PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) --
WHAT: 100 students from the Russell H. Conwell Middle
Magnet School in Philadelphia will participate
in a paper airplane flying contest to see whose
plane will travel the farthest. In celebration
of the 100th anniversary of the historic flight
of Orville and Wilbur Wright, all 100 students
will throw their airplanes simultaneously at
10:35 a.m. (the exact time of the first
successful flight).
WHO: Participants
100 students of the Russell H. Conwell Middle
Magnet School
Judges
Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer, The Franklin
Institute
Dan Brandenstein, former aviator and astronaut
and current Vice President, Customer Service
for Lockheed Martin's Consolidated Space
Operations Contract (CSOC)
Remarks
Dennis Wint, President and CEO, The Franklin
Institute
George Roesser, Principal, Russell H. Conwell
Middle School
Amanda Heaton, Account Director, Discovery
Channel
Kathleen Sullivan, Regional VP, Government and
Community Relations, Comcast Cable
Communications
WHEN: Contest: Wednesday, December 17, 9:30 - 10:30
a.m.
Awards Ceremony: Wednesday, December 17, 10:40
a.m.
WHERE: Bartol Atrium
The Franklin Institute
20th and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
DETAILS: The Discovery Channel organized the competition
as part of its national Young Scientist
Contest. The contest is sponsored locally by
Comcast Cable, The Franklin Institute and the
School District of Philadelphia.
Comcast and the Discovery Channel will award a
variety of prizes. Discovery Channel will also
present the Russell H. Conwell Middle Magnet
School with a $1,500 grant for its science
program. In addition, each student will be
eligible through a raffle to win a trip to the
flight school at the U.S. Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville, Ala.
BACKGROUND: The Franklin Institute Science Museum recently
opened a new aviation exhibit, "The Franklin
Air Show." The centerpiece of the 5,000
square-foot exhibit is the 1911 Model Wright B
Flyer, the most intact Wright airplane
remaining in the world (including the one at
the Smithsonian Institute). The new exhibit,
which opened in October, contains more than 20
interactive devices in three "environments:"
an aircraft hangar, a midway and a pilot-
training area.