Family Commemorates Century Of Flight With Their Own Short
Hop
By ANN Correspondent Rose Dorcey
It wasn't a 1903 Wright Flyer, and it wasn't on the sandy dunes
of Kitty Hawk (NC), but to a family trio from Madison (WI), it was
close enough.
Tom Thomas, father, grandfather, and pilot in command of the UW
Flying Club's Cessna 172 used to recreate the 12 second flight,
said December 17, 2003, started out on a positive note when his
3-year-old granddaughter, Emma Soderholm, called him at 6:00 a.m.
(with mom's help dialing the number) to wish him a "Happy Century
of Flight" day.
Shortly afterward, Thomas called Dan Hoke, Tower Supervisor at
Dane County Regional Airport (KMSN). Thomas told Hoke of his plan
to fly Emma and daughter Stephanie Kirchner, an Airport Operations
Supervisor at DCRA, on a historic mission to recreate the famous 12
second, 120 foot first flight of the Wright Brothers, precisely 100
years later - right to the minute. Hoke, who had watched a Wright
Brothers program the night before, approved the flight, traffic
permitting. That's where the good luck ended for the Thomas
clan.
"When the Cessna 182 that I initially scheduled back in June
wouldn't start, we needed a back-up plan," said Thomas. "The 182
was pre-flighted and ready to go by 0845, but it wouldn't fire off.
At 0915, closing in on the 0935 local time/1035 EST deadline, I
asked Stephie to go into the office for the keys to the 172 and
start the pre-flight. If she hadn't been there, we would never have
made the 0935 window. She saved the day."
"The 12 second flight finally took off, and landed, at the
specified time. The tower people commented, 'Wow, that wasn't a
very long flight' as we taxied off the runway. I'm sure we went
more than 180 feet in our 12 seconds, maybe 13 or 14 seconds with
the 172 floating, but it didn't take long at all. That was the
amazing part. I would have liked to have done the four follow-on
flights (of the Wright Brothers) in sequence, timing wise, but it
wasn't in the cards."
Thomas, an Aviation Education and Management Section Chief for
the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Bureau of Aeronautics,
has been flying since 1965 is a former Air Force pilot. He once
landed a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in 1400 feet of runway at the
now-closed airport in Dodgeville (WI), where the plane sits on
display at a roadside inn. He and his wife Jeanne are parents of 5
daughters and grandparents of 8. He said the flight would settle in
as one of the more fun moments in their lives. "Emma was a gem. She
loves airplanes and horses. When she grows up, she wants to be a
pilot."
Dressed in an airplane t-shirt she got at Oshkosh AirVenture
2003, a smiling Emma said of the flight, "It was really fun. My
cousin Anna was really sad because she couldn't come along. Let's
do it again."
As the aviators reflected on their mission over a cup of hot
chocolate at the on-field Jet Room Restaurant, Thomas gave credit
to the professional tower staff and the Wright Brothers themselves.
"We couldn't have done it without the support of the best ATC in
the country. It seemed easy, but hurdles were thrown up at about
every turn. We persisted, and it came about."
"I think the Wright Brothers were smiling as they looked down
upon us or rode on our wings as we accelerated down the runway.
Maybe they were instrumental in helping us get over the hurdles
that kept popping up."