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On July 10, 2001, the COFC approved the concept of a “Centennial Partner.” The Centennial Partner designation recognizes the extraordinary events and organizers that bring more national attention and awareness to all Centennial events. The criteria is the organization or event: be exceptionally relevant to the centennial of powered flight or the history of aviation; has a strong educational focus; leaves a tangible legacy; has a plan/process in place to measure success against objectives; has national impact; works collaboratively with other organizations toward common goals and objectives for the benefit of the Centennial celebration and the public interest; and has a formal Memorandum of Agreement with the COFC. The COFC staff and the History and Education Panel screen the applications requesting Centennial Partner status and present recommendations to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissioners.
The following organizations are Centennial Partners of the Centennial of Flight: Born of Dreams - Inspired by Freedom national commemoration. Each is developing major activities or assisting in the development of activities for 2003.
Founded in 1989, Inventing Flight: Dayton 2003 is the state of Ohio commission charged with promoting aviation, the Wright brothers, and the role of Ohio in the birth and future of flight. Inventing Flight: Dayton 2003 will celebrate expanding the boundaries of human experience via new discoveries with a yearlong tribute to the amazing determination and ingenuity of these two pioneers. In addition to a wealth of aviation related events taking place throughout the city, the height of activities in Dayton will occur from July 3-20, 2003, when Deeds Park, a 12-acre site near downtown Dayton, will be transformed into Celebration Central.
J. Bradford Tillson, chairman of Inventing Flight, is a U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissioner.
The First Flight Centennial Foundation, a non-profit organization, was formed in North Carolina for the purpose of celebrating the 100th anniversary of powered flight. The Foundation’s objectives include improving Wright Brothers National Memorial, helping to produce the First Flight Centennial event on site in December 2003, and sharing the story of the Wright brothers and their achievements through specific events and activities. As a fundraising partner of the National Park Service, the Foundation has the distinct honor of providing opportunities for on-site recognition of sponsors and donors, as well as designation as an Official First Flight Centennial® Sponsor.
Dick Howard, president of the First Flight Centennial Foundation, is a U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissioner.
EAA is a growing and diverse international organization of more than 170,000 members with a wide range of aviation interests and backgrounds. It was founded as the Experimental Aircraft Association in 1953 by a group of individuals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who were interested in building their own airplanes. Through the decades, the organization expanded its mission to include antiques, classics, warbirds, aerobatic aircraft, ultralights, helicopters and contemporary manufactured aircraft.
EAA’s Centennial celebration, Countdown to Kitty Hawk presented by Ford Motor Company, includes a series of activities to mark the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ achievement. The centerpiece of this celebration is the flight of EAA’s 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction – the only accurate flying reproduction of the original – at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 2003, 100 years to the date of that remarkable first flight.
Tom Poberezny, president and Chief Executive Officer of EAA, is a U.S. Centennial of Flight Commissioner.
The FAA’s role in the observance of this anniversary includes support for the COFC, of which the FAA’s administrator, Marion Blakey, is a member. The FAA's own programs in observance of the Centennial include outreach events organized in partnership with schools and the aviation community. The agency's aviation education home page also provides a special Web page with educational material about the Wright brothers.
The FAA is the sector of the U.S. government primarily responsible for the safety of civil aviation. The FAA was originally designated the Federal Aviation Agency when established by the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. The present name was adopted in 1967 when the FAA became a component of the Department of Transportation.
The administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Sean O’Keefe, is one of the six members who serve on the COFC. NASA, by supporting the COFC in observing the centennial of flight anniversary, will carry out the element of its mission “to inspire the next generation of explorers.” In addition, NASA Headquarters and the nine NASA Field Centers located across the nation are planning education-based activities to celebrate the centennial. Also, NASA offers a variety of educational resources for all ages on their Web site.
The guiding principles for U.S. exploration of air and space have remained remarkably consistent for more than 80 years. In 1915, when aviation was still in its infancy, Congress created an organization that would “supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solutions.” That organization, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, evolved into NASA in 1958 when Congress formed a civilian agency to lead “the expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space.”
The mission of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is to “commemorate, educate and inspire.” In October 2003, the Museum will celebrate the upcoming centennial with the new exhibition, “The Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Aerial Age.” A thorough presentation of the Wrights’ technical achievements will be paired with a rich examination of the cultural impact of early powered flight. The centerpiece of the gallery will be the original 1903 Wright Flyer, displayed on the ground for the first time since acquired by the Smithsonian in 1948.
