Monument to a Century of Flight, Kitty Hawk
Jodi Hollnagel-Jubran, Sculptor
The Monument to a Century of Flight is maintained as a public park.
The monument's essential structure consists of fourteen wing-shaped stainless steel pylons ascending in height from 10 feet to 20 feet in an orbit of 120 feet, the distance traveled by the Wright brothers in their "first" flight on December 17, 1903. One side is curved to correlate with a wing foil while the flat faces showcase black granite panels that list defining moments in aviation history. Each granite panel has one or two incised images of the men, women and air or space craft associated with these accomplishments. They begin with the first flight in 1903 and culminate 100 years later with the occupation of the International Space Station. Inside the orbit of pylons and surrounding a center bronze dome, is a courtyard of 4,600 bricks and granite pavers engraved with messages of sponsors from around the world. The bronze dome, six feet in diameter, depicts the earth’s continents joined by a centennial message coming from Kitty Hawk. The bottom is rimmed with likenesses of a variety of aircraft: helicopter, hot air balloon, jet plane, blimp and fighter planes. Just outside of the courtyard is a memorial bench of black granite to Icarus International, the primary memorial sponsor, and to the associates of Parker Monuments.
The Monument is maintained as a public park, open and accessible to all without admission charge.
At the monument entrance is a granite marker inscribed with the poem “High Flight” by James G. Magee, Jr. a World War II fighter pilot who wrote the poem at age 19 shortly before his
death in combat over England. Inside this marker is a time capsule placed by the First Flight Club of Rotary International to be opened in 2103.
Images:
Entrance to the memorial complex |
Poem "High Flight" by John H. Magee, Jr. |
Bench |
Courtyard |
Central dome |
Dome, bricks and pavers |
4,600 bricks and granite pavers |
Pylons |
Pylon 1 |
Pylon 9 |
Pylon 11
Pylon 1 (Wright Flyer): 1903 / DECEMBER 17 / KITTY HAWK, NC / ORVILLE AND WILBUR WRIGHT / ACCOMPLISH WORLD’S FIRST / POWERED, CONTROLLED, SUSTAINED / MANNED FLIGHT / IN HEAVIER THAN AIR MACHINE
1906 / SEPTEMBER - PARIS, FRANCE / FIRST FLIGHT IN EUROPE / MADE BY BRAZILIAN BORN / ALBERTO SANTOS-DUMONT
1909 / JULY 25 / LOUIS BLERIOT BECOMES / FIRST TO FLY ACROSS ENGLISH CHANNEL
1909 / AUGUST - REIMS, FRANCE / FIRST INTERNATIONAL AVIATION / COMPETITION
1909 / ORVILLE WRIGHT DELIVERS TWO-SEAT / OBSERVATION AIRCRAFT TO / U.S ARMY SIGNAL CORPS
1910 / MADAME LA BARONNE DE LAROCHE BECOMES / FIRST WOMAN PILOT LICENSED
1910/1910 / NOVEMBER 14/JANUARY 18 / EUGENE ELY / MAKES FIRST CARRIER TAKEOFF AND LANDING
Pylon 2 (Harriet Guimby): 1912 / MARCH1 / FIRST PARACHUTE JUMP / FROM A POWERED AIRPLANE / MADE BY CAPT. ALBERT BERRY
1912 / APRIL 16 / HARRIET QUIMBY / BECOMES FIRST WOMAN / TO FLY ACROSS ENGLISH CHANNEL
1914 / AUGUST 26 / IGOR SIKORSKY’S GRAND / AVIATION FIRSTFOUR-ENGINE AIRCRAFT
1914 / FIRST AIRLINE / ST. PETERSBURG - TAMPA AIRBOAT LINE
1914 / TWO-WAY RADIO CONTACT / POSSIBLE BETWEEN PILOT AND GROUND
1914 / GYROSCOPE CONTROLLS / DEVELOPED BY ELMER A. SPERRY
