Political Quotes

“In October 1998, this body passed a bill to establish a commemoration of the centennial of powered flight and the achievements of the Wright brothers. The commemoration activities set forth in that bill will come to fruition this year with the Festival of Flight. The Festival of Flight will consist of four events that will be held nationwide to celebrate Wilbur and Orville Wright's first flight. Wilbur and Orville Wright manned the first successful controlled and sustained powered flight. The Wright brothers, originally bicycle store owners from Dayton, Ohio, moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina for the hills, strong and steady winds, and the soft-sanded ground--ingredients for successful flight. They went back to Dayton and built a six-foot wind tunnel to conduct experiments with over 200 different wing models. They developed the first reliable tables on the effects of air pressure on curved surfaces, the principles that we use today and that you see on every airplane. In 1903, the Wright brothers completed the construction of a larger plane powered by their own lightweight gas-powered engine and returned to Kitty Hawk. On December 17, 1903, four men and a boy witnessed the first flight--a flight which dramatically changed the course of transportation, commerce, communication, and warfare throughout the world.”