Mr. & Mrs. Hawthorne Go Look At Bricks.

Mr. Hawthorne and I decided to play tourists the other day and visit the Monument to a Century of Flight. The monument depicts the history of flight and man's journey in a single century from being earthbound to traveling to the moon and beyond. Groundbreaking for the monument was on June 17, 2003. The monument was dedicated on November 8, 2003, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight, which was quite a whoop-de-doo down here. Now, here's a bit of trivia for you. Whenever you've heard about the site of the Wright Brothers' historic flight, you've heard Kitty Hawk. Actually, the site is in what is now Kill Devil Hills. Kitty Hawk, which has been around for several generations, is actually about 6 miles away. And Kill Devil Hills didn't become a town until 1953. Another piece of trivia: Which brother made the first flight? (Answer at end.)

Upon entering the monument site, we see a granite marker engraved with the poem, High Flight, written by James Magee, a 19 year old fighter pilot, shortly before his death. President Reagan recited the poem in his address to the nation in 1986, following the Challenger disaster, and in 2003 the poem was again used to honor the astronauts lost in the Columbia shuttle. There's a time capsule located here, scheduled to be opened in 2103.

The monument consists of 14 stainless steel wing-shaped pylons ascending in height from 10 feet to 20 feet in an orbit of 120 feet, which is the distance traveled by the Wright Brothers in their first flight on December 17, 1903.

The faces of each pylon have engraved black granite panels describing the most significant events in aviation history. You can see all the pylon designs at these links: Pylon #1 Pylon #2 Pylon #3 Pylon #4 Pylon #5 Pylon #6 Pylon #7 Pylon #8 Pylon #9 Pylon #10 Pylon #11 Pylon #12 Pylon #13 Pylon #14

In the center is a bronze dome, 6 feet in diameter, showing the continents of the earth.

The courtyard consists of 4600 bricks, engraved with the names of sponsors from around the world.

First Flight Middle School had a Wright Flight program, in which the students sign a contract, setting an academic goal for themselves and try to attain it over a certain time period. If you successfully achieve your goal, you get to go on a plane ride. I remember when Youngest Hawthorne was telling me about the program. I asked him what his goal was. At the time, he had a 98 average in math and he set his goal to get a 100 average. And the teacher actually went along with this. I was not happy. And it was too late to change anything. Well, he did raise his average to 99, but unfortunately failed to honor his contract. Luckily, he had a second chance, which is where I stepped in. "Did you ever think of raising your C in English to a B?" It was the end of the school year and this time he succeeded. However, his teacher didn't acknowledge it. I can be like a dog with a bone about these sorts of things, so the next fall I was in that teacher's classroom the first day of school, demanding acknowledgment of his achievement. And Littlest Hawthorne got his flight. I never liked that teacher and she always had it in for both Hawthorne boys. To wind down this tale, someone offered to buy bricks for all the successful Wright Flight fliers, have their names engraved on them, and have the bricks placed in the courtyard at the monument. Looks like one little Wright Flyer got two bricks. Heh.

By the way, if you want to buy a brick, it's $100.

More information on the monument can be found here.

Lookie. I can see the ocean!

Oh ... Orville was the first to fly.