1915 / NACA / NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS / IMITATED TO SUPPORT / AVIATION SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT
1918 / U.S. OFFICIALLY ESTABLISHES AIRMAIL SERVICE
Pylon 3 (USS Langley): 1918 / SEPTEMBER 12 / U.S. COLONEL BILLY MITCHELL / DEMONSTRATES EFFECTIVENESS / OF MILITARY AIR SUPPORT / OF GROUND FORCES
1919 / MAY 16-27 / FIRST TRANS-ATLANTIC AIR CROSSING / FLIGHT OF THE NC-4 / COMMANDER AND NAVIGATOR / LCDR. A.C. REID
1919 / JUNE 14-15 / FIRST NONSTOP / FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC / BRITISH CAPT. JOHN ALCOCK AND / LT. ARTHUR WHITTEN BROWN
1919 / FIRST SUSTAINED INTERNATIONAL / COMMERCIAL PASSENGER SERVICE, / BETWEEN PARIS AND BRUSSELS
1922 / MARCH 20 / USS LANGLEY / FIRST AMERICAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER / IS COMMISSIONED
1923 / IN FLIGHT FUELING INTRODUCED
1924 / FIRST AROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT / U.S. ARMY AIR SERVICE / DOUGLAS WORLD CRUISERS
Pylon 4 (Spirit of St. Louis): 1926 / MARCH 16 / LAUNCH OF FIRST / LIQUID PROPELLANT ROCKET / DESIGNED BY ROBERT H. GODDARD
1927 / AIR-COOLED ENGINE MAKES / LIGHTER, FASTER PLANES POSSIBLE
1927 / MAY 20-21 / CHARLES LINDBERGH IN HIS / SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS / BECOMES FIRST TO SOLO / ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
1928 / MAY / FIRST FLIGHT ACROSS PACIFIC OCEAN / AUSTRALIAN AVIATOR / CHARLES KINGSFORD-SMITH AND CREW / IN THE SOUTHERN CROSS
1929 / AUGUST 8-29 / FIRST AROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT / BY DIRIGIBLE, THE GRAFF ZEPPELIN
1929 / SEPTEMBER 24 / JAMES H. DOOLITTLE BECOMES FIRST MAN / TO FLY ENTIRELY BY / INSTRUMENTS AND RADIO AIDS
1929 / NOVEMBER 29 / ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD / MAKES HIS FIRST FLIGHT OVER SOUTH POLE / IN THE FLOYD BENNET
Pylon 5 (Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post): 1929 / LINK TRAINER FLIGHT SIMULATOR / INVENTED
1930 / MAY 15 / ELLEN CHURCH BECOMES / FIRST OFFICIAL FLIGHT ATTENDANT
1931 / BRITIAN’S FRANK WHITTLE / DESIGNS JET ENGINE
1932 / MAY 20-21 / AMELIA EARHART BECOMES / FIRST WOMAN AND SECOND PERSON / TO FLY SOLO ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
1933 / JULY 15-22 / WILEY POST IN WINNIE MAE / MAKES FIRST SOLO AROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT /
1935 / JULY 28 / B-17 FLYING FORTRESS UNVEILED
1935 / DECEMBER 17 / DC-3 AIRCRAFT PROVIDES FIRST PROFITABLE / PASSENGER SERVICE WITHOUT POSTAL SUBSIDY
Pylon 6 (Tuskegee Airmen): 1936 / FIRST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE / ROUTES ESTABLISHED
1939 / AUGUST 27 / HEINKLE HE 178 / FIRST PLANE TO FLY WITH A / JET ENGINE
1939 / SEPTEMBER 14 / INITIAL FLIGHT OF VS-300HELICOPTER / DEVELOPED BY IGOR SIKORSKY
1930’S / RADAR INTRODUCED
1940 / INTRODUCTION OF NORTHRUP N-1M / FIRST “FLYING WING” AIRPLANE
1940 / BOEING STRATOLINER / FIRST AIRLINER WITH PRESSURIZED CABIN
1941-1946 / TUSKEGEE AIRMEN / ACHIEVE DISTINGUISHED ROLE / IN AVIATION / THROUGH DETERMINATION AND PERSEVERANCE / AGAINST TREMENDOUS ODDS
1942 / GERMAN HEINKEL HE 219 / FIRST AIRCRAFT TO BE EQUIPPED WITH / CREW EJECTION SEATS
