Day 17 - Part 1 - Wilmington to First Flight Airport

Tony Cacciarelli • July 1, 2020

Wilmington, NC (KILM) to
First Flight Airport (KFFA) - July 1, 2019

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Original Instagram Post

Part One - First Flight Airport

This is one of the stops on this trip that was a sure thing. No way I was going to fly up the east coast without stopping at Kitty Hawk!

The airport is a little challenging. It’s not a particularly short runway, but it isn’t exactly long either - and it's lined with tall trees. There’s a pretty steady wind coming off the water from the East that swirls around once you’re below the treeline. The landing definitely got the blood pumping. They have a stamp in the pilot's center, so I had to stamp my logbook for this one!

Met a really nice couple who had flown in just ahead of me and were on a cross-country of their own.

The whole area around the monument is set up really well with a visitor center that has plenty of displays showing all the work the Wright Brothers did to refine their designs and ultimately get a working powered aircraft. I'm sure it's more interesting for an aviation nerd, but seemed to appeal to non-aviation folks as well. It's a great scientific achievement that has completely changed the way the world works.

My original thought for getting from Wilmington to Kitty Hawk was to follow the Outer Banks all the way up and check out some of the lighthouses along the way. The Outer Banks are a string of skinny islands just off the NC mainland and I thought it might be a little reminiscent of the Florida Keys. The weather had some different plans for me, of course. It was pretty windy out there, so I went with a more straight-line path that took me through one Military Operations Area.

Initially, ATC had cleared me directly on my route through the MOA, but when I was about halfway through it they turned me a little more north so I would be clear quicker. Apparently there was a flight of military jets starting some maneuvers and they needed the area clear.

I gave them the best speed I could muster, but it must've been painful for the fighter pilots to be holding while I slooooowly made my way to the edge of the MOA. Once I was clear it was a straight shot to First Flight Airport - KFFA.

I was really excited to land at First Flight Airport and be able to see the place where the Wright Brothers did their work. I kept wondering what they would've thought of something like the A5. I researched it and the A5 is almost the exact same dimensions as the 1903 Wright Flyer but that's pretty much where the similarity ends. Pretty amazing how far things have come.