Next, the boat trip took another two days. Progress was slow because the boat was in such bad shape that it started to sink, requiring all hands to bail water to keep the rusty old tub from sinking. The second day found them sitting out a raging storm that rolled the boat back and forth, drenching everyone with water. Arriving in Kitty Hawk, on September 13, 1900, Wilbur discovered it was a small, lonely, weather-beaten settlement of just a few scatter houses, set among the trees that line the bay. About a mile to the east, on the ocean side, stood a U.S. Lifesaving Service Station. Everything was surrounded by miles and miles of sand.

Ten days later, Orville joined Wilbur and they moved a scant mile down the beach and set of their camp. They had brought an amazing three truckloads of equipment, along with their glider. This included a tent, folding cots, an acetylene lamp, and a generous assortment of canned and package food supplies. The 17-foot wing span, bi-wing glider which had been shipped in several large crates, now had to be assembled. Made of a lightweight wood frame, the glider was covered in tightly woven cotton, sateen fabric. The total cost of materials to build the glider was $15.

The brothers got the winds they wanted, but the blowing sand made living conditions less than idyllic. In fact, they were down right uncomfortable, especially when they had to go out at night to work on the tent to keep it from blowing away. They had to carry their water in buckets for a long quarter of a mile. Orville cooked, while Wilbur washed the dishes. For entertainment, Orville played his mandolin and Wilbur his harmonica.

After they had assembled the glider, they enlisted the postmaster, Bill Tate help to move it. They loaded the glider on his wagon, and moved it nearly four miles down the beach to an area of large sand dunes known as Kill Devil Hills. Hauling the glider to the top of the largest hill, Big Hill, they launched the glider, with Wilbur laying on his stomach. Orville and Bill ran along side, holding on to the wings to help balance it, in order to get it off the ground.

They made a dozen flights the first day.

While each flight only lasted 15 to 20 seconds and flew only about 300 to 400 hundred feet, for a grand total of about two minutes, it showed Orville and Wilbur that their control system was working. The winds stopped the next day, and it turned out this would be the only flying that they would do in 1900. Filled with hope and enthusiasm from the success of their control experiments, they planned to return the next year with an even bigger glider. The brothers gave the glider to Bill Tate, who salvaged the wood for projects around the house, and his wife made their two small daughters, Irene and Pauline, dresses out of the sateen fabric.

Back in Dayton, Wilbur and Orville set about designing and building a new glider. It would have a wingspan of twenty-two feet, with wings seven feet wide, and would weigh about 100 pounds. To help with the landing they added a ski. When the brothers went back to Kitty Hawk in 1901, they moved their camp to the bottom of Big Hill. They were also accompanied by Octave Chanute and two of his associates, who stayed for a time to observe and make calculations of their own.