Which State Invented The Airplane?

If you follow college football, you are certainly familiar with the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry. However, there’s another state v. state rivalry that involves Ohio, and it can be just as polarizing at times. This rivalry is none other than Ohio vs. North Carolina… in which state was the airplane created?

Both Ohio and North Carolina pride themselves on being the first state with flight. This is evident from their license plates.

Ohio claims to be the “Birthplace of Aviation” whereas North Carolina claims to be the “First in Flight”. So who’s right?

Both are right. But both are also wrong.

Defining Flying & Aviation

It is unknown who the first person to fly was, especially since “flying” is a very difficult term to define. As Buzz Lightyear puts it in the 1995 Disney Pixar film Toy Story: ‘This isn’t flying, this is falling with style!’

If you define moving through the air without touching the ground as flying, the license plates could translate to “Birthplace of Leaping” and “First in Freefall”. But of course that’s not what we’re talking about.

If we look at the Merriam Webster Dictionary, aviation is defined as:

The operation of aircraft sometimes, specifically : the operation of heavier-than-air aircraft

— Merriam Webster Dictionary

And flight is defined as:

An act or instance of passing through the air by the use of wings

— Merriam Webster Dictionary

According to the definitions given by Merriam Webster, neither North Carolina nor Ohio are correct in their claims. Ohio, claiming to be the “Birthplace of Aviation”, loses its title because the first person known to have “operated a heavier-than-air aircraft” (note: we are also defining aircraft to be self-propelled; sorry parachutes) was French (ie: not Ohioan) inventor Clément Ader onboard his Ader Éole aircraft¹. And North Carolina loses their title because the first recorded person to pass through the air by the use of wings is by Abbas ibn Firnas, an inventor from what is now modern day Spain and Portugal (ie: not North Carolina).

So strictly scoping definitions to what’s stated in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, both states lose their claim to being the “first” or “birthplace” of aviation or flying. As a matter of fact, the United States as a whole loses its claim to being the origin of flight or aviation. But that’s not the whole picture. Neither of these flying inventions were controlled. This lack of control meant that while they could achieve flight, they couldn’t be steered or directed; similar to a kite being carried by the wind, rather than being piloted to a specific destination.

So for the remainder of this article, let’s define aviation and flying as:

The sustained, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight, achieved through aerodynamic lift and propulsion from an onboard system.

— Planejournal.com

We’ll call this the planejournal.com definition of aviation.

So Where Was Aviation Invented?

The first known aircraft to meet all the criteria listed in the planejournal.com definition of aviation was the Wright Flyer, invented by the Wright Brothers in 1903. Wilbur and Orville Wright were brothers who primarily lived in Dayton, Ohio. Only Orville was actually born in Ohio, whereas Wilbur was born in Indiana (a detail often left out by Ohioans). In their Ohio-based bike shop, they unlocked the secret to controlling flight via wing-warping while playing with a tire tube box. The Wright Brothers then built, prototyped, and machined the components to the airplane in their Ohio shop.

However, when it came time to test their flying machine, they transported all the components to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, due to the area’s soft landing spots and consistent breeze. EDITOR’S NOTE: You may be wondering, how did they transport all these aircraft components? Using an Airbus Beluga, of course! Just kidding, they used trains. In North Carolina, they tested numerous prototypes until finally they tested and successfully piloted the Wright Flyer in 1903.

TL;DR

The first aircraft to meet all criteria listed in the planejournal.com definition of aviation was flown in North Carolina, by two men from Ohio.

So, is Ohio the Birthplace of Aviation? Yes. The Wright Brothers engineered and conceptualized everything necessary for aviation in Dayton, Ohio… depending on how you define “aviation”.

And is North Carolina the First in Flight? Yes. The Wright Brothers became the first humans to fly in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina… depending on how you define “fly”.

Conclusion

All told, if you define “aviation” and “flying” according to the planejournal.com definition of aviation, both states retain their claims. Otherwise, both states are wrong.

With this in mind, we at planejournal.com propose that North Carolina and Ohio revise their license plates in the interest of transparency and truth. For Ohio, the new tagline would be:

Birthplace of the components required for sustained, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight, achieved through aerodynamic lift and propulsion from an onboard system.

And for North Carolina, their new tagline would be:

The place where the inventors of sustained, controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight, achieved through aerodynamic lift and propulsion from an onboard system tested their invention.

… but those wouldn’t quite fit on a license plate.