October 1997
(Volume 1, Number 2)

The big skies over Kansas tempt all of us to look up.  And when we do, we almost always see an airplane or at least a jet rail or two.  We take for granted that people have always reached their destinations quickly through flight.  Yet, it has only been in the last century that people have been able to fly.

What makes an airplane fly?  How can such a heavy object--weighed down by many people and luggage--take off in the sky?  You can make your own airfoil with a strip of paper!

We all know about drive-in restaurants.  But how many of us have been to a "fly-in" restaurant? Airplanes can "fly-in" to Beaumont's Summit House Country Inn and Restaurant.

Learn more about the people who flew the Kansas skies:  Walter and Olive Ann Beech, Philip Billard, Clyde Cessna, Amelia Earhart, and A. K. Longren.

They were called "barnstormers," "daredevils," and wizards of the air."  They were the early high flyers who took chances, thrilled audiences, and showed everyone what flying had to offer.

Visit museums around the state and see early airplanes, civilian and military aircraft, and spaceships!

Three Kansans have explored space as astronauts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):  Joe Engle, Ron Evans, and Steve Hawley.

Do you know airplanes?  Play the aviation crossword puzzle by matching the definitions and finding fifteen aircraft words. 

A timeline of events of Kansas schools from writing on slates to logging on the Internet