By Steve Huffman
news@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó Bob Hopkins said many people think of the N.C. Transportation Museum as home solely to aged steam and diesel locomotives ó huge monoliths that once roamed our nation’s train tracks.
And while Hopkins, the museum’s exhibit coordinator, agreed that trains are the facility’s central focus, he noted there’s much more to the history of transportation in North Carolina.
“Just take a look at the state’s quarter,” Hopkins said, referring to the coin that commemorates perhaps the most important part of North Carolina’s past. “There’s the Wright Brothers Flyer right there on it.”
A new exhibit recently opened at the Transportation Museum pays tribute to the efforts of the Wright Brothers and man’s first successes with powered flight. The title of the exhibit is, “The World Aloft ó 1908: The Year the Airplane went Public.”
While the exhibit officially kicks off Jan. 30 with a donor appreciation event, it is already open at the museum. The exhibit is on display in the Green Room of the Bob Julian Roundhouse.
The focal point of “The World Aloft” is a full-sized replica of the Wright Brothers’ flyer. It’s the same replica that was displayed at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk from 1963 until just a few years ago. The flyer measures 21 feet long and has a 40-foot wingspan. It weighs 605 pounds.
While most items in the exhibit ó a 1907 Ford, included ó will be displayed for 18 months, the Wright Flyer is on loan for three years.
“To have a Wright flyer in the roundhouse is unique,” Hopkins said, noting the significance of the display. “We’re a transportation museum, not a railroad museum.”
In addition to the flyer, the exhibit also includes period artifacts, models and pieces of the original flyer. Clyde, the Salisbury artist formerly known as “Clyde Overcash,” has donated two showcases of period pieces ó toys and the like ó that are included as part of the exhibit.
“The World Aloft” celebrates May 14, 1908, as the day the Wright brothers were first observed by credible witnesses as the pioneers of flight. Their first flight took place in 1903, it was five years later before they returned to Kill Devil Hills from Ohio to recreate their flight for newspaper reporters and cameramen so their accomplishments could be documented for the world.
Hopkins noted that, initially, this type attention wasn’t what the Wright brothers wanted.
“They were upset that they were being hounded by the press,” Hopkins said, referring to the brothers’ early attempts at getting a plane aloft. “They wanted privacy. They didn’t want their secrets released to the world.”
“The World Aloft” was created by Dr. Larry Tice, an East Carolina University professor of history, and his students. The exhibit features information and misinformation printed by the press as well as national and international reaction to the accomplishments of the Wright brothers.
It is based on a similar exhibit displayed at the Wright Brothers Memorial at Kitty Hawk. Two pieces of the original Wright Flyer are also displayed, on loan from the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. The original Wright Flyer was upended by wind and left damaged beyond repair following its fourth flight on Dec. 17, 1903.
But there’s more to the story.
In 1986, these artifacts were loaned to NASA at the request of Michael Smith, a North Carolina native and pilot of the space shuttle Challenger. Smith wanted the artifacts of that original flyer to accompany him into space.
Following the Challenger’s explosion, the artifacts of the Wright Flyer were recovered from the wreckage and returned to the N.C. Museum of History. Those are the same artifacts currently on display at the Transportation Museum.
Elizabeth Smith, the museum’s executive director, said it’s difficult to over-emphasize the importance of the exhibit’s display.
“Years ago, we wouldn’t have believed we’d have a Wright Flyer displayed here,” she said. “This is like a dream come true for us.”
Hopkins played a big role in bringing the exhibit to Spencer. He said the idea for doing so struck him when he visited the Wright Brothers Memorial and saw “The World Aloft” displayed there.
Hopkins then contacted representatives of the National Park Service and began working to have the exhibit moved to Spencer.
“It all just fell into place,” Hopkins said of the efforts by him and others. “We’re very fortunate.”