On October 19, we met with Proxtronics, our “Timeline” contractor. The meeting went very well. We agreed to engage the History and Education Panel in a peer review process to review the topic selection of the 500 essays, as well as the graphic images and the content of the finished essays.
The National Coalition for Aviation Education (NCAE) met October 17, 2000. This group consists of approximately 42 aviation and aerospace organizations that are coordinating their aviation educational activities and centennial of flight initiatives. EAA, FAA, and NASA are long standing members of the organization. A number of joint activities were discussed. The annual meeting of NCAE's full membership will be held December 15, 2000 in Washington, DC.
On October 23, 2000, the President signed into law the Transportation Appropriations Bill for FY 2001. This bill contains $750,000 to fund the operations of the Centennial of Flight Commission.
The History and Education Panel, co-chaired by Roger Launius and Jan Ruff, has initiated efforts to develop a process and criteria for logo use and Centennial endorsement of events. These were actions from the September Commission meeting. They expect to have this completed by December 1, 2000.
The Dayton inventingflight.com web site has been launched. The North Carolina web site (www.firstflightnc.com) has also gone live.
On October 25, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, William H. Rehnquist, Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lawrence M. Small, and Director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum J.R. Dailey presided over the
groundbreaking for the Museum's new Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport. Almost 500 State and local dignitaries, Museum Board members, donors, and staff were treated to a Marine Corps flyover, remarks by Rehnquist, Small, and Virginia Lt. Gov. John Hager, and the presentation of the Order of James Smithson to Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, a California businessman who donated $60 million toward the construction of the complex. The Center will open in December 2003, in conjunction with the celebration of the centennial of powered flight.
An October 25 Press Release announced a partnership between AIAA and Rockwell Collins for the Evolution of Flight Campaign.
Received two Presidential commissions on October 26. One is for Tom Crouch as the chairperson of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board and one is for Patty Wagstaff as a member of that Advisory Board.
A Technical Town Meeting of the AIAA Baltimore Section took place October 26, 2000 and featured Dr. Sheila Widnall as the Keynote Speaker. The theme was “From the Dawn of Flight into the New Millennium.”
Contacted the Roger Richman Agency. It was a pleasant conversation. They are mailing us some information and then we will discuss possibilities for partnership.
Called Don Campbell, GAO Senior Auditor. Our legislation requires an annual audit. Mr. Campbell said he has several high priority projects underway right now and would get back with us soon. He requested a copy of our Annual Report, which we will send to him.
Jack Dailey signed the Annual Report on November 1. Heartfelt thanks to Jay Henn for providing the leadership for this effort.
The “Submit an Event” feature on the Calendar page of our website was activated November 1, 2000 at 4:41 p.m.
General Dailey has agreed to host the kick-off segment of the NASA “Why” Files (whyfiles.larc.nasa.gov), a one hour program for 3-5 grade students, titled "The Case of the Challenging Flight." The program will air March 14, 2001, on PBS-member stations and will reach approximately 90,000 educators and over 1 million students. A second show featuring the Wright brothers is planned for December 2001.
The Education Division at NASA Headquarters, in partnership with the Centennial of Flight Commission staff, has developed two educational posters featuring the Wright brothers. We are hopeful that the posters will be formally unveiled at the 53rd Annual Wright Brothers Memorial Dinner on December 15, 2000. The posters will be distributed throughout the NASA educational network and the FAA educational Regional Offices. Additional distribution plans are being developed. The posters will also be made available electronically.
Visited the Library of Congress November 1 to meet with Roberta Goldblatt, project manager of the Wright brothers’ bibliography update. In addition, met with Leonard Bruno and viewed Wright memorabilia the Library of Congress had on display. Received a copy of the Library of Congress’ Wright brothers’ chronology. Discussed many other opportunities for partnership, which we will follow through on.
Met with Merrie Scott and Kimberly Grant of AIAA on November 2 and learned what some of their plans are for the centennial celebration and discussed possibilities for future partnerships.
Survey letter has been prepared for Jack Dailey’s signature to approximately 60 Federal agencies inquiring about their plans for the centennial of flight. This was an action from the September Commission meeting.
A member of the Disney EPCOT staff has invited NASA Aerospace Technology and Centennial of Flight staff to explore possibilities for an aerospace exhibit at EPCOT honoring the centennial of flight in 2003. We will meet with them November 7, 2000.
The Virginia Association of Science Teachers (VAST) Convention will take place November 10. The National Coalition for Aviation Education (NCAE), of which Debbie Gallaway is a member, will participate and will distribute the Centennial of Flight brochures.
Inventing Flight's Annual Meeting will take place on November 16.
The next meeting for the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission has been scheduled for January 17, 2001 at the NASM, Director’s Conference Room from 9-11 AM. We are beginning to put together the Agenda for that meeting. If you have ideas or requests, please contact me.