on one of those unusual calm, cool and sunny mornings earlier in the week I did something I hadn't done in quite a while...

I visited the Wright Memorial National Monument at the top of 90 foot Kill Devil Hill...despite driving, or cycling, by the Monument hundreds of times over the years, it had been quite a while since I had been up the Hill to take a look...

it was worth the walk to enjoy the detail of the Monument and the spectacular 360 degree views of the Atlantic, the grounds where the first flights took place, Visitor's Center and the west side where the well known airport sits...

if interested, I took some amateur video of the visit at the link...if you've never been up there it'll give you an idea of what's there

youtu.be/MevcFwSvqjY

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It's been a long time since I was up there. The last time I got in the monument itself. There is a ladder to the top and Dare County EOC had a closed circuit camera at the top. It's no longer there but it was fun to use it when it was up there. The inside of the monument is really wet - no wonder the rotating light failed years ago before it was fixed. It must require a lot of maintenance.

I am glad Orville's head is back in place.

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Being a retired pilot I always climb the hill on Dec 17th, the anniversary of the first flight. Usually a bunch of locals up there I see every year! Years ago the flyovers used to be more impressive, now they're kinda lame, but I still go for the tradition.

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One of the highlights of my life will always be the 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

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I was there many years ago as a child. I don't remember if it was a museum back then but I do remember lots of people on Hang Gliders. I DO really want to check it out.

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One of the highlights of my life will always be the 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

That was a fun week.

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One of the highlights of my life will always be the 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

We were down for that since our neighbor Ken Hyde had built the replica Wright flyer that was to be flown that day for the celebration. The weather was absolutely terrible and it was not attempted. The plane was flown successfully both before and after the celebration and it's now on display.

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Alexy
That was the only disappointment. The weather was really bad. Monsoon! bad!

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One of the highlights of my life will always be the 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

We were down for that since our neighbor Ken Hyde had built the replica Wright flyer that was to be flown that day for the celebration. The weather was absolutely terrible and it was not attempted. The plane was flown successfully both before and after the celebration and it's now on display.

That is not exactly correct.

It was rainy that day and not enough wind. They still attempted the flight, it got to the end of the rail and skidded to a stop in the sand.

I was a pilot for American (before I retired) and took vacation so I could attend all 5 days of the event. It was typical weather for December in the OB. Sunny and great one day and rainy ucky the next. Unfortunately on THE day, Dec 17th, it was rainy and not enough wind. The steady wind is what they wanted, 20 to 30 would have been great but it wasn't to be!

All in all it was still a great 100th celebration of our Wright Brothers!

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I was a pilot for American (before I retired) and took vacation so I could attend all 5 days of the event. It was typical weather for December in the OB. Sunny and great one day and rainy ucky the next. Unfortunately on THE day, Dec 17th, it was rainy and not enough wind. The steady wind is what they wanted, 20 to 30 would have been great but it wasn't to be!

All in all it was still a great 100th celebration of our Wright Brothers!

American needs you back! LOL, just kidding.

Survived a 9 hour delay from Heathrow over the weekend, but bunkering down in the British Airways Galleries club since the Admirals Club was closed was not a bad plan on my part.

Before I got into Financial Services, I worked for USAir which became American at PHL working the Ramp.

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American needs you back! LOL, just kidding.


Before I got into Financial Services, I worked for USAir which became American at PHL working the Ramp.

Ha Ha! Well, I turned 65 in May. The FAA says that's too old to fly airliners!

I'm enjoying being retired on the Outer Blanks! (A nick name some of my friends invented)

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One of the highlights of my life will always be the 100th anniversary celebration in 2003.

We were down for that since our neighbor Ken Hyde had built the replica Wright flyer that was to be flown that day for the celebration. The weather was absolutely terrible and it was not attempted. The plane was flown successfully both before and after the celebration and it's now on display.

That is not exactly correct.

It was rainy that day and not enough wind. They still attempted the flight, it got to the end of the rail and skidded to a stop in the sand.

I was a pilot for American (before I retired) and took vacation so I could attend all 5 days of the event. It was typical weather for December in the OB. Sunny and great one day and rainy ucky the next. Unfortunately on THE day, Dec 17th, it was rainy and not enough wind. The steady wind is what they wanted, 20 to 30 would have been great but it wasn't to be!

All in all it was still a great 100th celebration of our Wright Brothers!

I also had the good fortune to attend the 100 Yr Celebration. Biker is correct, it was a messy day and the Replica skidded off the end of the rail into the sand/ mud ! The entire event was a memorable time. John Travolta was MC and the Beach Boys performed , along with other performers and exhibits
See below a recap of the Celebration>>>

Click to follow link...

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