Wiley Post Airport, OK
September 26, 2003

As part of the Centennial of Flight celebration the historic Curtis-Wright/Wiley Post Hangar will be dedicated on Saturday, October 4th at the annual Aerospace America Airshow. Oklahoma Astronaut General Tom Stafford is scheduled to give the dedication address.

In a collaborative agreement with the Advanced Science and Technology Education Center, an Oklahoma charter school, the Aerospace America International Airshow has recently acquired the 1929 Curtis-Wright/Wiley Post Hangar located at the intersection of North May Avenue and Britton Road in Oklahoma City. The hangar is set to be relocated at the Wiley Post Airport and will become Oklahoma's permanent monument to the Centennial of Flight.

The Curtis-Wright/Wiley Post Hangar is home to many historical Oklahoma aviation events. In 1928, the hangar was built for the purpose of promoting and supporting aviation and to provide an outlet for the sale and maintenance of Curtis-Wright products. From 1929 to 1934 Oklahoma's world famous aviator Wiley Post used the hangar to design and modify airplanes he used on several intercontinental and two around-the-world flights.

"Few if any aviation structures in Oklahoma are more historically significant as the Curtis-Wright/Wiley Post Hangar," said Bob Kemper, Chairman of the Hangar Reconstruction.

One official representative from each public-use, private and residential airport is being asked to fly into Will Rogers World Airport between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 4th. Photographs of the pilot with their airplane and their airport will be on permanent display at the hangar and the designees will receive certificates recognizing their contribution to the Centennial of Flight celebration.

Paper airplanes made by Oklahoma school children will be collected and loaded into the gondola of a high-altitude helium balloon provided by High Ships, Inc. of Fredrick, OK. At 10:00 a.m. during the hangar dedication ceremony, the balloon will be flown to 120,000 feet and the paper airplanes will be released.

This event is shaping up to be one of the largest general aviation fly-ins ever held in Oklahoma. The reconstructed hangar is not to be a relic of the past, but a proactive facility for public education and the promotion of general aviation in the state of Oklahoma and will provide a link to the past and a bridge to the future. Don't miss this opportunity to witness aviation history and a great airshow.

Contact:

Bob Kemper
(405) 943-9732