By Randy McNutt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WYOMING - Sometimes Amanda Wright Lane can't believe how much her family's ideas have changed the world.

The 49-year-old great-great-grandniece of Wilbur and Orville Wright will appear Tuesday at ceremonies at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 99th anniversary of man's first powered, controlled flight.

"It's amazing what Uncle Orv got to see - from bicycle chains to jet airplanes," she said. "He also saw the very beginnings of the space race."

The feat isn't lost on John Glenn, the Ohio space hero who plans to be there Tuesday, too.

"It's amazing, but only 63 years elapsed between the Wright Brothers and the first lunar walk," he said earlier this year.

Tuesday's ceremony will mark the beginning of the centennial of flight. The Wrights designed their airplanes in Dayton, Ohio, where they operated a bicycle shop. They decided to fly their first plane near Kitty Hawk, N.C., Dec. 17, 1903, to take advantage of the wind and more favorable climate.

They flipped a coin to decide who would fly that day. Wilbur won. He flew 120 feet and into immortality.

"They returned to Dayton and started work at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field," Mrs. Lane said. "That's where they developed their 1905 plane. Uncle Orv thought it was their crowning glory. It was controllable. They had perfected it, and it was their best plane."

Next week, Dayton will dedicate the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Museum, near Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

"The brothers truly learned to be pilots there," Ms. Lane said. "They learned to fly. My dad, Wilkinson Wright, actually knew Orville Wright, knew him quite well. We're learning more about the brothers every day."

Mrs. Lane and her husband, Don, have lived in Wyoming for 24 years. They have two children, Brenden, 20, and Meredith, 18. Mrs. Lane's brother, Stephen Wright, lives in Oakwood.

The brother and sister team serves as representatives of the Wright Brothers' family when the need arises. Both are well-informed about the history of their famous ancestors.

Mrs. Lane will take her children to Washington when they accept a proclamation from the government.

"I want to get them involved for the future," she said. "A small number of people will represent the joint chiefs of staff, NASA and other groups. Also on hand will be members of Amelia Earhart's family and the (Charles) Lindbergh and (Henry) Ford families, besides former astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn."

Orville and Wilbur had no children. Wilbur died in 1912 of typhoid fever. Orville lived until 1948.

Their brothers, Lorin and Reuschlin, did have children. Lorin Wright was Wilkinson Wright's great-grandfather. Other descendants do not live near Dayton, Mrs. Lane said, so the responsibility of representing the family has fallen to her and her brother.

"I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about the Wright Brothers," Mrs. Lane said. "My interest started as simply a family member. As I've gotten older, though, it has become even more amazing to me what their inventions have meant to the world. They were ... great men."

Mrs. Lane said she is excited about Dayton's plans to celebrate the centennial July 3-20, when Inventing Flight will conduct a major program across the city.

Depending on what happens with the state of the country, the Air Force Museum plans to show a stationary exhibit of every current military flying machine in use today.

"That has never been done," Mrs. Lane said. "I'm much in awe of aviators, especially the early ones. They were a part of the beginning a new technology."

E-mail rmcnutt@enquirer.com