View from HQ
Joyce Hager — Executive Director
What a month it has been! In honor of the Centennial of Flight, I attended the celebration in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina — the site of the Wright brothers' accomplishment 100 years ago. The event was held December 12–17 and was attended by thousands of visitors from around the nation and the world.
The commemoration of the first 100 years of flight culminated in the Experimental Aircraft Association's 1903 Wright Flyer and its pilot Kevin Kochersberger attempting to recreate the 12-second flight. Although the attempt failed and the aircraft barely made it off the ground, all in attendance appreciated the effort.
In conjunction with the Centennial of Flight, the National Model Aviation Museum opened its first exhibit on December 17, 2003. "From Spinning Tops to Whirling Props" is a re-creation of the 1905 Wright Flyer built by Museum Curator Michael Smith and Education Coordinator Jack Frost.
Scaled down to fit the available space, the hands-on exhibit allows visitors to lie on the wing and operate the controls of the aircraft. A remote-controlled aircraft demonstrator (RCAD) is placed between the wing and canard so that the person operating the controls can see on the model the results of the control movements.
More about this wonderful exhibit will appear in next month's Model Aviation. I want to say how much I appreciate Michael's and Jack's hard work and dedication to this project. The exhibit will be in place for two years, and I encourage members who can visit to do so.
A link on the front page of the AMA website will take you to the museum's website, where photos of the exhibit are featured. You can see the link at www.modelaircraft.org.
Happy flying,
Joyce Hager Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
