And for December 12 to 17, 2003 on the Outer Banks, we may have the same cold and blustery weather as the Wright brothers did 100 years ago. To keep warm and stylish at the Celebration, or to bring the Celebration to wherever you are, check out Official First Flight Centennial apparel ranging from flight jackets (produced by Alpha Industries, the same flight jacket supplied to the U.S. military), outer wear, denim shirts and more. Available for men, women and youth. 

 Order Official First Flight Centennial commemoratives through the on-line store. A portion of proceeds supports the charitable objectives of the First Flight Centennial Foundation, including capital improvements to Wright Brothers National Memorial and the Celebration.

The Foundation is pleased to license The Outer Banks Sentinel to produce "A Moment In Time: Official Guide To The First Flight Centennial®". One-third of the proceeds from the sale of the magazine will support the Foundation's charitable objectives including improvements to the park and to help defray the expenses of the event. 

"One of the first items that we quickly agreed upon is that the price needed to be reasonable enough to allow folks to buy multiple copies to put away as mementoes for their grandchildren," said Sentinel Publisher Charles Womack. "We set out to plan a publication that will be widely available, have high appeal and allow our readers to participate in a unique way."

Approximately 100,000 copies of the high quality, 64-page magazine will be available for distribution so that visitors can take full advantage of the Dec. 12-17, 2003 celebration at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills.

The publication's theme is to depict day-to-day life the day Wilbur and Orville Wright changed the world 100 years ago! To carry out that theme, the Sentinel is asking readers to donate copies of 1903 photos. "We've found wonderful stories that help us give the reader almost a freeze-frame approach to 1903," said Sentinel Managing Editor Sandy Semans.

Photo donations should be copies -- no originals because they will not be returned (copies to be donated to the Outer Banks History Center). A brief description and identification of those in the photos should be written on a post-it and placed on the backside. The donor's name and phone number should also be listed. Please do not write on the photograph or fold it. Send photos to POB 546, Nags Head, NC 27959.

To pre-order multiple copies of the publication, contact Sandy Semans at 252-480-2234 or email. Outer Banks companies wishing to place advertising can call 480-2234; national accounts can reach Womack at 252-573-9668.

Seating is not included with general admission tickets; chairs may be rented on site. Centennial Circle memberships are available while capacity remains, and provide donor benefits including seating and hospitality for all days of the Celebration, including December 17.  

Remaining general admission tickets are available between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern time by going online or by calling 1-800-973-7327, or (301) 722-1257 for callers outside of the United States. All of the most recent information on the First Flight Centennial Celebration can be accessed at the Centennial website on www.firstflightcentennial.org

Confirmed on-site exhibitors for the Celebration include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); the United States Air Force; the United States Coast Guard; the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA); the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA); Dare County Schools; the United States Postal Service, and the First Flight Society.  The First Flight Centennial Pavilion will feature its current exhibits from NASA, the United States Air Force, The Outer Banks History Center, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and North Carolina’s First Flight Centennial Commission.  The park’s Visitor Center will house an exhibit of Wright brothers’ artifacts from the Museo Aeronautico Gianni Caproni in Italy.  Additional exhibits will be announced.

The NASA Centennial of Flight Exhibit highlights:

• Shuttle Experience theatre

• Mock-up of the International Space Station  

• Downlink with the International Space Station on December 12 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

• Mobile Aeronautics Education Laboratory, a 12-station aeronautics laboratory including Activity Center, Aeronautics Interactive, Aircraft Design; Air Traffic Control, GPS/Amateur Radio, Remote Sensing, Resource Center; Virtual Reality; Weather, Wind Tunnel; World Wide Web

The United States Air Force "Cross Into the Blue" Exhibit highlights:

• 3 ½ minute, high-powered audio visual experience about today’s U.S. Air Force

• Air-to-Air Refueling Game – test your skills as a boom operator on a refueling tanker

• Extreme Equilibrium Ride – experience the ‘spatial disorientation’ pilots may encounter

• Special Ops Jumper Interactive – virtual reality game that simulates a parachute jump

• Satellite Systems Display – showcases the detail and intricacies of a GPS satelliteF-16 Fighting Falcon – visitors can peer into the cockpit of an actual F-16 fighter jet

The United States Coast Guard Exhibit highlights:

• full-size mockup of helicopter doorway/rescue basket - for photos of family members or friends being “rescued”

• tabletop helicopter flight demonstrators fixed-wing hands-on demonstrator

• crafts table where kids can make their own flight suit “patches” from a standard adhesive sticker and a variety of rubber stamps representing flight crew insignias.

The Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Command Center highlights:  

• a recreation of the interior of an air traffic control tower 

• display of the National airspace--tracking planes as they make their way across the country, incoming flight into the U.S. airspace from overseas, and a display of a combination of air traffic and weather patterns

• the “Safe Flight 21/Alaska Capstone” flight simulator, demonstrating new cockpit technology display for general aviation aircraft.

The Experimental Aircraft Association exhibit highlights: 

• EAA’s Countdown to Kitty Hawk Touring Pavilion is an impressive interactive exhibit visiting U.S. cities and events throughout 2003 and into 2004. 

• The pavilion showcases EAA’s accurately reproduced 1903 Wright Flyer, while documents on display are drawn entirely from the Library of Congress collections. 

• This story is further brought to life through a theatrical re-enactment with actors portraying 1903 Kitty Hawk resident Bill Tate -- and fictional flying machine inventor, Travis Fowler, to give visitors spirited insight into the remarkable discovery of flight.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association exhibit highlights:

• AOPA is an Official First Flight Centennial Sponsor, and made a generous contribution to the First Flight Centennial Foundation to build the 900 square-foot Pilot Facility at Wright Brothers National Memorial -- a significant permanent improvement to the park

• Pilot Facility includes a dedicated pilot briefing room with a computerized weather briefing system, route planning software, telephones, wall-mounted navigation charts and workspace for flight planning.  The facility is located adjacent to the 3,000-foot First Flight Airfield and also provides rest rooms and space for an air tour concession

• grand prize for AOPA’s Centennial of Flight Sweepstakes – a 1940 WACO UPF-7 Biplane

• hospitality tent with displays on AOPA and general aviation

The Dare County Schools are also participating with an exhibit including:

• local students’ centennial-related art and essay display

• A mosaic of the Wright Memorial by Manteo Middle School Students 

• Wright Flight Program 

• Opportunity to make toy airplanes 

The First Flight Society and the Outer Banks Stamp Club, along with the United States Postal Service, will display: 

• First Flight-related Philatelic materials 

• Fiberboard poster of 1900 photo of Kitty Hawk Post office

• Quote from letter of postmaster William S. Tate to Wilbur Wright

Defying Gravity: Contemporary Art and Flight is a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition in the state where the Wright brothers made their epic first flight, presented by the NC Museum of Art and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

From November 2, 2003, through March 7, 2004, over 90 works inspired by aviation and the timeless human desire to fly will be on view in Raleigh, NC. While the Wright brothers’ flight only lasted 12 seconds, you’ll have 18 weeks to experience the exhibition and 80 days packed with family festivals, children's workshops and games, performances, films, lectures and more.

LAING: Rosemary Laing, flight research #5, 1999, chromogenic print. Collection of Eileen and Peter Norton, Santa Monica.

North Carolinians have special reason to celebrate the centennial of flight. “The Wright brothers changed the world with that first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and the Museum plans to commemorate that event with an exhibition and celebration of appropriately historic proportions,” said Museum Director Lawrence J. Wheeler. 

TANSEY: 
Mark Tansey, Picasso and Braque, 1992, oil on canvas. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Modern and Contemporary Art Council

The invention of flight did change the world. Man was able to see his planet from radically new vantage points, defense and war took on a new character, goods were more quickly and easily transported, and travel became easier and made other cultures more accessible. All of these themes are explored in the exhibition. The 91 works in the show are diverse in imagery and style, approach and medium. Nearly two floors of the Museum will showcase paintings, sculpture, film, and even a flight simulator.

For tickets or information, call the Museum Box Office at (919) 715-5923, or visit the Museum’s Web site at www.ncartmuseum.org/flight