For Immediate Release:
December 18, 2000

Contact Information:
Monique Bond
773-686-3700/312-839-3194

Wright Brothers Historic Flight Achievements On display at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport

CHICAGO, IL–December 18, 2000-- Almost 97 years ago to the day, Orville and Wilbur Wright conducted a successful experiment on the sands of the outer banks of North Carolina. And the rest was history.

On Tuesday, December 19th, that historic story will be showcased with the formal opening of the First Flight Centennial Commission exhibit at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. The exhibit is located in Terminal 2, adjacent to the O'Hare Post Office.

The exhibit is presented jointly by the First Flight Centennial Commission and the Chicago Airport System. The Commission is the North Carolina state agency responsible for planning activities and programs to celebrate the Centennial of the first manned flight, which took place at Kitty Hawk, NC on December 17, 1903.

Guests will be welcomed by Aviation Commissioner Thomas R. Walker, Russell Walker, Chairman of the First Flight Centennial Commission, and Cecelia Hunziker, Regional Administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration-Great Lakes Chapter. A special presentation will be made by Dr. Tom Crouch of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will follow the remarks. A group of students from Gompers Elementary School will also be on hand for an educational program and tour of the airport control tower.

Titled "The 12 Seconds That Changed the World," the display is a tribute to the genius bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio and others, like Octave Chanute, who have changed the way we live through the marvels of flight. A special section of the exhibit features Chanute, a Chicago civil engineer whose own pioneering aviation work strongly influenced the Wright Brothers.

In addition to archival photos and other memorabilia, the display features a scale model replica of the original 1903 Wright Flyer as well as a spectacular mural of the first flight.

Just this year alone, the traveling exhibit has been on display in Florida, Wisconsin and across North Carolina. In August, the exhibit was featured at the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Canada. An estimated 250,000 people have viewed the exhibit since it won the prestigious Governor's Award at the 1998 North Carolina State Fair.

For more information about the First Flight Centennial Commission, visit www.firstflightinc.com, or call 919-733-2003.