News & Events

Sally K Ride

Inducted in 2021

Sally Ride was the first American woman to fly in space.

1951-2012

Sally Ride was born May 26, 1951, in California. After high school, she went to Stanford University in California. She earned degrees in physics. NASA began looking for women astronauts in 1977. Sally Ride decided to apply for the job and she was one of six women picked.

Dr. Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a one-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a Mission Specialist on future space shuttle flight crews. She subsequently performed as an on-orbit Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.

Dr Ride was a Mission Specialist on STS-7 in 1983 and STS-41-G in 1984. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Sally’s second shuttle flight made history as the first space mission with two female crew members. When Challenger blasted off for STS-41G on Oct. 5, 1984, Sally was joined by Kathryn Sullivan.

Ride stopped working for NASA in 1987. She started teaching at the University of California in San Diego. She started looking for ways to help women and girls who wanted to study science and mathematics. She came up with the idea for NASA’s EarthKAM project. EarthKAM lets middle school students take pictures of Earth using a camera on the International Space Station. Students then study the pictures.

In 2003, Ride was added to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Astronaut Hall of Fame honors astronauts for their hard work.

Until her death on July 23, 2012, Ride continued to help students. A long-time advocate for improved science education, Dr. Ride has written five science books for children. She worked with science programs and festivals around the United States.

Congratulations to our 2021 P-51 ride Sweepstakes Winner!

The First Flight Society is pleased to announce that Daniel McLeod of Payson AZ has won the P-51 ride sweepstakes. He has won a flight in Stallion 51’s “CRAZY HORSE” Mustang in Kissimmee, Florida.The winner can schedule the experience up to 12 months after winning and the prize award includes $600 towards your expenses to travel to the Orlando, Florida area for the experience. Also included as part of the ride package will be a Stallion 51 Jacket, T-Shirt and Cap!

The First Flight Society would like to thank everyone who entered and especially those who donated. No purchase was necessary to enter the contest.

The entire program takes approximately 2½ to 3 hours. The instructor will begin with a thorough preflight briefing where he will customize your flight profile, based on your experience, expertise and expectations.

Once in flight, you will be invited to do the majority of the flying yourself – from basic maneuvering to high performance aerobatics – you can be in control. Following the flight, a debrief occurs where you can log your flight time if you’re a pilot and review video of your flight from Stallion 51’s state-of-the-art, on-board camera system.

This color video includes three different camera views, inner-cockpit communication and residual engine sounds. The video is yours to keep, along with a flight profile certificate and an autographed photo of the Mustang you piloted.

View the presentation below:

https://www.tapkat.org/first-flight-society-inc/854BYk/winner

First Flight Society Announces 2021 Class of Honorary Members

  • Mark Baker
  • Tom Crouch
  • Rob Holland

– November 18, 2021 – The First Flight Society announces 3 new Honorary Members: AOPA President Mark Baker, Historian Tom Crouch and Aerobatic Champion Rob Holland.

Tom D Crouch is an American aeronautics historian and curator. Tom Crouch joined the Smithsonian in 1974 and has served both the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History in a variety of curatorial and administrative posts. Dr. Crouch retired in 2018 and is a curator emeritus. He is the author or editor of several books and many articles for both popular magazines and scholarly journals. These include: The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Mark Baker is Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)’s fifth president. He is a commercial pilot with single- and multiengine land and seaplane ratings and a rotorcraft rating. In conjunction with his role as president and CEO of AOPA, Baker is chairman of AOPA’s Political Action Committee, chief executive officer for the AOPA Foundation, president of the International Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associations representing pilots in 72 countries, and publisher of AOPA Pilot.

Rob Holland is one of the premier airshow performers and freestyle aerobatic competition pilots in the world today. He is Ten-time, consecutive, U.S. National Aerobatic Champion, Five-time, consecutive, World 4-minute Freestyle Champion and Eleven-time, U.S. 4-minute Freestyle Champion.

