KILL
DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – October 3, 2003 – Marcia “Sparky” Barnes, an
EAA member pilot from Mountain
City, Tennessee, officially represented the state in EAA’s “50 Flags
to Kitty Hawk” program on October 3 when she landed at the Wright
Brothers National Memorial and presented the Tennessee state flag to
National Park Service officials.
Barnes
is 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.
Barnes
was the 35th EAA-member pilot to complete the journey to Kitty Hawk, where
she also presented National Park Service officials with a signed
proclamation from Governor Phil Bredesen, declaring July 17, 2003, as
“50 Flags to Kitty Hawk Day” throughout the state. Following the
presentation, the Tennessee flag was raised at the Wright Brothers
National Memorial.
“It
is a real honor and privilege to be selected to represent the state of
Tennessee as part of the EAA’s centennial celebration of powered
flight,” Barnes said. A computer consultant and aviation writer, she has
logged 400 hours of flight time. Barnes, an EAA member since 1995, took
about five hours to complete the 371-mile flight in her 1948 Piper PA-17
Vagabond
EAA’s
Countdown to Kitty Hawk program, 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.
