DATE: Sunday, September 14, 1997            TAG: 9709140056

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3A  EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RALEIGH                           LENGTH:   26 lines

GEORGE BUSH TO BE HONORARY CHAIRMAN OF FIRST FLIGHT GROUP

Former President George Bush will be the national honorary chairman of the First Flight Centennial Foundation, according to the organization trying to raise money to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic flight.

The anniversary of the first powered flight, in Kill Devil Hills, will come in December 2003.

The organization so far has spent a quarter of a million dollars to spruce up the Wright Brothers Memorial and the beacon on top of it.

Foundation projects include the restoration and rededication of the monument, the construction of a new visitors center, coordination of a nationwide traveling exhibit, and the celebration itself.

Bush has special ties to aviation. He was a decorated Navy pilot who flew torpedo bombers during World War II. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Bush

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