Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 at 5 p.m.
Location: Dare County Regional Airport Museum (410 Airport Road, Manteo, NC)
Cost: Free and open to the public
The Dare County Regional Airport Museum is pleased to announce this ribbon cutting event for an exhibit that highlights the groundbreaking contributions of Francis Rogallo, an American aeronautical engineer who is best known for inventing the Rogallo wing, a flexible airfoil that became the precursor to modern hang gliders and paragliders.
“This display features Francis Rogallo, a former NASA engineer who is considered the father of the sport of hang gliding,” said the Dare County Regional Airport’s museum curator, Tony Bruno. “Rogallo and his wife Gertrude settled on the Outer Banks, and the sand dune Jockey’s Ridge, to develop their hang gliding school. The school still exists today as part of Kitty Hawk Kites. The display will feature a variety of photos and artifacts on loan from the Rogallo family and Kitty Hawk Kites. The ribbon cutting event is timed as a lead-up to the upcoming PBS documentary ‘Wingman: The Francis Rogallo Story’ by writer and producer Clay Johnson.”
The 45-minute documentary, 'Wingman: The Francis Rogallo Story' will air at Pioneer Theater in Manteo on Friday, October 24, 2025 at 8 p.m., following a social hosted by The Rogallo Foundation.
About the Dare County Regional Airport Museum
The Dare County Regional Airport museum, which is located at the west end of the airport terminal building at 410 Airport Road in Manteo, offers free admission to the public seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum is entirely operated by volunteers. For more information about the museum—or if you are interested in signing up to serve as a volunteer—please visit DareNC.gov/Museum.
For further inquiries, please contact Dare County Regional Airport museum curator Tony Bruno at Museum@DareNC.gov or call 252-475-5575.
