The First Flight Society will celebrate the 3rd annual Wilbur Wright Day event, a luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk on April 13th, 2024. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and features Christopher Moore, Museum Specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
The luncheon is open to the public and there will be a fee for the lunch. Mr. Moore’s talk is titled The Wright Brothers in NASM’s New Early Flight Gallery. Sponsors and partners will be recognized as part of the event. All First Flight Society members will get lunch at a discount. An additional highlight will be a silent auction to raise money for First Flight Society programs. The auction includes signed items from FFS Honorary Members and sponsor donations.
Moore curates the museum’s Early Flight and World War I aircraft collections, including some of the most significant artifacts of the first 20 years of powered flight. He also curates the museum’s aircraft armament and model aircraft collections.
Prior to coming to the Smithsonian, he served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard, specializing in aviation, navigation, and marine safety. He received his BA in European History from the University of California, San Diego, and his MA in American History, with a specialization in public history, from George Mason University.
As a member of the Aeronautics Department at the museum Mr. Moore has researched, written, and spoken about technical as well as social and cultural aspects of many eras of aviation history. He is the co-author of In the Cockpit II: Inside History-Making Aircraft of World War II and wrote articles for the publications, The National Air and Space Museum an Autobiography and Milestones of Flight: The Epic of Aviation with the National Air and Space Museum.
The emcee of the luncheon is Paul Carr as “The Spirit of Wilbur Wright”. FFS President Mike Fonseca will do a short presentation about the future of the Society. Mr. Moore will also be signing books after his presentation.
Wilbur Wright Day is April 16, but this year the luncheon will be on April 14. Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867, near Millville, Indiana, the middle child in a family of five children. Additional information about Wilbur Wright Day can be found at https://www.wilburwrightday.org.