In Washington and North Carolina, flight fanatics prepare to party.

Byline: Ken Kaye

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Wilbur and Orville were not exactly wild and crazy guys.

But they sure are the life of the party now.

Come mid-December, tens of thousands of aviation buffs will attend two spectacular events, capping off a year of celebrations honoring the Wright brothers' historic achievement 100 years ago:

The First Flight Centennial Celebration, to be held Dec. 12-17 in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., will feature a re-enactment of the first powered flight, 100 planes flying over the original Wright brothers launch site and a concert by the Beach Boys.

At the same time, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on Dec. 15 will open a giant new wing near Washington D.C., displaying for the first time the fully restored Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. Also spotlighted: A supersonic transport, a space shuttle and scores of other interesting aircraft.

Together, the two events are tantamount to an aeronautical Super Bowl, as people across the nation celebrate the remarkable progress aviation has made since that cool windy morning at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903, experts say.