In December 2003, the Museum will open its 760,000 square foot companion facility at the Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. The much anticipated Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will house the 80 percent of the unparalleled national collection that has not been generally accessible to the public.
General J.R. “Jack” Dailey (Retired) is the director of the National Air and Space Museum and serves as chairman of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.
The overall objective of the North Carolina First Flight Centennial Commission is to host the centennial anniversary of mankind’s first successful flight in a powered aircraft and celebrate the subsequent 100 years of aviation. The Commission’s mandate is to “develop and plan activities to commemorate the centennial of the first flight and other historical events related to the development of powered flight.” The Commission includes the Governors of North Carolina and Ohio, the Chair of the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, and leaders from throughout North Carolina.
The Commission’s fundamental task is to remind the world what a magnificent achievement the first flight was; to educate the public on what flight has meant to the world; and to commemorate that achievement in North Carolina, the United States and throughout the world. This will be done through events, educational activities and partnerships with all who want to join in celebrating a century of flight.
For more than 65 years, AIAA has been the principal society of aerospace engineers and scientists. Officially formed in 1963 through a merger of the American Rocket Society and the Institute of Aerospace Sciences, AIAA is the world’s largest professional organization devoted to advancing engineering and scientific pursuits within aviation, space and defense on behalf of government, industry and academia.
AIAA launched the Evolution of Flight campaign in May 1999 to mark the 100th anniversary of flight, recognize the achievements of the men and women who challenged history, and lay the groundwork for the next 100 years of innovation in aviation and space technology. Through programs and events, AIAA will honor individuals in aerospace history whose legacy continues to impact society. They will encourage new talent in the sciences to ignite innovation in the aerospace industries and bring the leaders of the community together to shape a common vision for the future.
The Aviation Week division of The McGraw-Hill Companies is the world’s premier multimedia information and service provider to the aviation and aerospace market. The cornerstone of the Aviation Week portfolio is Aviation Week & Space Technology, the world’s leading aviation and aerospace industry magazine covering technology, business and operations in the commercial, military and space markets for more than 100,000 paid subscribers in 130 countries. With McGraw-Hill Education Publishing, they expect to connect The Next Century of Flight message to 30 percent of U.S. classrooms by 2003, 40 percent by 2005.
Aviation Week’s The Next Century of Flight is a multimedia education initiative dedicated to helping the global aerospace industry capitalize on the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003 and position itself for generations to come. The program has three core objectives:
Aviation World’s Fair 2003 hopes to honor the 100th anniversary of controlled, powered flight and the birth of the aerospace industry with an event focused on the Wright brothers’ epic triumph, and other milestones of flight.
On October 1, 2002, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Whitt Clement announced that the State of Virginia was going to suspend its financial support of the 2003 Aviation World’s Fair. Aviation World’s Fair is currently looking for a new venue. For updates, please refer to the Aviation World’s Fair Web site at www.awf2003.com.
Festival of Flight 2003 will be an 11-day celebration of the achievements in aviation, encompassing both a look back at the heritage of flight and a look to the future of aviation and space travel.
The opening weekend’s art festival, The Arts Take Flight, will feature aviation-inspired works of art from a variety of media, including fine art, music, drama and dance. Throughout the weekend, hot air balloons will be tethered in downtown Fayetteville and kite-flying demonstrations (from Kitty Hawk Kites) will assure that even the youngest in the audience will be captivated by flight.
Two days of air shows will feature dramatic flight demonstrations and engaging static displays. The Aviation Exposition will run for seven days at Fayetteville’s Crown Center, where four distinct exhibition facilities provide 120,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space to depict the past, present and future of flight.
Outside the exhibit halls, the exposition continues with more exhibits and displays.
The Festival will conclude on Monday, May 26, Memorial Day. Solemn morning ceremonies will honor the men and women who gave their lives for this country, followed by an All-American Memorial Day parade.
With an emphasis on education, Festival of Flight seeks to compel students’ interest in aviation and flight technology through interactive exhibits, celebrity speakers, exclusive access to the exposition and a yearlong educational program.
