First Flight
Flew into KFFA on Friday. It's been on my list since they completed the new visitors center at Wright Brothers Memorial National Park. The visitors center has nicely done displays with a full-size replica of the 1903 Flyer. I had a very enjoyable visit although the combined flying time to & from was greater than the time spent on the grounds.
For those who haven't been there, plan your visit on a nice day as it's primarily an outdoor memorial. I spent about 3 hrs. on the grounds and felt it gave me plenty of time to take in everything both outside and in the display area in the visitors center. I brought a folding bike with me in my -7A to get around. Otherwise, plan on a fair amount of walking.
Observations:
-Bring your own food as there is no concession stand and other food options aren't close by.
-The runway is in good shape, but has no lights.
-No night operations are allowed.
-The ramp is in average condition with tie-down ropes.
-The pilot building is serviceable, but in a "tired" condition, with rest rooms, which are locked at 4:30 pm local time, the closing time for the memorial.
-The outdoor portion of the memorial appears to always be open. The locals have learned they can access the grounds freely through the vehicle parking area next to the ramp to walk, jog or bike around the grounds without having to pay the vehicle parking fee at the main entrance. Depending on your perspective, either this enhances security of the parked airplanes because of the additional foot traffic along the path next to the easily breached fence around the ramp or compromises security because of the numerous non-airplane oriented people passing close-by with nothing but an orange traffic cone to prevent drivers from entering the ramp and runway where a gate in the fence once was.