Iowan pleased with event marking 100th anniversary of flight

An Iowan’s home from a long trip, and he’d recommend it to anyone. Among events for the 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s experiment is a pilgrimage called “Fifty Flags to Kitty Hawk,” and Iowa’s flag was taken to North Carolina this week by Shane Vande Voort of Pella, a private pilot.Most of the trip was under clear skies and they made good time, though Wednesday afternoon in Fairfield they had to wait for passing storms. By the end of the year every state will have sent a flag and a proclamation like the one Vande Voort took to the national museum of flight at Kitty Hawk. They landed at the airport on the Memorial grounds, walked to the museum and with help from National Forest Service rangers raised Iowa’s flag along with the American flag and a special Centennial flag. Iowa’s entry will be added to the permanent display. Vande Voort says it would be a great vacation destination and the small town’s braced for lots of visitors this year. It’s in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and the airport at Kitty Hawk is called, appropriately, “First Flight Airport.” Vande Voort says a couple from Wadena, Iowa, who happened to be visiting heard the pilot’s incoming call and waited around to give him a big welcome at the North Carolina landing strip.