The Airplane Re-Creating the Wright Brothers' Historic Flight On the 100th Anniversary Comes to Lakeland's Sun 'N Fun

The 1903 Wright Flyer is the Centerpiece of EAA's Countdown To Kitty Hawk Presented by Ford Motor Company

LAKELAND, Fla., March 31 -- A news conference will be held Wednesday, April 2, 2003, 11-11:30 a.m. to publicly unveil the authentic 1903 Wright Flyer reproduction and to announce the Greatest Aviation Innovations of the First 100 Years. The airplane will be the centerpiece of EAA's Countdown to Kitty Hawk presented by Ford Motor Company, featuring a 24,000-square-foot pavilion celebrating the 100th anniversary of powered flight. The pavilion also includes exhibits on the greatest aviation innovations presented by Eclipse Aviation, historical perspectives, interactive displays and the limited Lincoln Aviator Kitty Hawk Edition, which honors the Wright brothers' achievements.

  * Interactive exhibits featuring Eclipse Aviation's "Greatest Aviation
    Innovations of the First 100 Years."  Eclipse Aviation will unveil the
    top 10 innovations as selected by a distinguished panel of aviation
    experts and launch a campaign for the public to select the No. 1
    innovation.  Participants can become eligible to win a deluxe travel
    package to Kitty Hawk, N.C., for the historic re-enactment of the
    Wrights' first flight on Dec. 17, 2003.

  * The first public unveiling of the 1903 Wright Flyer simulator cradles
    featuring the soon-to-be released "Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A
    Century of Flight" software.  Virtual pilots can try their hand at
    flying the "first" powered airplane as well 23 other historic and modern
    aircraft.

  * Take a historic look at the Wright brothers' efforts through digital
    reproductions of the Wright brothers' documents from the Library of
    Congress archives.  And read correspondence between Henry Ford and
    Orville Wright -- two dedicated, passionate innovators who changed our
    world in 1903.

  WHY:
  * Events of 1903 -- the Wright brothers' first flight and Henry Ford's
    mass production of the automobile -- changed the way we live.

  * EAA's Countdown to Kitty Hawk presented by Ford Motor Company
    (www.countdowntokittyhawk.org) is a yearlong celebration leading up to
    the Dec. 17, 2003, re-enactment of the Wright brothers' first powered
    flight on the dunes near Kitty Hawk -- 100 years to the minute man
    learned to fly.

  WHERE:

Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In takes place at Lakeland's Linder Regional Airport. Check-in will be at the Media Check-in Center at the main gate, to the east of the Main Registration Building. Proceed to the Countdown to Kitty Hawk pavilion where the news conference will take place at 11 a.m.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Available Visuals: On-site options galore including the Eclipse 500, the newest aviation innovation B-roll and high-resolution photos of the Flyer being built and wind tunnel tested