Saturday, December 17, 1966, stands out as one of the most memorable days of my early flying experiences. It marked my very first interstate flight — from Portsmouth, Virginia, to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina — and my first of several visits to the historic site of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.
The aircraft that day was a green-and-cream Piper Tri-Pacer, a sturdy little, short-wing Piper with plenty of character. An interesting feature of these aircraft was what the manufacturer optimistically called an “Auto-Pilot.” In reality, it was a clever bungee system linking the ailerons and rudder to help maintain coordinated flight. This particular Tri-Pacer even had a wing leveler — quite the luxury for its day.
If you’d like to learn more about these wonderful airplanes, I highly recommend visiting the Short Wing Piper Club.
As best I recall, the flight took about 45 minutes, navigating VOR to VOR — a classic cross-country in the days before GPS. The SkyVector plan I’ve shared below recreates the route as I remember it, though for simplicity, it’s now plotted airport to airport.
Nearly sixty years have passed since that flight, but the memories remain vivid. Last year, I took some time to simulate the journey and capture a few photos.
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This year, though, I’ll be making the flight again — virtually — in a beautifully rendered Piper Tri-Pacer from Lionheart Creations (see my earlier post for details).
So, join me on December 17th as we honor the Wright Brothers and celebrate their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk — a perfect occasion to look back at where aviation began, and where for many of us, the dream of flight truly took off.
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