Wright Brothers historian to speak at Expo

SEBRING -- Darrell Collins, chief historian and interpreter at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina, will tell the remarkable story of Wilbur and Orville Wright's 19ll flight that lasted nine minutes and 45 seconds and is regarded as the first soaring flight. Collins is on the schedule to speak Friday, Jan. 20 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 21 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in the AeroShell tent. There is no additional cost to attend this speaking engagement.

Collins has worked with the National Park Service in the division of interpretation and education for 32 years, serving the majority of his time at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. He is a popular speaker on the aviation/aerospace lecture circuit, and is widely recognized as one of the top five authorities in the world on early aviation history and the Wright brothers. He is the author on numerous articles and consulting editor for play writes and authors on early aviation and the Wright brothers.

In 2003, the National Aeronautic Association awarded him the Paul Tissandier Diploma for his career of service to aeronautics and airports.

Collins resides in Manteo, on Roanoke Island. His family has lived on the Outer Banks of North Carolina for 149 years, his great-grandparents having been members of the black Freedmen Colony that settled on Roanoke Island in 1862 during the Civil War.

The EXPO Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) Show features the best of the LSA community, and includes conventional aircraft, kit planes, powered parachutes, trikes, gyros, amphibians, and innovative designs such as electrically powered aircraft--over 150 aircraft on display.

Attendees will have the opportunity to see demonstration flights, attend EAA Educational Forums, and experience new aviation technologies.

This year will mark the eighth annual U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, hosted in cooperation with Sebring Regional Airport. More than 180 exhibitors travel from the United States and as far away as Africa, China, Romania, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and the Czech Republic to attend this first major aviation event of the year.

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