12 seconds. 120 feet.
17 December 1903 · Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, NC
The three flights that followed
Same day, four flights total. The fourth, Wilbur's, covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.
The photograph
John T. Daniels had never used a camera. He squeezed the bulb of the Wrights' pre-aimed Gundlach-Korona at the perfect moment — arguably the most important accidental photograph of the 20th century.
The Wright Flyer flew smoothly and under full control, like a modern airplane.
All four flights on December 17 were short, low to the ground, and turbulent. The pilots were quite literally learning to fly the machine in real time.
The famous photograph was a lucky snapshot by a bystander who happened to be there.
John T. Daniels had never touched a camera before that morning, but Orville pre-aimed and focused the shot and told him exactly when to press the shutter bulb — everything about the picture was staged except Daniels's trigger-finger timing.