Celebration Held To Commemorate Orville Wright's 1911 Soaring
Record
A grass-roots partnership of the primary sporting soaring
associations in the US, with the help of Kitty Hawk-based First
Flight Foundation, celebrated the centennial of Orville
Wright’s record soaring flight of 9 minutes 45 seconds set on
October 24, 1911. The event, called SOARING100, attracted over
10,000 visitors to the Outer Banks, NC venues of Jockey’s
Ridge State Park and Wright Brothers National Memorial over the
weekend of October 21-24.
“We were overwhelmed by the attendance,” said John
Harris, president of the Rogallo Foundation. “People are
still enthralled by the Wright brothers story and excited about
sport soaring, whether with sailplanes, hang gliders, paragliders
or models.”
“The goal of SOARING100 to complete the story of the
Wrights experiments on the Outer Banks and instill greater interest
in the role of gliders over the last century was
well-received,” added event chairman Jim Short. “This
was a remarkable grass-roots effort that happened because of the
generosity, volunteerism and enthusiasm of all involved.”
Kicking off the event was the dedication of a National Landmark
of Soaring, coordinated by the National Soaring Museum, at
Jockey’s Ridge. The Landmark plaque honors those who have
flown the Outer Banks dunes, including the Wrights, Francis Rogallo
(father of the modern hang glider) and modern hang glider and
paraglider pilots. Just prior to the unveiling, Art Greenfield,
Director of Records of the National Aeronautic Association
introduced officers of the NAA’s sport soaring divisions (all
partners in organizing the event) the Soaring Society of America,
United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and the
Academy of Model Aeronautics.
An historical symposium, coordinated by Dr. Tom D. Crouch of the
National Air and Space Museum, focused on the role of gliders in
the earliest development of the airplane, possibly the first such
event. A “Legends of Hang Gliding” symposium, organized
by John Harris, was another first at which hang gliding pioneers
gathered to discuss the development of their sport. “We were
indeed happy that these unique events occurred at
SOARING100,” said Lola Hilton, executive director of the
First Flight Foundation, the lead partner for the event. “And
there was more,” she added. “Individual speakers
included NASA Space Shuttle pilot Susan Kilrain, National Park
Service interpreter Darrell Collins who was the National Soaring
Museum’s prestigious Barnaby lecturer and Amanda Wright Lane,
great grand niece of the Wrights and featured speaker at the
October 24 formal recognition of the Wright record.”
Flying sailplanes at Wright Brothers National Memorial and hang
gliders at Jockey’s Ridge State Park dominated much of the
program on Saturday and Sunday. At the Wright Memorial a flying
Showcase of Soaring History featured 15 specially selected
sailplanes and motorgliders, taking off from the First Flight
Airstrip and landing on the adjacent historic ground of the
National Park. After landing the Showcase pilots became docents,
discussing soaring while showing their planes to the throngs of
visitors.
Static displays included a just-completed replica of the Wright
1911 glider built by Rick Young of Richmond, VA and an as-yet
uncovered version built by family and friends in honor of the late
Jim Dayton of Mechanicsville, MD. Other displays included
significant sailplanes and hang gliders and a World War II military
gliding exhibit. A specially created video explaining the history
and context of 1911 aviation and the reasons for the Wright soaring
experiments, commissioned by the First Flight Foundation and
sponsored in part by a grant from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau,
premiered at the Wright Brothers pavilion.
Formalities and speakers including Mike Murray, Superintendent
of the Outer Banks Group of the National Park Service concluded the
ceremonies on October 24. (Images provided by SOARING100)