In January 2001, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force established the U.S. Air Force Centennial of Flight Office to research, plan and coordinate the U.S. Air Force’s active participation in the worldwide celebration. The U.S. Air Force Centennial of Flight Office’s objectives are to build, maintain and strengthen relationships within the worldwide aviation community through the support of, and participation in, Centennial activities; and to research, develop, coordinate and support opportunities (both internal and external) to promote a deeper understanding of America’s Air Force as part of our proud heritage and our vision.
The Media Patron program was created in an effort to further the COFC’s mission to inform and educate people of all ages about the history and development of powered flight. The goal of the program is to generate widespread awareness for the Centennial of Flight: Born of Dreams – Inspired by Freedom commemoration. The lack of paid advertising support for the Centennial celebration made it necessary to explore creative ways to generate widespread awareness. As media outlets express an interest in partnering with the COFC, opportunities are explored to generate in-kind media exposure for the celebration through multiple distribution channels. In exchange for the in-kind exposure, approved media outlets will be recognized as “Media Patrons” of the coordinated national campaign, Centennial of Flight: Born of Dreams – Inspired by Freedom. In essence, the COFC will exchange the value of the media exposure for the right to use the COFC logo and “Media Patron” designation.
In order to be designated as a Media Patron, media outlets must meet several criteria, including but not limited to the ability to:
To date, the COFC has selected two organizations as Media Patrons, Primedia and Third Millennium Entertainment.
Primedia will target national, international, educational and niche audiences through a number of Centennial-themed media programs, including Moments In Flight, a series of 90-second videos designed to educateviewers about aviation pioneers, events or technological milestones. Other Primedia initiatives include a flight-themed documentary for television, a commemorative print edition on the history of powered flight and Internet broadcasts of Moments in Flight. Primedia has several educational initiatives planned, including historical programming for Channel One, which reaches eight million students and 400,000 teachers daily.
Primedia is in initial discussions with Channel One and WETA (PBS Washington) about a joint TV special that would air nationally on PBS on December 17, 2003, and a coordinated Channel One in-school program. This would include Channel One coverage of key Centennial events.
Primedia’s history magazines are currently determining feature magazine stories for 2003, including special features related to the Centennial. Primedia is also discussing a series of “Official Centennial articles” that would be coordinated with the COFC.
Primedia is finalizing topics for the Moments in Flight vignettes and expects to produce 20-30 vignettes for use in home video and in-flight domestic and international airlines. Video and the related quiz (see below) may be made into a 30-minute TV special.
Primedia is compiling a CD Rom Centennial Quiz as a companion to the Book of Flight (from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum). The CD, Celebrating 100 Years of Powered Flight, will include various volumes, including Inventing Flight, First In Flight, Aviation Pioneers, History Timeline, Flying machines, and Into Space and Beyond.
Primedia is working with Inventing Flight to produce the Dayton National Park Center Video. The original script has been rewritten and approved by the National Park Service and Dr. Tom Crouch.
Third Millennium Entertainment’s slate of productions includes Born of Dreams – Inspired by Freedom, a two-hour television special, hosted by stars. It will be in the style of a combination of the Academy Awards and Kennedy Center Honors as tribute is paid to the legendary international events in the history of flight and to the “Heroes,” the men and women from each service protecting our country today.
The project is currently in development and seeking funding. Pre-production is planned for spring 2003, taping is planned for November 2003 and the program will air in December 2003.
TME also will produce 100 one-minute spots featuring many of the historical moments of aviation and the very special men and women who made that history. Eighty of the Moments will cover the important events in the international history of flight and 20 Moments will honor the men and women protecting our country today.
Centennial of Flight Moments will be composed through a melding of more than 200 archives of film, photographs, feature films, television programs, paintings and maps, and will provide an understanding of the pivotal events of aviation over the last century; insight into the lives of those who made that history; and an appreciation of the barely imaginable challenges of the next century.
TME also will produce a two-hour documentary titled We Fly to complement the Centennial of Flight Moments and the television special Born of Dreams – Inspired by Freedom.
Other plans include a one-hour documentary titled Women in Flight, that will honor the achievements of women in aviation, and a two-hour documentary titled The Best of the Celebration of the Centennial of Flight, which will bring together the highlights of the exciting yearlong celebration of events from Washington D.C., to Dayton, to Oshkosh and Kitty Hawk. This program will pull the major events together into one presentation that will memorialize the Centennial of Flight celebration. TME plans to provide this program free of charge to our armed services worldwide.
