Tue, Jan 06, 2004
You Didn't Have To Be In NC To Celebrate The Wright
Centennial
Passage of the first
century of flight met with a variety of celebrations around the
United States. While thousands shivered in the cold, rain, and calm
winds at Kitty Hawk, hundreds gathered at Flabob Airport early in
the morning to mark the official time that the first powered
aircraft rose into the sky. Cheers went up in the Airport Cafe at
7:35 local time from a standing-room-only crowd.
Riverside had what Kitty Hawk needed on December 17th for the
re-enactment flight: high winds. The strong Santa Anna breeze
forced cancellation of a mass hot air balloon launch, but did
little to prevent a steady stream of aircraft arrivals.
When eighty fifth and sixth graders from Ina Arbuckle School
arrived, Flabob dedicated a permanent outdoor display of a
half-scale Wright Flyer that had been featured on the Rotary
International Float in the 2003 Rose Bowl Parade. Positioned near
the entrance to the airport, the Flyer will be flanked by a mural
of Big Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk, where the Wrights flew.
Rubidoux High School Junior AFROTC drill team members led the
crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, and performed intricate drill
maneuvers for the appreciative audience.
The grade school students and volunteer teachers adjourned to
the new EAA Chapter One hangar for a morning of lessons in the
history of flight, and a hot-air balloon contest featuring plastic
bags filled with hot air from popcorn poppers and sent aloft in the
hangar.
"It was a wonderful 'small town' type of day," said Kathy Rohm,
community relations director for the Wathen Foundation, which owns
Flabob.
"We were a long ways away from Kitty Hawk, but every pilot who
showed up felt a kinship with history and an appreciation for the
freedom to fly in this country. It was one of those days where
everyone wore a smile and all the smiles represented profound
emotions."
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