Pilot Delivers Montana State Flag To Wright Brothers Memorial Despite ‘Isabel’
 Ray Sanders, right, holds the Montana state flag as Hank Galpin pilots his 1928 Travel Air 6000 over the monument at First Flight Airport, North Carolina. |
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – EAA member-pilot Ray Sanders, Kalispell, Montana, officially represented his state in EAA’s “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” program on September 20 when he and fellow member Hank Galpin, also of Kalispell, flew their state flag to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.
The pilots, flying in Galpin’s 1928 Travel Air 6000, had planned to combine the special delivery with their participation in the National Air Tour 2003 at the tour’s scheduled stop at First Flight Airport (FFA). However, Hurricane Isabel closed the facility and prompted the FAA to create a temporary flight restriction (TFR) in the area. When the TFR was lifted on September 20, they were permitted to circle the Wright brothers’ monument in a symbolic fly-by to complete the delivery. On board the Travel Air, As the vintage biplane passed over the Wright Monument, Sanders unfurled the flag. Later, the flag and gubernatorial proclamation were given to the National Park Service at Kill Devil Hills, and the flag was flown above the grounds on September 20.
 Hank Galpin, left, and Ray Sanders with the Montana state flag presented to the National Park Service at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. |
The “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” program is a yearlong 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. Fifty EAA-member pilots – one from each state – were selected to participate.
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.