Tom has had a long association with the First Flight Society and often speaks about the Wright Brothers at the December 17th Wright Brothers Celebration. Rob joins aerobatic pilots Sean D Tucker and Patty Wagstaff as a First Flight Society Honorary Member. Mark Baker is a longtime general aviation (GA) pilot and only the fifth president in the 75-year history of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).

The Honorary Member program launched last year to enhance the public visibility of luminaries like these who have achieved national recognition in aviation. First Flight Society will recognize them in Society Media during their lifetime. In turn, FFS offers them the chance to attend the December 17th Luncheon in Kitty Hawk, NC and be honored along with that year’s Honoree. With the cancellation of last year’s luncheon, the Society hopes to renew that offer this December to the Class of 2020.

This year’s honoree is Dr Sally K Ride, the first American woman in space. Ride was a Physicist, astronaut, and champion of science education. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She will be inducted into the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine at Wright Brothers National Memorial on December 17, 2021.

The FFS plans an annual Wright Brothers Day Celebration at the Wright Brothers National Memorial on December 17th mandated by their bylaws to memorialize the work of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, NC. More information about the event can be found at www.wrightbrothersday.org

More information about the First Flight Society can be found at www.firstflight.org

Your Chance to Win a ride in a P-51 Mustang + this Wooden Display Model!





 

 

Enter for Your Chance to Win a ride in a P-51 Mustang + this Wooden Display Model!

 
Win this P-51D Mustang “Glamorous Glen III” Model of the aircraft flown by Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group during WWII. (Scale: 1/24, Wingspan 18.25 inches, Length 18.50 inches)
RETAIL VALUE $250
 

Enter by November 24th, 2021 with the promo code YEAGER21 for a chance to win this model + 30% more tickets free
 

 

Enter today for your chance to fly in a WWII P-51 Fighter!

This is your chance to fly in the same type of aircraft as some of our First Flight Society Honorees such as the “Red Tail” Tuskegee airmen, including General Benjamin Davis, USAF and Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, USAF, as well as such other famous flyer Honorees as Col. Jacqueline Cochran, USAF (Former WASP), Maj. Gen. Robert White, USAF, and Brig. Gen. Charles Yeager, USAF! The Stallion 51 Corporation offers a rare and exhilarating hands-on P-51 flight experience. The winner can schedule the experience up to 12 months after winning and the prize award includes $600 towards your expenses to travel to the Orlando, Florida area for the experience. Also included as part of the ride package will be a Stallion 51 Jacket, T-Shirt and Cap!

Click Here for More Information

 

Special Offer for members and friends of the First Flight Society! Use the promo code YEAGER21 for a chance to win the P-51 model and get  30% more tickets!

 

 
Stallion 51’s TF-51 Mustang “Crazy Horse II” the aircraft you will fly in if you win the sweepstakes!
 

 

FLASH Contest! Enter to win your chance to Fly in a P-51 by November 24th and you will get a chance to win this P-51 Mustang model!

 

Use the promo code YEAGER21 to get 30% more free entries!

 

Entry amounts range from $25 for 20 tickets to $2000 for 4000 tickets!

 

 

 

Enter Now With Promo Code: YEAGER21

 

All proceeds from this sweepstakes support the nonprofit First Flight Society dedicated to preserving the history of the Wright Brothers. Your support ensures that the society can continue to share this history with you and the public. Thank you! 
Promo code can not be applied to previous donations. 

Save the Date for Wright Brothers Day 2021

Every December 17th, The First Flight Society celebrates the Anniversary of powered flight at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. This day is also known as Wright Brothers Day.
Sally K Ride, has been named the 2021 Honoree to be inducted into the Dr. Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine located in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA.This honor is selected annually by a high-level panel appointed by the First Flight Society, from among numerous nominations submitted from around the world as well as compiled lists of qualified candidates. The induction ceremony will be held on Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 2021, with a celebration Luncheon held that afternoon in Kitty Hawk. A portrait of Sally Ride will be unveiled and presented at the morning ceremony on December 17th, celebrating the 118th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight.

