Martha King Delivers California State Flag To Wright Brothers Memorial
Martha King, an EAA member pilot from San Diego,
California,
officially represented the state in EAA’s “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk”
program Monday, May 19, when she landed at the Wright Brothers National
Memorial and presented the state flag to National Park Association
officials.
King 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.
Martha is the fifth EAA-member pilot to complete the journey to Kitty Hawk, where she also presented National Park Service officials with a signed proclamation from Governor Gray Davis, declaring May 5, 2003, as “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk Day” throughout the state. Following the presentation, the California flag was raised at the Wright Brothers National Memorial site.
“It
has been a very special privilege to be involved in such a significant and
fun program. I hope to be an inspiration to draw more women into
aviation,” said Martha, who was accompanied by her husband, John. A
nationally known San Diego aviation instructor, she has logged more than
9,000 hours of flight time and has been an EAA member since 1989. Her
flight of 2,046 nautical miles took six and a half hours to complete in a Falcon 20
jet.
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, search the website at www.countdowntokittyhawk.com.
