Michael Sheridan Delivers West Virginia State Flag to Wright Brothers Memorial

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – November 14, 2003– Michael C. Sheridan, an EAA member pilot from Lewisburg, West Virginia, officially represented the state in EAA’s “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” program on November 14, 2003, when he landed at the Wright Brothers National Memorial and presented the West Virginia state flag to National Park Service officials.

Sheridan 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.

Sheridan was the 46th EAA-member pilot to complete the journey to Kitty Hawk, where he also presented National Park Service officials with a signed proclamation from Governor Bob Wise, declaring 2003 as “The Year of Aviation” for West Virginia. Following the presentation, the West Virginia flag was raised at the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

“The Wright Brothers would be amazed to see all of the changes that their invention has brought about in a mere hundred years,” Sheridan said. “Very few events in human history have had such a wide-ranging impact. It is a great honor and a privilege to be a part of this historic endeavor.”

Sheridan, a Lewisburg psychologist, has more than 1,200 hours in the air, is a charter member of the Greenbrier Valley Chapter of EAA, and has been an EAA member since 1973. His 318 statute-mile flight took two hours and eleven minutes to complete in his 1973 Cessna 182

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.

Sheridan looks forward to being in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., to witness history 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.