Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation in the Pensacola Bay Area

With Blue Angels air demonstrations, concerts, special events and exhibits at the world-renowned National Naval Aviation Museum, the Pensacola Bay Area is the ideal place to celebrate 100 years of naval aviation.

Known for its colorful 450-year history and breathtaking white-sand beaches, the Pensacola Bay Area is also the Cradle of Naval Aviation, because all Navy, Marine and Coast Guard aviators start their training at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

"The Pensacola Bay Area is the jewel of the Emerald Coast and has one of the richest histories of any city in the country," said retired Adm. Robert Kelly, vice chairman of armed services for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. "This year we celebrate the 100th anniversary of naval aviation, and the centennial is a time to showcase many of our tremendous resources. We are the home of the Blue Angels and one of the finest aviation museums in the world. Thousands come through this area each year to learn how to fly and maintain airplanes at one of our areas bases. In short, naval aviation is a very important part of this areas history and potential."

The following special events and exhibits will commemorate the centennial celebration

About Pensacola’s History of Naval Aviation

The U.S. Navy's official interest in airplanes emerged as early as 1898 when they began investigating the military possibilities of Samuel P. Langley's flying machine. The Navy participated in public demonstrations by the Wright brothers in 1908 and 1909 before purchasing its first aircraft. In 1910, the Navy designated Capt. Washington I. Chambers as an aviation officer who arranged a series of tests to show the airplanes capability for shipboard operations and showed the world that aviation could go to sea. Early in 1911, the first naval officer reported for flight training. Thanks to Capt. Chambers research, the Navy built a wind tunnel, established the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and created a training center in Pensacola, Fla. Pensacola remained the Navy's only air station into World War I, and by the wars end had trained 1,000 aviators.
 
For more information on Pensacola's Centennial of Naval Aviation, go to www.celebrateflight.com

Tonight's Programming

07:00PM Burn Notice
08:00PM Burn Notice
09:00PM Maury Povich
10:00PM Jerry Springer
11:00PM Cheaters
11:30PM Excused
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