Haraka said - Nor the fact that the Flyer did indeed ,evidently, take off down a slope as Simplex has claimed !
I know you're joking (and appreciate the humor!
), but nonetheless wanted to point out that nearly one-thousand glides were from the hill, but the flights on the 17th were from a rail that was indeed on flat ground. In fact, the Wright's progressively transitioned to flat ground in that they got the Flyer airborne on the 14th, but didn't count it as their "first" flight because the Flyer was still on a slope and not yet started on level ground:
However, the apparently most well informed objection to accepting this flight as The First Flight involves not the damage to the machine but the means and manner of take-off. On the 14th, The Flyer and the track from which it was to be flown were moved from the level area around the Wrights’ work and storage sheds and placed on an 8-degree 50-minute slope at the base of Big Kill Devil Hill, with The Flyer facing downhill.
The FIVE FIRST FLIGHTS