Pylon 7 (Chuck Yeager) 1943-1944 / WASP / WOMEN AIRFORCE SERVICE PILOTS / FIRST WOMEN TRAINED TO FLY / AMERICAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT
1943 / LOCKEED “SKUNK WORKS” IS BORN / LEADING TO DEVELOPMENT / OVER THE NEXT TWO DECADES / OF LONG-RANGE, HIGH-ALTITUDE / RECONNAISSANCE CAPABILITY
1944 / JANUARY 3 / FIRST AIR-SEA RESCUE BY HELICOPTER / PILOT-CDR. FRANK ERICKSON, USCG
1944 / SEPTEMBER / V-2, WORLD’S FIRST LONG-RANGE / COMBAT BALLISTIC MISSILE
1947 / F-86 SABRE INTRODUCED / FIRST SWEPT-WING FIGHTER INTRODUCED
1947 / OCTOBER / FIRST PILOT TO FLY FASTER / THAN THE SPEED OF SOUND / CHUCK YEAGER IN BELL X-1 RESEARCH PLANE / GLAMOROUS GLENNIS
1948/1949 / JUNE 26/SEPTEMBER 30 / BERLIN AIRLIFT DEMONSTRATES SUCCESSFULLY / AERIAL RESUPPLY
Pylon 8 (Rogallo’s and Sputnik): 1948 / FRANCIS AND GERTRUDE ROGALLO /INVENT THE FLEXIBLE WING
1949 / FEBRUARY / CAPTAIN JAMES GALLAGHER / AND USAF CREW MAKE FIRST / NONSTOP AROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT / IN LUCKY LADY II
1952 / MAY / DEHAVILLAND COMET / WORLD’S FIRST COMMERCIAL JETLINER / PUT INTO SERVICE
1957 / SOVIETS LAUNCH / FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE IN SPACE / SPUTNIK
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1958 / JANUARY 31 / U.S. SATELLITE EXPLORER I LAUNCHED
1958 / A MILLION PASSENGERS FLY THE ATLANTIC / SURPASSING TOTAL STEAMSHIP PASSENGERS
1958 / FAA / FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION / ESTABLISHED
Pylon 9 (Yuri Gagarin): 1958 / NASA / NATIONAL AERONAUTICS / AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION / ESTABLISHED TO DEVELOP / SPACE EXPLORATION PROGRAM
1960 / AUGUST 12 / ECHO I FIRST PASSIVE / COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE LAUNCHED
1960’S / ATLAS INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC / MISSILE, NEVER USED AS A WEAPON, / SERVES AS A LAUNCH SYSTEM / FOR SPACE MISSIONS
1961 / APRIL 12 / YURI GAGARIN OF USSR / BECOMES FIRST MAN IN SPACE
1961 / FIRST WORDS SPOKEN FROM SPACE / I SEE EARTH. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL! / YURI GAGARIN
1961 / MAY 5 / FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE / IS ALAN B. SHEPHARD, JR. / IN MERCURY SPACECRAFT FREEDOM 7
1962 / FEBRUARY 20 / JOHN GLENN, JR. / BECOMES FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT EARTH / IN MERCURY FRIENDSHIP 7
Pylon 10 (Lunar Orbiter): 1962 / DECEMBER 14 / MARINER II / INTERPLANETARY PROBE / FLIES PAST VENUS
1963 / JUNE 16-19 / VALENTINA TERESHKOVA OF USSR / BECOMES FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE
1963 / JULY 26 / SYNCOM II / WORLD’S FIRST / GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE LAUNCHED
1963 / AUGUST 22 / NORTH AMERICAN X-15 / SETS ALTITUDE RECORD OF 67 MILES / AT 4,159 MPH
1965 / MARCH 18 / SOVIET COSMONAUT ALEKSEI LEONOV / BECOMES FIRST MAN TO WALK IN SPACE
1965 / JUNE 3 / FIRST AMERICAN SPACE WALK / MADE BY EDWARD H. WHITE
1966 / LUNAR ORBITER / FIRST U.S. SPACECRAFT / TO ORBIT AND PHOTOGRAPH THE MOON
Pylon 11 (Neil Armstrong): 1968 / WORLD’S FIRST WIDE-BODY AIRLINER, / THE BOEING 747 INTRODUCED
