” the right to continue calling itself the birthplace of aviation.  The vote was near-unanimous, with the only votes opposing the measure coming from the North Carolina representatives.

The Ohio-contingent likes to point out that Kitty Hawk was nothing more than a test-site, and that all the research and development and aeronautics testing was done in Ohio.  But there must have been something special about the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  Otherwise you’d think Orville and Wilbur could have found a test site that wasn’t 500 miles away.  Maybe they just wanted to go to the beach?

dayton to kitty hawk

Any number of closer places could have been “first in flight.”  Why Kitty Hawk?  The Wright Brothers actually consulted the National Weather Bureau in Washington DC, and determined that Kitty Hawk had the right combination of necessary winds and soft, sandy landing spots.  I’m not making this up.

North Carolina may be “first in flight” but they apparently supplied none of the brainpower or materials for that first flight.  Just a windy beach.  Nice work on those license plates though.

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