Pilots Deliver Washington State Flag To Wright Brothers Memorial Despite ‘Isabel’

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. – EAA member-pilots Addison Pemberton, Spokane, Washington, and Larry Howard, Greenacres, Washington, officially represented their state in EAA’s “50 Flags to Kitty Hawk” program on September 20 when they flew the state flag to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Addison Pemberton, left, and Larry Howard with the Washington state flag in front of Pemberton’s 1931 Stearman Speedmail. The two presented the flag to the National Park Service at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

The pilots, flying in Pemberton's 1931 Stearman Speedmail, had planned to combine their 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. Later, the flag and proclamation of the State of Washington were given to the National Park Service at Kill Devil Hills, and the flag was flown above the grounds on September 20.

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 100^th 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.