1968 / DECEMBER 31 / SOVIET UNION’S TUPOLEV 144 / FIRST SUPERSONIC TRANSPORT
1969 / MARCH 2 / FIRST FLIGHT OF BRITISH-FRENCH / SUPERSONIC COMMERCIAL JET, CONCORDE
1969 / JULY 20 / NEIL A. ARMSTRONG WALKS ON THE MOON / ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN; / ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND
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1971 / APRIL 19 / WORLD’S FIRST SPACE STATION / SOVIET SALUTI, PLACED IN ORBIT
1972 / LANDSAT I / AMERICA’S FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE
1972 / INTEL 4004 MICROPROCESSOR- / HUMAN ARTIFACT THAT HAS / TRAVELED THE FARTHEST FROM EARTH / PROGRAMMED TO REACH THE STAR ROSS / IN 32,000 YEARS
Pylon 12 (CDR. Elmer Stone): 1972 / GRUMMAN F-14A TOMCAT / “SWING WING” CARRIER INTERCEPTOR / INTRODUCED
1973 / MAY 14 / U.S. SPACE STATION SKYLAB / LAUNCHED INTO ORBIT
1975 / AMERICAN AND SOVIET SPACECRAFT / DOCK IN ORBIT DURING / APOLLO-SOYUZ TEST PROJECT
1976 / FIRST FLIGHT OF F-16A FALCON / USHERS IN ERA OF LIGHTWEIGHT FIGHTERS
1976 / E3A AIRBORNE WARNING AND CONTROL / ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM INAUGURATED
1976 / VIKING LANDERS TOUCH DOWN ON MARS
1979 / JUNE 12 / CYCLIST BRYAN ALLEN PILOTS / HUMAN POWERED GOSSAMER ALBATROSS / ACROSS ENGLISH CHANNEL
COAST GUARD HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE / CDR. ELMER F. STONE, USCG / 1887-1936 / COAST GUARD AVIATOR #1 / PILOT OF THE NAVY NC-4 SEAPLANE THAT MADE THE / FIRST SUCCESSFUL TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT / IN MAY 1919
Pylon 13 (Voyager): 1981 / APRIL 12 / SPACE SHUTTLE ERA BEGINS WITH THE LAUNCH / AND RETURN TO EARTH OF COLUMBIA, / FOLLOWED IN THE DECADE BY CHALLENGER, / DISCOVERY, ATLANTIS AND ENDEAVOR
1983 / JUNE 13 / PIONEER 10 BECOMES FIRST SPACECRAFT / TO LEAVE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM / AND EXPLORE THE EDGES / OF INTERSTELLAR SPACE
1986 / AH-64A APACHE ATTACK HELICOPTER IN USE
1986 / DECEMBER 23 / ALL-COMPOSITE PLANE VOYAGER / COMPLETES FIRST AROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT / WITHOUT STOPPING OR REFUELING
1989 / FIRST PRODUCTION VERTICAL LIFT AIRPLANE / V-22 TILTROTOR OSPREY
1980’S / F117A STEALTH FIGHTER INTRODUCED / FIRST OPERATIONAL AIRCRAFT DESIGNED / TO AVOID RADAR DETECTION
1980’S / INTRODUCTION B-2 “FLYING WING” BOMBER / INCORPORATING STEALTH TECHNOLOGY
Pylon 14 (International Space Station): 1990 / HUBBLE TELESCOPE PROVIDES VISION / INTO SPACE FROM ORBIT AROUND EARTH
1995 / APRIL 27 / GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM FULLY OPERATIONAL
1997 / JULY 4 / MARS PATHFINDER / SENDS BACK MORE THAN 16,500 PICTURES / AFTER LANDING ON MARS
1998 / FIRST COMPONENTS / OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION / PLACED IN ORBIT BY / 15-NATION DEVELOPMENT TEAM
1999 / JULY 22-27 / EILEEN COLLINS BECOMES FIRST WOMAN / COMMANDER OF A SPACE SHUTTLE
2000 / OCTOBER / FIRST CREW OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION / ARRIVES IN ORBIT / ESTABLISHING CONTINUOUS HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE
HUMANKIND IS A CONTINUUM OF PIONEERS / SHARING TIMELESS DREAMS / AND THE BOUNDLESS POSSIBILITIES OF VAST / UNEXPLORED WORLDS.