The event will be from 9AM-5PM, both in person and online. The morning ceremonies will be from 9-11 at the WBNM park. Come out and see speakers from NASA Langley Research Center and Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego. Park admission will be free that day. There will be videos and livestreaming on Facebook Live. The morning ceremony will be capped off with a Flyover. Members and the public are invited to our Celebration luncheon in Kitty Hawk at 12 noon. Following the luncheon is our FFS Annual Membership meeting. 

Please start making plans to join us in the Outer Banks of North Carolina to “Celebrate the 12 Seconds That Changed the World”!

Make Plans to Celebrate Wright Brothers Day 2021.

Save the date! December 17th, 2021 is the 118th anniversary of powered flight. The First Flight Society will be honoring Sally Ride as the 2021 Paul E Garber Shrine inductee. The Shrine is located in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA.

This honor is selected annually by a high-level panel appointed by the First Flight Society, from among numerous nominations submitted from around the world as well as compiled lists of qualified candidates. The induction ceremony will be held on Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 2021, with a celebration luncheon also held that day in Kitty Hawk. A portrait of Sally Ride will be unveiled and presented at the ceremony on December 17th.

Dr Ride was a Mission Specialist on STS-7 in 1983 and STS-41-G in 1984. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Until her death on July 23, 2012, Ride continued to help students. A long-time advocate for improved science education, Dr. Ride has written five science books for children. She worked with science programs and festivals around the United States.

FFS will recognize our 2020 and 2021 Classes of Honorary Members. The Class of 2020 is Colonel Gail Halverson aka “Candy Bomber”, Brigadier General Charles McGee, Lt Colonel Dick Rutan, Sean Tucker, and Patty Wagstaff. Halvorsen, McGee and Rutan were Paul Garber honorees in the past. Col Halvorsen was inducted in 2019 and General McGee as a Tuskegee Airman in 2004. Tucker and Wagstaff are world renowned aerobatics pilots.

The 2021 Class of Honorary members will be announced on November 19th, 2021

The First Flight Society is proud and honored to have all of these luminaries as new Honorary Members.

 

Win a Once in a Lifetime Experience to fly in a WWII P-51 Fighter!

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Win a Once in a Lifetime Experience to fly in a WWII P-51 Fighter!

Enter today for your chance to fly in a WWII P-51 Fighter!

This is your chance to fly in the same type of aircraft as some of our First Flight Society Honorees such as the “Red Tail” Tuskegee airmen, including General Benjamin Davis, USAF and Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, USAF, as well as such other famous flyer Honorees as Col. Jacqueline Cochran, USAF (Former WASP), Maj. Gen. Robert White, USAF, and Brig. Gen. Charles Yeager, USAF! The Stallion 51 Corporation offers a rare and exhilarating hands-on P-51 flight experience. The winner can schedule the experience up to 12 months after winning and the prize award includes $600 towards your expenses to travel to the Orlando, Florida area for the experience. Also included as part of the ride package will be a Stallion 51 Jacket, T-Shirt and Cap!

Prize Details

The entire program takes approximately 2½ to 3 hours. The instructor will begin with a thorough preflight briefing where he will customize your flight profile, based on your experience, expertise and expectations.

Once in flight, you will be invited to do the majority of the flying yourself – from basic maneuvering to high performance aerobatics – you can be in control. Following the flight, a debrief occurs where you can log your flight time if you’re a pilot and review video of your flight from Stallion 51’s state-of-the-art, on-board camera system.

This color video includes three different camera views, inner-cockpit communication and residual engine sounds. The video is yours to keep, along with a flight profile certificate and an autographed photo of the Mustang you piloted.

Experience Requirements

The winner will need to be a minimum of 5’2” and no more than 6’5” tall and no more than 270 pounds and be in good health to participate in the flight. Winner must also complete all Stallion 51 standard paperwork and waivers in order to take the flight.

