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."

FMI: www.flabob.org