Shane Vande Voort
Delivers Iowa State Flag To Wright Brothers Memorial
KILL
DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – Shane Vande Voort, an EAA member-pilot from Pella,
Iowa, officially represented the state in EAA’s “50 Flags to Kitty
Hawk” program June 24, when he landed at the Wright Brothers National
Memorial and presented the state flag to National Park Association
officials.
Vande Voort was one of 50 EAA-member pilots chosen – one from each state – to participate in the “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” program, a year-long effort that is part of EAA’s “Countdown to Kitty Hawk” initiative, presented by Ford Motor Company, celebrating the achievements of the Wright brothers and the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003.
Vande Voort was the 9th EAA-member pilot to complete the journey to Kitty Hawk, where he also presented National Park Service officials with a signed proclamation from Governor Tom Vilsack, declaring June 23, 2003, as “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk Day” throughout the state. Following the presentation, the Iowa flag was raised at the Wright Brothers National Memorial site, where it flew for the entire day.
 Shane and Larry Vande Voort delivered the Iowa flag to Kitty Hawk on June 24. |
“It was a great honor to represent the EAA and the state of Iowa for this special event,” Vande Voort said. “It was a great privilege to visit the site of the first powered flight.”
Vande Voort’s father, Larry, flew right seat for the flight to Kitty Hawk. Shane, who is airport manager and fixed-base operator at the Pella Airport, has more than 3,000 hours in the air and has been an EAA member since 1996. Both are active flight instructors. The 900-mile flight took 10 hours to complete in a Cessna 120.
EAA’s “Countdown to Kitty Hawk” program, which is also supported by Microsoft Flight Simulator and Eclipse Aviation, includes construction of an exact flying reproduction of the 1903 Wright flyer, and a six-stop national tour of EAA’s “Countdown to Kitty Hawk” pavilion exhibit, which features the Flyer, historic artifacts and Wright brothers correspondence from the Library of Congress, and numerous interactive aviation displays.
The tour will culminate at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., when as part of the Centennial of Flight Celebration, EAA’s Wright Flyer will fly again at 10:35 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2003 – precisely 100 years to the minute from when the Wrights made history.
For more information on EAA’s “Countdown to Kitty Hawk” program, visit www.countdowntokittyhawk.com.
