District IV Report - 2004/06

168
A CENTENNIAL OF FLIGHT
celebration was held in Kitty Hawk, North
Carolina, December 12-17, 2003. It was the
site of the largest and most attended
celebration of a century of flight.
Throughout the six-day event were
exhibitions and entertainment. Aerial events
included fly-bys during the day and
aerobatics by Patty Wagstaff and Mike
Mancuso. Military planes of all descriptions
including the Raptor F-22 were in the air.
Celebrities attending included President
Bush, John Travolta, many of the astronauts,
descendants of the Wright family, and
country and western stars.
One sad note was the rain on Sunday and
again on Wednesday which hampered the
flying of the Wright Flyer replica. People
began coming into the site at approximately
2 a.m. on December 17 to watch the
reenactment. They sat on the hill where the
Wright Memorial stands through darkness
and rain awaiting the flight.
The Wright Memorial.
Replica of the Wright Flyer.
When the engine fired there was a roar
from the crowd. Even though the flight was
not very successful, they were not as
disappointed as you might think. Most said
they were glad to be there and participate.
People from nearly everywhere in the world
were in attendance.
At noon on Wednesday the 17th, 100
skydivers representing each year of the
hundred years of flight jumped. The whole
sky seemed to be filled with parachutes of
all colors and some with colored smoke.
AMA was represented all six days by
Executive Director Joyce Hager and Tom
Schwyn from AMA Headquarters, Doug
Holland, the AMA executive vice president,
myself, Chuck Foreman, District IV
associate vice president, Shirley Teague,
Bill Crosscup, Don Helms, Terry Teague,
and Troy Barnett. All of these people
manned the AMA booth, talking to the
visitors and handing out brochures. People
from various parts of the globe came to talk
and enjoy.
Bliss and Shirley Teague and Tom
Schwyn (R) were part of the staff at the
AMA booth.
Don Helms (R) flying the tethered
helicopter.
Tom Schwyn and Don Helms flew a
tethered helicopter inside. Because of
security concerns, we were not allowed to
have a flying exhibition outside.
The Pedal Flyer was popular with the kids.
Without Chuck Foreman all would not
have been possible as he received all the
material sent from AMA Headquarters and
set up the booth. We had to call
Headquarters several times as we ran out of
supplies fast. Chuck received all of these
and afterward he shipped the booths and
remaining equipment back to Muncie,
Indiana.
Thanks to Chuck and all the people who
made this venture a success. The pictures are
courtesy of AMA member Terry Teague. I
want to thank all who came by to talk and
enjoy the event. From what I could tell,
nearly all of the AMA districts were
represented.
The Vinn Fizz was the first cross-country
airplane.
The Stearman PT-17.
This WACO UPF-7 was raffled off.
A Beech Staggerwing D-17.
Note: For a listing
of all district volunteer workers please consult
a previous issue of Model Aviation.
Delaware / District of
Columbia / Maryland /North
Carolina / Virginia
Bliss Teague
Vice President
625 5th Ave., SW, Hickory
NC 28602-2812
Home: (828) 324-2164
Fax: (828) 267-0956
E-mail:
[email protected]
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