NEW NASA AIRCRAFT TO HELP CELEBRATE HISTORIC FLIGHT
One of NASA's newest aircraft, housed at NASA's Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Va., will help commemorate the 99th anniversary
of the first successful powered flight.
Depending on availability, NASA 507 or NASA 504 will join more
than 115 other planes that will fly in 99 formations over Kill
Devil Hills, N.C., on December 17. It was there on December 17,
1903, that Orville and Wilbur Wright made the historic flight that
launched a new age in transportation.
NASA 507 is a Lancair Columbia 300. It is one of a number of
new-generation small planes that incorporate NASA technology
pioneered at Langley. Technologies range from modified wing leading
edges for spin resistance to energy-absorbing composite airframes
to state-of-the-art cockpit systems inspired by the Langley-led
Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE)
program.
NASA 504 is a Cessna 206 and is more typical of most of the
planes flown by private pilots. It's being used to develop and test
next-generation aviation safety technologies so that they can be
retro-fitted into existing aircraft.
On December 17, one of the NASA planes will meet up with
aircraft coming from across the country in a two-and-a-half hour
fly over above the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil
Hills. Civilian and military aircraft dating as far back as the
1930s will be spaced at ninety-second intervals in sections two to
three minutes apart, so visitors can see just how far aviation has
come since the Wright Brothers' innovation. The first arrival over
the monument is expected about 10:35 a.m.
NASA Langley will also have an exhibit inside the Wright
Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center that will be available
for viewing the morning of the fly over.
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