ICARUS INTERNATIONAL / 2003, IN THE HUNDREDTH YEAR OF POWERED FLIGHT
Bench: DONATED BY / FRANK AND SUZANNE PARKER / IN HONOR OF / ICARUS INTERNATIONAL / AND THE ASSOCIATES OF / PARKER MONUMENTS / FOR THEIR COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION / TO THE / MONUMENT TO A CENTURY OF FLIGHT
Entry marker: MONUMENT / TO A / CENTURY OF FLIGHT
DEDICATED ON NOVEMBER 8, 2003 / IN CELEBRATION OF THE SOARING OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT / CREATED BY ARTISTS / GLENN EURE, HANNA JUBRAN / JODI HOLLNAGLE JUBRAN / ARCHITECT – BENJAMIN B. CAHOON / AND PRESENTED AS AN ENDURING LEGACY BY / ICARUS INTERNATIONAL, INC. / FOUNDERS: / GLEN EURE / DENVER LINDLEY, JR. / NANCY TARNAI / BOARD OF DIRECTORS: / PRESIDENT – WILLIAM J. KEALY / VICE-PRESIDENT – ELLEN KEALY / TREASURER – DONALD W. BRYAN / SECRETARY – PAT EURE / STEVE ALTERMAN / JILL BARTEL / PEGGY BIRKEMEIER / CHERYL L. BYRD / MARY DOLL / JOHN G. GAW, JR. / JEFF GRAHAM / DAVE HILTON / LOLA HILTON / BEVERLY SHARP / MELANIE SMITH
High Flight: HIGH FLIGHT / JOHN H. MAGEE, JR. /OH! I HAVE SLIPPED THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH, /AND DANCED THE SKIES ON LAUGHTER-SILVERED WINGS; / SUNWARD I'VE CLIMBED, AND JOINED THE TUMBLING MIRTH / OF SUN-SPLIT CLOUDS, --AND DONE A HUNDRED THINGS / YOU HAVE NOT DREAMED OF --WHEELED AND SOARED AND SWUNG / HIGH IN THE SUNLIT SILENCE. HOV'RING THERE / I'VE CHASED THE SHOUTING WIND ALONG, AND FLUNG / MY EAGER CRAFT THROUGH FOOTLESS HALLS OF AIR... / UP, UP THE LONG, DELIRIOUS, BURNING BLUE / I'VE TOPPED THE WIND-SWEPT HEIGHTS WITH EASY GRACE / WHERE NEVER LARK OR EVEN EAGLE FLEW -- / AND, WHILE WITH SILENT LIFTING / MIND I'VE TROD / THE HIGH UNSURPASSED SANCTITY OF SPACE, / PUT OUT MY HAND, AND TOUCHED THE FACE OF GOD.
JOHN G. MAGEE, JR., A 19-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN SERVING / WITH THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE IN BRITAIN, WROTE / “HIGH FLIGHT” IN LATER 1941. HE WAS KILLED THAT DECEMBER / IN HIS SPITFIRE OVER ENGLAND.
MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF 2103 / NEAR THIS MARKER IS A TIME CAPSULE DEDICATED TO YOU. / IT WAS PLACED BY THE FIRST FLIGHT CLUB OF ROTARY / INTERNATIONAL UNDER THE SPONSORSHIP OF THE BANK OF / CURRITUCK HONORING THEIR PRESIDENT AND CEO, / SAM T. “TOMMY” MOORE, JR. PLEASE OPEN IN / DECEMBER OF 2013.
Aycock Brown Visitor Center, operated by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
November 8, 2003
36.097370 , -75.715450
View in Geobrowse
Martier, Laura. “Re-discovering the Monument to a Century of Flight,” North Beach Sun (Kill Devil Hills, NC), July 5, 2003, (accessed November 30, 2016) Link
Monument to a Century of Flight, monumenttoacenturyofflight.org, (accessed November 30, 2016) Link
“Monument to Monument to a Century of Flight and Ben Dixon MacNeil,” History For All The People (State Archives of NC), April 25, 2013, (accessed December 10, 2016)
“Monument to a Century of Flight,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed December 10, 2016) Link
Yes
Stainless steel, bronze, black granite, gray granite, brick, concrete
Icarus International, Inc.
Over 600 people were in attendance for the dedication. Tom Poberezny, President of the Experimental Aircraft Association, delivered the keynote address. Joining in the ribbon cutting with Poberezny were NC State Senator and President Pro Tempore of the NC Senate, Marc Basnight; Chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners, Warren Judge; Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Managing Director, Carolyn McCormick; Kitty Hawk Mayor, Bill Harris; Chairman of the NC First Flight Centennial Commission and First Flight Society, Ken Mann; and President of the Board of Directors of Icarus International, Bill Kealy.
Granite panels, inscribed bricks and granite paving stones: Parker Monuments, Knightdale, NC.
Steel pylon fabrication, casting of bronze center dome: Jubran’s studio, Grimesland, NC.
The design evolved out of the collaborative efforts of Outer Banks artist Glen Eure and Hanna Jubran and Jodi Hollnagel Jubran, two acclaimed
artistic and historical commemorative landscape of North Carolina. Over 30 of their works dot the landscape to include Western North Carolina Veterans Memorial in Asheville, Time Capsule Sculpture and Benches in Kinston, Nooherooka Monument in Snow Hill, and Pee Dee the Pirate at ECU in Greenville. They are both employed by the School of Art and
Design at East Carolina University.
The Monument is situated on a high hill overlooking the ocean and the Aycock Brown Welcome Center, 5230 N. Croatan Highway , just over the Wright Memorial Bridge to the Outer Banks. It is a public park open and accessible to all without admission.
It is surrounded by the simple beauty of the barrier island's natural vegetation and looks out toward the waters of the Atlantic.
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this or any other monument in our collection fill out the form at the Contact Us link in the footer. Thank you.
