by CCED, on 5/5/15 9:48 AM
The Currituck-Outer Banks Skyway Festival has announced the activities schedule for this inaugural free event, which will be held on Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Currituck Regional Airport, 264 Airport Road in Maple.
This fun, family-friendly Skyway Festival is free and open to all. Attendees will be treated to an excellent array of activities, exhibitors, static and active aircraft displays ― including drones ― and more!
The day’s highlights include a 3 to 4 p.m. re-enactment of a “Candy Bomber” aerial candy drop for kids by the “Spirit of Freedom,” a C-54E Skymaster transport aircraft used in the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift. The airlift, called “the greatest humanitarian aviation event in history,” provided two million West Berliners with food and fuel to counteract the Soviet Union’s Cold War-era blockade of West Berlin.
A free museum dedicated to the Berlin Airlift is contained inside the “Spirit of Freedom” aircraft and will be open to the public.
The May 9 Skyway Festival showcases Currituck County Regional Airport’s role in the community and celebrates the generations of flight. Food and soft drinks will be sold by the Currituck Wild Goose Rotary Club and the Currituck Flying Club.
Here’s the entire schedule for the Currituck-Outer Banks Skyway Festival:
9 a.m. – “The Star-Spangled Banner” by members of the Currituck County High School Chorus; color guard presentation by the CCHS Air Force Junior ROTC.
9-11 a.m. – Kitty Hawk Kites tandem hang gliding (participate for fee).
EAA Young Eagles #1278 free plane rides for kids.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. – Displays of “Spirit of Freedom” C-54 Skymaster (“Candy Bomber”) and other airplanes, helicopters, replica 1902 Wright Glider; booth exhibits at airport terminal and in public safety areas; (“Spirit of Freedom” includes free and open museum).
11 a.m.-noon – Hang gliding, paragliding and aerobatic demonstrations by the Kitty Hawk Kites team.
Noon-1 p.m. – Drone and remote control aircraft demonstrations by the Outer Banks Drone company and the River City Radio Control Club.
1-3 p.m. – Kitty Hawk Kites tandem hang gliding (participate for fee).
EAA Young Eagles #1278 free plane rides for kids.
3- 4 p.m. – “Spirit of Freedom” C-54 Skymaster takes flight to re-enact “Candy Bomber” candy drop for kids.
4 p.m. – Festival concludes
Parking will be available in designated areas throughout the airport grounds and Currituck Community Park. Attendees are asked to mind parking signs, pedestrian walkways and the safe areas as marked throughout the airport on the day of the event.
Attendees are also encouraged to spend the entire day enjoying not just the Currituck-OBX Skyway Festival but all the amenities at the Currituck Community Park, including playgrounds, walking trails, SPCA animal shelter and the YMCA.
The Skyway Festival is being presented by the Currituck County Regional Airport in partnership with Kitty Hawk Kites.
Key sponsors are TowneBank and Dominion North Carolina Power, and supporting sponsors are Beach 104 ― WCXL-FM, Shell Aviation, Hardy Moving & Storage, Outer Banks Harley-Davidson, Currituck County and Currituck County Economic Development. Festival partners from the Currituck Community Park campus are the College of The Albemarle, Currituck SPCA, Currituck Family YMCA, North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension and the Currituck County Parks & Recreation Department.
To learn more about the May 9 inaugural Currituck-Outer Banks Skyway Festival, please call Peter Bishop, Currituck County economic development director, at 252-232-6015, or visit fly2ONX.com.