The Centennial of Flight Moments will serve as the starting point for an extensive educational project designed to enhance the knowledge of aviation events over the past century and to prepare students to contribute to the next century of aviation development. TME will create a Web companion piece to the Centennial of Flight Moments. The core educational component of the site will be modules designed for classroom use in middle and high schools built around specific Standards of Learning. They will include lesson plans for the teachers, class activities and Web projects for classes. Using the Centennial of Flight Moments themselves, plus some supplementary materials (i.e. licensed photos and sounds), these modules will be designed for teachers to use as part of their curricula, in the areas of U.S. and world history, social studies, popular culture, science, etc.
The most appropriate Centennial of Flight Moments will be re-edited into 4-6 half-hour educational videos, representing 6-8 distinctive categories. Examples of the categories include a flight module, a space module, an extraordinary people module, a lifestyles module, and a world events module. Each module will take the students on a guided tour of a particular aspect of the Centennial of Flight, vividly illustrated through the Centennial of Flight Moments.
The materials will appeal to 1.5 million teachers and 27 million students and will be designed to meet specific National Science and Social Studies Standards. Designed to have cross-curriculum applications, the materials can be used in History, English, Art, Social Studies, Science, Geography and Math classes. The Centennial of Flight Moments in the classroom will include educational videos (a re-edited series of 4-6 videos) broadcast on public television stations and a teacher’s guide filled with activities, lessons, thematic information and resources available on the Web site.
The materials will be available on the Internet and will be in a format that can be easily photocopied and sent to participating schools.
Memoranda of Agreement have been signed with a number of centennial organizations, including all of our Centennial Partners, formally making them a part of the national Centennial of Flight: Born of Dreams – Inspired by Freedom campaign. As a result of the agreements, the COFC will provide outreach support to these organizations that have a similar mission to promote awareness of the Centennial commemoration.
The Aviation Foundation of America, Inc., in celebration of the Centennial of Flight, is sponsoring the re-creation of the National Air Tours (originally held annually from 1925 through 1931) in 2003. The Foundation will be organizing the Tours, envisioned to include approximately 25 vintage aircraft along with other aircraft representative of the progress of aviation. Over 30 cities will be visited across the United States from Detroit to California to Kitty Hawk and back to Detroit.
The families of the Challenger Space Shuttle Mission 51-1 founded Challenger Center in 1986 as a living memorial to the spirit of exploration – the same spirit that motivated the crew of the Challenger Space Shuttle in their quest to learn. True to their legacy, Challenger Center uses space as a theme to excite, inspire and encourage students in the study of mathematics and science and the application of technology, and to provide motivation toward careers in the fields of science and engineering.
Challenger Center is in the process of developing new educational materials to be delivered as part of their involvement in Space Day 2003. The materials will be focused on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. It is currently envisioned that these new educational materials will challenge students in grades 4-8 to create their own designs for future vehicles of flight using the ingenuity and creativity of Wilbur and Orville Wright as inspiration and models of their own efforts.
The Chicago Centennial of Flight Commission was started in 2001 by a group of aviation industry organizations in the Chicago area and Great Lakes region that was interested in promoting aviation awareness through public exhibits. Plans for centennial activities include the “Chicago Centennial of Flight: 100 History Making Aircraft” model exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry, scheduled from May 23, 2003 through September 28, 2003, as well as events and symposia throughout 2003. In addition to promoting aviation awareness to the general public, the Chicago Centennial of Flight Commission hopes to promote aviation education for children in grades K-12.
DGVF Productions is currently producing the broadcast documentary titled Kitty Hawk: The Wright Brothers’ Journey of Invention. This program is scheduled to air on PBS in 2003 with Connecticut Public Television as its presenting station. Three years in the making, this two-hour telecast promises to be the definitive documentary about the Wright brothers’ invention of the airplane. Kitty Hawk draws on the expertise of over a dozen Wright brothers’ authors and specialists, including Tom Crouch, Peter Jakab, James Tobin, Fred Howard and Leonard Bruno. The program tells the interesting technical story of the Wrights brothers’ inventive process, while offering windows on their fascinating lives in Dayton and the dunes of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
In addition to the 2003 broadcast, the documentary will be released on video and digital video disc assuring years of additional exposure in the general public and through libraries and schools. Kitty Hawk is scheduled for completion by early 2003.
