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The Winds of Kitty Hawk

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The Winds of Kitty Hawk
Written byWilliam Kelley
Jeb Rosebrook
Directed byE.W. Swackhamer
StarringMichael Moriarty
David Huffman
Tom Bower
Scott Hylands
Music byCharles Bernstein
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerCharles Fries
ProducerLawrence Schiller
CinematographyDennis Dalzell
EditorJohn A. Martinelli
Running time98 minutes
Production companyCharles Fries Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 17, 1978 (1978-12-17)

The Winds of Kitty Hawk is a 1978 American made-for-television biographical film directed by E. W. Swackhamer about the Wright brothers and their invention of the first successful powered heavier-than-air flying machine, the Wright Flyer.[1] It's a tribute to the brothers and was broadcast on December 17, 1978, the 75th anniversary of their famous 1903 first aeroplane flight. It is one of several made-for-television films about historical people in aviation produced in the 1970s, including The Amazing Howard Hughes, Amelia Earhart, and The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case.

Premise

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The film presents the brothers' lives in dramatic vignettes sometimes historically rearranged.

At the start of the 20th century, bicycle mechanics Wilbur and Orville Wright, begin tinkering with gliders on the windy sand dunes of Kitty Hawk. Three years and dozens of crashes later, the Wright brothers solve the technical problems that had stumped the best engineers in the world, and succeed in making the first successful powered flight. Ironically, their success marks only the beginning and not the end of their struggle.[2]

The film makes a claimer at the beginning stating that dramatic license had been taken but for the most part their story is told chronologically.

Home Media

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In 2012, the film became available on DVD from MGM Limited Edition.[3]

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Winds of Kitty Hawk; kinotv.com
  2. ^ Panorama newspaper Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation TV Highlights; 21/03/1988; Page 18
  3. ^ The Winds of Kitty Hawk DVD release May 2012; Oldies.com
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