LOCAL aircraft owners, members of the local aviation community and other interested persons have formed an Organising Committee for activities to mark the 100th anniversary of the first ever aircraft flight made in Guyana. The first ever aircraft flight in Guyana occurred in 1913 and the organizing Committee for the commemoration includes senior officers of Wings Aviation/Air Guyana Ltd,, Roraima Airways Ltd, Air Services Limited,   representatives of the Air Wing of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and a representative of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) among others.

On board too, among others, are Godfrey Chin’s Nostalgia Pizazz Production and Ron Robinson’s Modelle’s Association of Guyana.

March 1913 was nine years plus after the first ever heavier-than-air flight in history was made at Kitty Hawk North Carolina, U.S.A by Orville Wright, who, with his brother Wilbur have been credited with the invention of aeroplanes.

In British Guiana, a young German-American named George Schmidt and an unidentified friend, assembled a machine shipped from Britain and boarded it and with Schmidt as pilot, flew over the city of Georgetown, dropping bits of paper as they progressed.

The airstrip from which Schmidt and his partner took off was the then Bel Air Park Racecourse.

The machine it was said looked very much like a box kite with a motor cycle engine.

According to H.S. Burrowes in his book:”Fifty Years of Flying in BG” Schmidt and his friend left B.G. on the ship the “S.S, Ocanno” of the Pickford and Black Line for the U.S.A  towards the end of March 1913.

He was killed in a fall with his machine at Vermont U.S.A., shortly after.

Current-day members of the local aviation community are determined to ensure that the centenary of the first aeroplane flight does not pass unobserved.

Representatives met for the first time in August and formed the Organising Committee, chaired by Wings Aviation/Air Guyana Ltd. with this objective in mind.

The first meeting mulled steps to be taken in terms of communications including graphics and a web page for the event, administrative aspects of the preparations , required research and documentation and the involvement of other Aviation bodies such as Brazilian Airlines and Caribbean Airlines.

This Organising Committee will meet on a monthly basis up to March 2013.

The big overall plan is for a week-long celebration at that time, culminating with a grand exhibition showcasing Guyana’s aviation history, present achievements and aeronautical aspirations.

But some commemoration activities will begin as early as this month.

The second meeting of the Organising Committee is scheduled for the middle of this month