First Flight Foundation Receives Award

The First Flight Foundation, a significant partner of the Outer Banks Group, recently was recognized by the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) as the recipient of its sixth annual Combs Gate Award as a result of a $400,000, six-month project completed in June of this year, providing a much-needed “facelift” to the iconic monument at Wright Brothers National Memorial. 

The monument’s restoration work, the first in over a decade, included interior and exterior cleaning and repair, waterproofing, and replacement of the electrical and air conditioning system as well as new lighting to highlight the monument’s beauty at night.  Completion of the work enabled the NPS to open the monument for reservation-only tours to the general public for the first time in several decades.  Park visitors were able to view the interior of the monument and ascend the stairs to the top for commanding views of the fame landscape where manned flight first began.

The foundation’s executive director, Lola Hilton, and board president, John Harris, accepted the $20,000 award during the opening session of the National Business Aviation Association annual conference in Orlando, Florida. 

“As the National Park Service gears up for their 100th anniversary in 2016, the First Flight Foundation is committed to keeping the Wright Brothers’ spirit alive with a fitting legacy project that will help to memorialize and celebrate the Wright Brothers 1903 flight of ‘12 seconds’ that literally changed the world,” said Harris in his acceptance speech.

The prestigious Combs Award grew out of a donation to the NAHF by the late Harry Combs, a 1996 enshrinee of the Hall of Fame.  As part of his generous $1.3 million gift for the creation of the NAHF research center, Combs stipulated that the Combs Award be established to encourage and support relevant aviation history and research and preservation efforts.