Dec 11 1978
From The Space Library
The National Air and Space Museum would commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic Kitty Hawk, N.C., flight with the opening of a new exhibit featuring the 1903 Wright Flyer, the Washington Star reported. The exhibit, including pages from the 1903 patent, photographs, and other memorabilia, would open three days before the actual anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight Dec. 17, 1903. The special Wright exhibit would be on display for a yr.
Paul Garber, first curator of the Smithsonian's old National Air Museum, wrote in his book commemorating the occasion: "I was not at Kill Devil Hill to see Orville Wright make that most epochal of all pioneer flights. I wish I had been. But six years later I saw him piloting the Wright military flyer at Fort Myer, Va., and 39 years after that, I had the honor of bringing the first Wright 'aeroplane' back home and installing it in the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries building. (The plane had been in England.) I also helped obtain our third Wright airplane (the Vin Fiz) ...
"One day an acquaintance visited the museum with Orville Wright; ... and I had the pleasure of meeting the first man to make a powered, sustained, and controlled flight ... Later, he assisted me in preparing an exhibit illustrating some of the accomplishments of his brother and himself. I saw him on many occasions, and as I recall those times I only wish that I had asked him more questions! Regrettably he died on Jan. 30, 1948 [Wilbur Wright had died in 1912 of typhoid fever.]" In an interview before the exhibition opened, Garber said, "I can look through the window of a modern jetliner and see the Wright aircraft flying along, changing the course of history." (W Star, Dec 11/78, DC-1)
Av Wk reported the Federal Aviation Administration prediction of an increase in the general aviation fleet from 186 600 active civilian aircraft in 1978 to 310 800 in 1990. Preliminary data indicated that hrs flown in general aviation aircraft reached 38.6 million in FY78, up 5.2% from 36.7 million in FY77. The FAA also predicted that by 1990 general aviation aircraft would be flying 67.4 million hr, increasing 4.8% yearly to 74.6% over the 1978 total. The lower increase of. annual hrs flown resulted from the current emphasis on conservation of resources, FAA said. Operating costs, expected to rise more rapidly than inflation, would affect private flying for pleasure. (Av Wk, Dec 11/78, 70)
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