Southern Museum of Flight to Host Exhibit Rededication and Awards Ceremony

Birmingham, Ala. – December 12, 2016 – The Southern Museum of Flight is hosting a very exciting event—The Birth of Flight: Early Aviation Hangar Rededication and Awards Ceremony.

This event will take place Saturday, December 17, which is a monumental day in aviation history. The Wright brothers made their historic flight on the world’s first successful airplane on the same day of December 17, 1903. The Southern Museum of Flight will be rededicating the Early Aviation gallery in addition to our Wright Brothers exhibit the gallery will feature aircraft, transportation vehicles and memorabilia from 1910 through WWI and into the late 1920s.

The museum will also pay homage to a man named Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight. Taylor was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright brothers’ aircraft and engines. Taylor displayed impeccable skills in aviation safety, and consequently had an award created in his honor. The Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award is an award presented by the United States Federal Aviation Administration to recognize and highlight the important roles aviation mechanics display in promoting aviation safety, education and professionalism. Two deserving aviation mechanic specialists, John Hardy and George Colbow, will be accepting this prestigious award during the ceremony.

The Early Aviation Hangar Rededication and awards ceremony will begin with a welcome reception at 5:00 p.m. in the South Wing of the museum. Admission is free and dress is business casual. For more information or to RSVP, contact Events Manager Elizabeth Grady at [email protected].