Submitted by Praz Angelo
Kermit Weeks and his aviation crew at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL is undertaking an ambitious project to build, from scratch, a precise reproduction of the Benoist Airboat that made the first commercial flight on January 1, 1914. The plane will then be flown by Mr. Weeks on the 100 year anniversary, January 1, 2014, retracing the route from St. Petersburg, FL to Tampa, FL as closely as possible. It is quite a challenge for their wood and fabric expert, Ken Kellet as well as the rest of their aircraft crew to get the plane built, tested, licensed and ready to fly by that date. Follow their progress in this video and at www.benoist2014.com.