Flight’s second century began Dec. 17, 2003, at 10:35 a.m., 100 years to the minute from Orville Wright’s momentous launch of the first powered airplane. Much fanfare, including participation by the President, attended the marking of that moment at Kitty Hawk, N.C., last month. Led by the Experimental Aircraft Association, presented by Ford Motor and supported by Microsoft Flight Simulator, Eclipse Aviation and Northrop Grumman, an exact replica of the Wright Flyer built by Ken Hyde was poised to take flight before a crowd estimated at 35,000. The onlookers’ enthusiasm remained resolute despite the uncooperative weather that kept the replica from soaring. Scott Crossfield, the first man to exceed twice the speed of sound, had supervised training of the two aviators selected to pilot the Flyer, and Kevin Kochersberger was chosen for the enactment flight by the toss of a coin, just as the Wrights had done a century before. But alas, some things defy duplication.

As I watched and recalled that the Wrights’ biography was required reading for all engineering students at Princeton University nearly 50 years ago, I wondered if the accomplishments of the next century would eclipse the aeronautical events that occurred since the brothers launched the age of aviation on the windy dunes of Kill Devil Hill in 1903. Or has aviation seen its greatest days? So much happened in the last 100 years: aircraft transitioned from fragile homebuilts to marvels of mass production. Once the stuff of daredevils, today aviation is the backbone of our nation’s medium and long-range transportation system–the safest form of travel other than walking. Military strategy and tactics rely on airpower. Nearly 10 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product results from aviation. Is it possible for flight to contribute more in the years ahead?