Dedication
Dedicated to all aviators, past, present and future, who took to the skies and challenged the odds for the ideals of science and human endurance, and those who continue to take to the skies for the love of flight and a passion for the most graceful machines ever made by man.
On December the 17th, this year, 2003, we celebrate 100 years of the airplane. Over these years aviation has had its triumphs and tragedies.
The triumphs of the pioneers and the experimental programs propelled airplanes to where they are today.
The tragedies were costly lessons that, in the end, made aviation safer and more reliable, shaping aviation too in their own way.
And, as always, the future lies ahead, full of possibilities and new challenges. May the spirit of aviation never fade, and may aviators continue to push themselves to the limits, to bring about new milestones and achievements in the tradition of the original pioneers.
After all, if it hadn't been people like the two little-known bike-makers who soared over a beach in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December the 17th, 1903, where would we be today?