Exploring Wright Brothers National Memorial with Park Rangers

By Vanessa Infanzon on Dec. 19, 2025

After Orville and Wilbur Wright sparked the imagination of our 8-year-old son, Sean, my husband and I set out to organize our first family visit to the Outer Banks. Beaches, Jockey's Ridge and other Outer Banks stops were part of the plan, but Wright Brothers National Memorial, a National Park in Kill Devil Hills, became one of the central reasons for the trip.

We got there in time to join a ranger-guided program through the park. Tours are typically at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. each day. During the tour, the ranger described the Wright brothers’ setbacks, challenges and determination as they worked to get an aircraft off the ground. He also pointed out the First Flight Airstrip, where the Wright brothers’ first four flights were documented.

After hearing the brothers’ story from the ranger, the rest of my family became admirers of the Wright brothers, too.

When my husband and I came back to the Outer Banks this spring, Wright Brothers National Memorial was once again on our list. We joined another tour and learned additional details about Orville and Wilbur Wright, including the ways their parents and sister, Katharine, shaped their fascination with flight.

That experience made me curious about what else park rangers understand about the Wright brothers and the park. If I could ask them directly, what would I want to learn?

Fortunately, park rangers Mike Anderson and Paula Eastman spoke with me about what they have learned and experienced at Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Mike Anderson joined the National Park Service nine years ago and had been stationed at Wright Brothers National Memorial for five months. Paula Eastman has served as a National Park Service Ranger for five years, has volunteered across resource management, search and rescue, and administration, and had also been at Wright Brothers National Memorial for five months. Their interview comments covered little-known details, visitor advice and the emotional power of the site: Anderson highlighted that only 66 years passed between the first Wright Brothers flight and people landing on the moon, and that a piece of the original 1903 Flyer traveled with the Apollo 11 astronauts and is displayed at the park; he also noted that Orville and Wilbur never married or had children, that the disappointment of 1901 nearly caused them to abandon flight, and that walking the flight line helps visitors understand the distance of the first four flights. Anderson recommended arriving with enough time because the park opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m., many visitors spend one and a half to two hours there, and the former sand dune setting can be hot with limited shade, making water and sunscreen important. Eastman described how a rubber-band-powered helicopter known as the BAT inspired the brothers’ lifelong interest in flight, and she added that wood and fabric from the Wright Flyer traveled to the moon with Neil Armstrong aboard Apollo 11, while material from the wings of the Wright brothers’ Flyer was carried aboard Ingenuity, the Mars helicopter, inside NASA’s Perseverance rover, which reached Mars on February 18, 2021. She emphasized that ranger programs vary by ranger and become stronger through visitor participation, with themes of persistence, passion, discouragement, failure, success and encouragement from others. Eastman also advised visitors to notice how the sand dunes have been stabilized to protect the location of the Wright Brothers' first flight, shared that some guests are moved to tears by the human story behind the world-changing event, and said she has met Wright brothers relatives twice at the Memorial. She encouraged guests to plan like a ranger by bringing plenty of water, sunscreen, and snacks, and noted that Wright Brothers National Monument welcomes dogs through the National Park Service BARK Ranger Program, whose principles are Bag your pet’s waste, Always leash your pet, Respect wildlife, and Know where you can go. The attributed voices in the interview are Vanessa Infanzon, Mike Anderson, and Paula Eastman.

Categories

• Family Fun
• History & Heritage

Author

Vanessa Infanzon relocated from New York to North Carolina for college and stayed. When she is not writing, she is often paddle boarding on a river.