The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
visited the Monument To A Century of Flight
100 Ocean Green Court
Kitty Hawk, NC 27848
June 23, 2020

December 17, 2003 marked the 100-year anniversary of the first powered, controlled, sustained flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright from the sands of what is now the town of Kill Devil Hills on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Flight enthusiasts around the world joined in as the centennial was celebrated in Kill Devil Hills at the National Park Service Wright Brothers National Memorial; in Dayton, Ohio at the birthplace of Orville and Wilbur Wright; and in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, at a Monument commemorating aviation's first century.

The Monument to a Century of Flight is a public park that was open and accessible to all without admission charge on this date. It is located within the Outer Banks Visitor Center.

The concept for the Kitty Hawk Monument to a Century of Flight, with its orbit of ascending wing-shaped pylons depicting man's journey in a single century from earthbound to the moon and beyond, is that of Outer Banks of North Carolina artist, Glenn Eure. The design evolved out of the collaborative efforts of Eure and two acclaimed sculptors, Hanna Jubran and Jodi Hollnagel Jubran. The Jubrans are professors at East Carolina University School of Art and are involved in the creation of public sculptures around the world. They fabricated the Monument's pylons and created the center bronze dome.

Offered by Icarus International, Inc. as an enduring legacy to the history and the beauty and mystery of flight, this public Monument recognizes significant accomplishments and milestones in aviation history and honors the soaring spirit of the men and women whose aspirations spoke, and continue to speak, so clearly of human potential. The Monument to a Century of Flight is endorsed by the U. S. Centennial of Flight Commission, the NC First Flight Centennial Commission, the First Flight Society, the Dare County Board of Commissioners, the Town of Kitty Hawk, the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, and countless aviation enthusiasts.

The Monument's essential structure consists of fourteen wing-shaped stainless steel pylons (shown below) ascending in height from 10 feet to 20 feet in an orbit of 120 feet, the distance traveled by the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright in that historic "first" flight on December 17, 1903.

The flat faces of the pylons showcase black granite panels engraved with language and images about one hundred of the most significant events in aviation in its first century.

The orbit of pylons culminates in a center bronze dome, (shown below) six feet in diameter, depicting the continents of earth joined by a centennial message coming from Kitty Hawk. Inside the orbit of pylons and surrounding the center bronze, the heartbeat of the Monument is a courtyard of 4,600 bricks engraved with messages of sponsors from around the world. Karen Duquette photographed it from three different angles.

Below: Views of the monument from the roadside

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