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Become a Founding Member of Club 1903

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The Power of 1903 ($19.03)

Make a recurring or even a one time gift of $19.03 and become a founding member of Club 1903 supporting the First Flight Society. In cooperation with GoFundMe we are raising money to benefit First Flight Society, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to our organization.

The First Flight Society’s primary mission is to memorialize Orville and Wilbur Wright, first in the world to successfully achieve powered flight in a heavier than air machine, on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. First Flight Society invites and promotes visits to the Wright Brothers National Memorial, so all may see the birthplace of powered flight. First Flight Society contributes to the advancement of aviation through programs, activities, education and the arts.

Your donation will help us tell the story of the Wright Brothers to children and adults now and in the future!

Please join Club 1903 now. The cost of two or three skipped espressos will help First Flight Society expand its programming and scholarships for years to come.

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Sally Ride Selected as 2021 Paul E Garber Shrine Honoree.

KITTY HAWK, N.C. – April 16, 2021 – The First Flight Society announced today that Sally K Ride, has been named the 2021 Honoree to be inducted into the Dr. Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine located in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA.

This honor is selected annually by a high-level panel appointed by the First Flight Society, from among numerous nominations submitted from around the world as well as compiled lists of qualified candidates. The Shrine is located within the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. The induction ceremony will be held on Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 2021, with a celebration banquet held on December 16, 2021 in Kitty Hawk. A portrait of Sally Ride will be unveiled and presented at the ceremony on December 17th, 2021, celebrating the 118th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight.

Sally Ride was the first American woman to fly in space.

Sally Ride was born May 26, 1951, in California. After high school, she went to Stanford University in California. She earned degrees in physics. NASA began looking for women astronauts in 1977. Sally Ride decided to apply for the job and she was one of six women picked.

Dr. Ride was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a one-year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment as a Mission Specialist on future space shuttle flight crews. She subsequently performed as an on-orbit Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) on the STS-2 and STS-3 missions.

Dr Ride was a Mission Specialist on STS-7 in 1983 and STS-41-G in 1984. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. Sally’s second shuttle flight made history as the first space mission with two female crew members. When Challenger blasted off for STS-41G on Oct. 5, 1984, Sally was joined by Kathryn Sullivan.

Ride stopped working for NASA in 1987. She started teaching at the University of California in San Diego. She started looking for ways to help women and girls who wanted to study science and mathematics. She came up with the idea for NASA’s EarthKAM project. EarthKAM lets middle school students take pictures of Earth using a camera on the International Space Station. Students then study the pictures.

In 2003, Ride was added to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Astronaut Hall of Fame honors astronauts for their hard work.

Until her death on July 23, 2012, Ride continued to help students. A long-time advocate for improved science education, Dr. Ride has written five science books for children. She worked with science programs and festivals around the United States.

William Douglas, Chairman of the First Flight Society’s National Advisory Committee, served as Chair of the Dr. Paul E. Garber Shrine Selection Panel and managed the selection process.

Without the First Flight Society there would not be a Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The Kill Devil Hills Memorial Association, later named First Flight Society, began as a group of local businessmen who successfully petitioned the US Congress to fund and build a monument to the Wright Brothers’ 1903 achievement.

 

The FFS plans an annual celebration at the Wright Brothers National Memorial on December 17th mandated by their bylaws to memorialize the work of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, NC.

They created the Paul E Garber Shrine in 1966 to honor individuals and groups for achieving significant “firsts” in aviation development since 1903. (Charles Lindbergh, Tuskegee Airmen, Mary Feik, John Glenn, Katherine Johnson (Hidden Figures) and most recently Colonel Gail “the Candy Bomber” Halvorsen among others.

First Flight Society promotes aviation education through an Aviation Education Committee to expand the knowledge of the Wright Brothers’ legacy by bringing aviation education programs to students in Dare County. They also offer an annual FFS Scholarship through Outer Banks Community Foundation for students pursuing aviation education in North Carolina.