North Carolina's strong aviation roots.

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Scratch North Carolina and just under its skin is aviation history spread throughout the state like a network of muscle and bone. It began with Orville Wright's industry-establishing flight at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903. At about 10:35 a.m., the Wright Flyer rolled along its launch rail, was embraced by the air and flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. John T. Daniels, a member of the lifesaving service from Manteo, took the iconic photo of Orville's brother Wilbur standing next to the craft. The brothers made three more flights that day, with the final lasting 59 seconds and covering 852 feet.

But North Carolina's aviation history did not begin on that windy and winter day. In 1873, James Henry Gatling built the first documented airplane in the U.S., just outside Murfreesboro. In 1907, Luther Paul of Davis was the first person in the world to achieve flight with a helicopter when his craft, the Bumble Bee, lifted several feet into the air. It was powered by four motorcycle engines.

On May 14, 1908, the world's first passenger flight occurred in a Wright plane at...