The next Centennial of Flight Commission (COFC) meeting has been scheduled for July 10, 2001. There is a call out to the Commissioners now for agenda ideas.
The First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board was chartered. The nineteenth member of the Advisory Board is Dr. Neil Armstrong. A press release was issued, and is available on our web site. The first meeting of the Advisory Board has been set for August 9, 2001, in Washington, DC. Tom Crouch has asked many centennial organizations to address the Federal Advisory Board at the first meeting.
Formal MOA has been established with Aviation Week. A press release was issued and is available on our web site. We are in the process of establishing formal MOA’s with FAA, AIAA, Inventing Flight: Dayton 2003, First Flight Centennial Commission, EAA, and the Aero-Club of France.
An FAA-sponsored National Transportation Week event was held May 16, 2001 at Potomac Airfield. Debbie Gallaway represented the COFC, and over 700 students attended.
The FY2002 appropriation for the COFC was deleted from the President’s Budget. We are working to have it reinstated by Congress.
COFC staff met with the Aerospace Industries Association to see how we might work together.
GAO has announced they will conduct an audit of the COFC for Fiscal Years 1999 and 2000. Our first meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2001.
The NASA “Why” Files has begun filming for their show that will air on PBS on December 5, 2001. It will feature the Wright brothers. There will be four fifteen- minute segments filmed – two in Ohio and two in North Carolina.
Many thanks to AIAA for sponsoring the Global Air & Space 2001 International Business Forum and Exhibition. On May 8, 2001, many of us participated in the Evolution of Flight Committee Meeting sharing thoughts and activities about the centennial.
AIAA Annual Report was published in April 2001. AIAA issued a press release on May 23, 2001, welcoming Northrop Grumman and Pratt & Whitney as partners in their Evolution of Flight Campaign.
The COFC has sent Public Service Announcement CD’s to over 200 publications, associations, etc.
The COFC has been featured in the following publications: The Aerospace Education Newsletter (April 2001); New Jersey Aviation News (March 2001); Air Museum Exchange (Vol. 4 No. 6); AIA Update (May 2001)
The Call for the National Centennial of Flight Plan went out on May 18, 2001. This was the outcome of a meeting held on April 6, 2001, sponsored by the National Park Service. We are requesting responses by June 4 and would like to have a first draft put together for review in late June.
Quarters commemorating the Wright brothers’ first flight were unveiled March 12, 2001, by U.S. Representative Etheridge, Governor Easley and U.S. Mint Director Johnson in Raleigh, North Carolina. This quarter is the twelfth quarter in the 50 State Quarter Program.
Dr. Tom Crouch was the 2001 Trailblazer honoree and speaker at the Aviation Trail, Inc. ceremony held April 16, 2001. Additionally, Dr. Crouch will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Wright State University.
FFCC Quarterly meeting was held March 29-30, 2001. National Park Service, NC DOT, Inventing Flight and COFC made presentations at that meeting.
Centennial of Flight panel presentation at the National Air and Space Museum’s Mutual Concerns Meeting was well received.
COFC sent a letter to the National Park Service (NPS) advocating an Aviation Theme Study be conducted. Our letter was followed up by a similar letter advocating the Aviation Theme Study that was signed by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. On April 17, 2001, General Dailey received a response from the NPS Acting Director agreeing that an Aviation Theme Study is an “important and worthy goal,” but there were no funds available to conduct the study.
The COFC web site was chosen by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) to link to their site which is a source of information to many teachers and students.
First Flight Centennial Foundation has a great Wright Brothers’ Trivia Challenge on their web site at www.firstflightcentennial.org/quizzes/index.htm
Progress has been made on the two procurements approved at the January COFC meeting. Selection for one (Web Enhancement) is scheduled in May and the second selection (Outreach Support) is scheduled in June.
There are many new features and material on the COFC web site. We would be interested in your feedback and comments.
Many thanks to the NC DOT for hosting our COFC exhibit during Sun N Fun.
The COFC has developed a centennial of flight bookmark to be distributed at the Paris Air Show and Oshkosh this year.
The COFC is working closely with the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibit folks to develop a new portable centennial exhibit.
Anita Frazier is the new Wright Brothers’ contact at the Roger Richman Agency. She can be reached at 310-276-7000.
The U.S. Postal Service has decided to issue a commemorative stamp for the Wright brothers’ centennial.
We are in the midst of preparing for Oshkosh. Many thanks to the EAA for all they are doing for the centennial organizations.
Plans discussed at the January COFC meeting to produce a U.S. Airways Centennial brochure to place in their airplane seatbacks have been shelved due to their pending merger with United Airlines. U.S. Airways is no longer willing to pay for the printing of the brochure. We are considering approaching ATA with the idea of a generic centennial seatback brochure.
Many thanks to Aviation Week for hosting our exhibit and distributing our COFC posters and bookmarks at the upcoming Paris Air Show.