Aero-Linx!

Scouring the information super airways can sometimes be a tough, if educational, task for the Aero-News staff... but it also allows us to check out some truly neat and exciting sites, so it's not that bad a gig. On any given day, we may check dozens (and often hundreds) of different sources for story ideas, and facts confirmation. And, as is the nature of our business, much of this is done on the Internet.

The ANN gang decided we probably shouldn't keep some of the neat sites, info resources, and organizations we've discovered to ourselves... so we decided to bring you Aero-Linx. These are the sites that WE check out -- when we need added perspective, a new spin on a day's topic... or just want to escape into cyber-aero-space for awhile.

Look for some of our favorite sites, coming each day to ANN via Aero-Linx. Suggestions for future Aero-Linx segments are always welcome, as well.

Aero Linx: Wright Brothers Memorial

Maintained by the National Park Service on North Carolina's Outer Banks, the Wright Brothers National Memorial commemorates two ingenious brothers from Dayton, OH who, in 1900, choose the sparsely populated area known as the Outer Banks to conduct a series of experiments that three years later resulted in the world’s first heavier than air, powered controlled flight.

The story of these brothers embodies the American ideal of hard work overcoming all obstacles. Wilbur and Orville Wright were not just lucky bicycle mechanics but succeeded because of study and scientific experimentation. Their story is the realization of a dream that had existed for centuries; it is not simply about building the first plane but rather about how they scientifically solved the problem. It is a story about those who inspired and those who aided the brothers as well as the coastal area of North Carolina before, during and after the dream came to life.

FMI: www.nps.gov/wrbr