centennial
TONY SCULIMBRENE, executive director at the National Aviation Heritage Alliance, comments: “It was certainly exciting to see the Wright B Flyer circle, land and then pull up to the gate at Rickenbacker International airport.
FedEx freighter at modern-day Rickenbacker International airport
From small beginnings… “But what struck me as even
more amazing was leaving the event on Saturday and driving past warehouses and other facilities associated with Rickenbacker, realising that from Parmelee’s flight in that fragile airplane 100 years ago,
came an industry that has such a massive and global footprint today.” He added: “It was only fitting
that our replica flight ended at a place that is a perfect example of what aviation means to our world today.”
County airport near London. The flight then continued to Rickenbacker and a private reception sponsored by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and Lane Aviation, a full-service fixed base operator at Rickenbacker and Port Columbus international airports.
CARGO IN THE FUTURE The centennial flight carried a commemorative cargo comprising a piece of ceramic composite cloth and a micro version of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from the Air Force Research Laboratory on Wright-Patterson US Air Force Base, the military facility that now covers the former Huffman Prairie Flying Field. The cargo was delivered to Columbus as a symbol of
Dayton’s long-held connection to aviation and aerospace innovations and local hopes that UAVs will be developed in the region. Speaking at the ceremony held at Rickenbacker
International airport to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first air cargo flight, Joe Sciabica, executive director of the US Air Force Research laboratory, commented: “Just as the Wright Brothers established the technology that
made flight possible, the technology being developed today by the Air Force Research Laboratory is opening the doors to new possibilities in the 21st century.” He explained: “The principals of flight brought to
life by the Wright Brothers and advances in materials technology developed in and around the state of Ohio are being used now to design and develop unmanned air systems which are carrying the invention and use of the airplane to new heights. “In particular, the technology associated with UAVs …
will, in the next 100 years, fundamentally transform the way we use and view air power for civil and military uses.” Sciabica concluded: “Perhaps in the next 100 years,
when our grandchildren come to celebrate the 200-year anniversary of Phil Parmelee’s historic flight – alongside the Wright B Flyer will be a swarm of micro UAVs delivering cargo to Columbus! We’re only limited by our own will and our fear to pursue our dreams.”
PHOTOGRAHIC CREDIT The photographs of the centennial flight were taken by Timothy R Gaffney, editor-in- chief of the Ohio Aerospace & Defense magazine and a trustee of Wright B Flyer Inc, who followed the replica Wright Model B in a chase plane
AIR LOGISTICSCHINA 47
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