On Saturday August 23rd, the museum opened its doors for free to the general public for Community Day. Why did we do this? Often we hear from people who live in this area that they didn't know that Charlotte had an aviation museum. We even won the Best of the Best Award last year for being the best kept secret in Charlotte!   It's great to win an award, but that is not quite the honor you want bestowed upon you. Obviously there are still lots of folks that don't know that this museum exists and that it's an educational resource for them. So, we opened our doors for free to drum up some buzz in the community and spread the word about this cultural gem in Charlotte.

 

We jam packed the day with activities that highlight what this museum does best, which is inspire people about aviation by creating exciting experiences at every turn. The staff and volunteers were overwhelmed by the positive response from Community Day. We achieved a record number of visitors for one day, and all the positive comments were what made it worth all the planning and effort put forth. Each of our staff and volunteers can share a different story of a visitor thanking them and talking about what a great day their family had at the museum. Because of the response from our community the museum is committed to offering a day like this every year. It has reinvigorated our staff and volunteers about why we do what we do. We want to thank our community for coming out and sharing the day with us.

   

Nearly 2000 people attended the museum on August 23rd for  Community Day. 

Fort Mill Resident David Griffin explains the significance of the project and the aircraft at the CAM dedication ceremony.  Photo by Lowell Warner

The day started with a dedication Ceremony for the new Sopwith Camel Exhibit and continued with cockpit and ramp visits, staff /volunteer assisted crafts like:

1911 - Behind the scenes, the Wright brothers were having their day in court with Glen Curtiss for patent infringement but the rest of the world was flying by...literally!   Aviation was growing fast and flying "Exhibitions" held all over the country were capturing the imagination of the public. Every exhibition (early air shows) would introduce new designs and new flying techniques - some worked and some failed dramatically.

Of the 759 airplanes that were built in 1911, only 200 were products of  "airplane manufacturers" like Wright, Curtiss, or Moisant.  The rest were built by...anyone who wanted to give it a try.  In fact, trade journals were publishing everything necessary to build your own aircraft.   While other aircraft manufacturers were taking more risks through innovation, the Wright Brothers had just introduced their Model B two seat aircraft the year before.  There were several innovations with it but the wing design was very similar to previous designs.  Not surprising because their wing was a result of extensive scientific experiments and testing.   No small wonder then that the journals used the Wright wing as a basis of one of their "how to" articles.  After all it was the "gold standard" in wing design