The Centennial of Flight Expo was conceived by RCPI in 2002 as part of the arts and cultural programming of Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller Center is a national monument, a commercial business and retail complex located in New York City. The Rockefeller Center Centennial of Flight exhibit presents the historical, social and political growth of aviation beginning with the Wright brothers' first flight. The exhibit will include an educational brochure that will be distributed to over 300,000 attendees of the event. The brochure will highlight each of the displays, offer anecdotal information and help guide visitors through the labyrinth of aviation and space exhibitry. The Centennial of Flight Expo is scheduled from July 28-August 17, 2003.
From its formation in 1866, the Royal Aeronautical Society has been recording developments in aeronautics, aviation and aircraft/aerospace technology through its lectures, conferences and publications. Publishing an illustrated chronological volume, Letters of the Wright Brothers: The Letters of Wilbur, Orville and Katharine Wright, to coincide with the forthcoming 2003 centenary celebrations of the Wright brothers' first flight, would seem an appropriate way for the Royal Aeronautical Society, the oldest aeronautical society in the world, to commemorate the achievement of the Wrights and also add to the existing knowledge about them as most of this material has never been published before.
The Space Day Foundation is a private operating foundation dedicated to space-related education. Its mission is to motivate students to acquire the math, science and technical skills needed in the workforce of the future. Its core activity is Space Day, the award-winning educational initiative that nurtures young people’s enthusiasm for the wonders of the universe. The annual Space Day celebration is the capstone of a massive grassroots effort reaching hundreds of thousands of teachers and millions of students in the U.S., Canada and beyond. Currently, there are 75 Space Day Partners, including NASA.
The Space Day Foundation will use the Space Day 2003 celebration to complement the COFC’s celebration of the Centennial. The theme for 2003 will be “Space Day 2003: Celebrating the Future of Flight.” Space Day promotional and education initiatives will springboard from the celebration of the Centennial of Flight.
The mission of The Wright Experience is to preserve the legacy of the Wright brothers and other early aviators and aircraft inventors, their experimentation, discovery and methodology; to create a living classroom that provides inspirational examples of innovation and discovery for school children and people of all ages; and to provide for the remanufacture of original Wright brothers' aircraft.
Legends of Airpower is a biographical series of 52 programs, 26 running and 26 in production, made for public television. Each episode focuses on the life and times of a noteworthy American aviator. Legends contains a mixture of historical footage, still photographs and penetrating interviews that give audiences an educational and entertaining look at the people and events that shaped powered flight’s first century.
On April 17, 2000, Gus McLeod became the first person to reach the North Pole in an open cockpit aircraft. In 2003, Mr. McLeod will fly solo his propeller-powered aircraft around the world, crossing both the North and South Poles en route. This trip is being made to: (1) bring attention to achievements of aviation’s pioneers during powered flight’s centennial celebration; (2) commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Tuskegee Airmen’s deployment to Europe; (3) educate people, especially school children, about his adventures, as they follow his progress on the Internet, and later, as they view the PBS documentary about the journey, and (4) recognize, during Black History Month 2003, the contributions of African-American Aviators.
From engaging permanent exhibits and interactive traveling exhibits to inspirational educational programs, the Virginia Air & Space Center has served as a leading source for informal science education for nearly 10 years. The Center’s efforts will continue in 2003, when it will open a new Aviation Exhibit Hall highlighting the origins of flight and Hampton Roads’ significant role in commercial, general and military aviation.
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts works in partnership with the National Park Service to operate Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Wolf Trap plans to celebrate the Centennial of Flight with a performance on September 6, 2003.This performance will be presented as part of Wolf Trap's Face of America series, and will feature music, dance, and historic film footage and high definition television images projected on giant screens at the Filene Center, Wolf Trap's 7,000 seat outdoor amphitheatre.
The COFC has also signed formal licensing agreements with C. Forbes, Inc.; Spin Master Toys; Custom Pin and Design; Welcome Enterprises; and Disc Marketing.
Tena Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Disc Marketing, was commissioned in 2001 by the NASA Art Program to write a song commemorating the Centennial of Flight. The song is called “Way Up There.”
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