Unit 2: Science Connection  Learn More  Who Was the First in
Flight?  On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew a
small powered plane for 12 seconds.  That amazing feat was done
at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But did Orville and Wilbur Wright
actually make the first successful flying machine, as the
history books say?  Some people are not so sure. They agree that
the Wright brothers made their historic flight. But they say the
first powered flight was made two years earlier.  Was Whitehead
First?  According to Andrew Kosch, Gustave Whitehead was the
first person to fly a small flying machine. Kosch said Whitehead
made four flights on August 14, 1901, near Bridgeport,
Connecticut. “My aim is to show Gustave Whitehead flew an
airplane in 1901 and he should be in the history books,” Kosch
said.  To prove his point, Kosch made and flew a replica, or
copy, of Whitehead's plane, called No. 21.  Flying a replica,
however, does not prove that No. 21 flew in 1901. It only proves
that the plane could have fl