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Press Release
Sea Quest Kids Take A Flyer
For Immediate Release
Event: Christopher Still, world renowned artist, unveils the 11'x17' Mural, "Final Boarding Call" and "q", the 91' modern art sculpture suspended 14' off the floor at the Grand Opening of Airside C at the Tampa International Airport
Where: Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida
When: April 18, 2005
Why: Grand Opening of Tampa International Airport Airside C for Southwest Airlines, Independence Air, and Spirit
Sea Quest Kids Contact: Steve Gronka: Cell 404-434-0660; E-mail: sgronka@cs.com; and Web site: www.advanceaf.org
Christopher Still Contact: 727-204-7036 Web: www.christopherstill.com
Charley Morgan Contact: 727-647-1272 Web: www.charleymorgan.com
Sea Quest Kids' Fearless Leader, Steve Gronka was drafted to be part of a miracle team that put together and hung a 91' long modern art sculpture at the Tampa International Airport. We nicknamed it the Wing. The official art name for the wing is "q". "q" is the variable for dynamic pressure in the lift equation, q = ∏ air density [rho] times velocity [V] squared. Lift = dynamic pressure [q] times velocity [V] squared times Coefficient of Lift [C sub L; wing, airfoil] . This equation defines the physics which enable an object to fly. The rib is actually an enlarged reproduction of the rib from a wing and represents a lifting foil common to commercial and private aircraft doing utility type work. The rib is officially the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 23105. It was a workhorse airfoil shape broadly used in aviation from the mid 1930s to just after World War II. A rib the size of the one that we built would fit an aircraft larger than the Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes.
The man who engineered the rib and the attachment of the associated array of panels depicting themes from commercial aviation, was none other than flight aficionado and Hall of Fame America's Cup Sailor, Hall of Fame Yacht Designer, and founder of Morgan Yachts, Charley Morgan. Charley designed the engineered beams that we built and lofted the whole project in 1/3 scale. He also engineered the pattern for the Benoist Ribs and engineered the array to hold the aluminum panels.
The art design of "q", the rib and attached array of aluminum panels was the work of world renowned artist Christopher Still of Tarpon Springs, Florida. The array of aluminum panels are supported on Benoist ribs. Benoist ribs formed the wing shape of the Benoist airboat #43 Type XIV. It flew across Tampa Bay on the first scheduled commercial flight in aviation history on January 1, 1914, establishing the birth of commercial aviation in the United States.
Christopher Still was chosen from more than 800 artists who were reviewed for the primary original artwork to appear in Airside C. Christopher composed and painted an 11 foot by 17 foot mural for the terminal. It was the original commission. The mural depicts a scene which combines the history of commercial aviation and the history of Tampa International Airport. The Airport scene is set in the time period of the late 50's. It is a magnificent work of art. The NACA 23105 rib and the associated array of aluminum panels were added in by the "goodwill" of the artist after the original commission was made.
Everything in the rib had to be custom built from the wooden rib beams to the vertical and diagonal wooden tube struts. The rib was preassembled in a shop in St. Petersburg and then taken apart to transport over to Tampa International Airport. The Benoist Rib wing section was also pre built at the St. Petersburg shop set up by Charley Morgan. The NACA 23105 rib and the Benoist Rib wing had to be sectioned and taken to the airport. The tallest part of the rib was 9 feet and 9 inches. It was taken to the airport in four sections. A ten foot high window in the side of the glass walled terminal had to be taken out to get the sections of the rib into the main concourse. The team reassembled the rib on the floor in front of Starbucks Coffee and attached the array of aluminum panels. It was raised about fifteen feet off the floor.
To hang "q" the assembly team ended up having to contend with some obstacles that they were not told about. In the space where the sculpture was to be hanged, a flight monitor ended up being hung at each end. A bank put in an ATM on the floor where the tail end of "q" had to go in order to make the lift.
Hanging the sculpture was similar to launching a blimp. The lift required three tag lines with about fifteen people on each line. As the lift began it was apparent that all ten people of the assembly team and every spectator standing by were needed. Gronka hailed everyone within earshot to man a line. The call went out up and down the terminal and there ended up being about 50 people. It was an astonishing effort. Thanks to Beck Construction, the company which built the terminal and the Airport management we had the men, women, and machines to do the job. The fine people from Beck and the Tampa Airport Management pulled through the assembly team on numerous occasions, even down to feeding us when there wasn't a moment to spare to go and get something to eat.
"q" had to be pulled out away from Starbucks in order to clear their sign and simultaneously shifted forward to get the tail end behind the ATM and the overhead flight monitor. At one astonishing moment, all hands departed "q" thinking that all was well, leaving Gronka who single-handedly held the 2,300 pound sculpture from crushing the Starbucks sign and the sign for the Tampa Bay News Connection. It was a humorous moment when after a few minutes Gronka's head appeared from behind the panels hailing Charlie Morgan to have all hands return.
"q" was lifted from its side, pulled out, shifted forward, gradually tipped vertical, slowly eased back toward Starbucks, and then pulled to the rear to clear the flight schedule monitor at the front end. It was then maneuvered directly overhead to the hanging shafts and shackles. Ironworker, Michael White, guided the sculpture the final few feet. When he completed fastening the last shackle, he rapped the shackle twice with his wrench to signal that the metal was in place and the job was done. A resounding cheer went up from the crowd most of whom had been drafted to man tag lines.
The art of the wing and panel array were to be consistent with the monumental architecture of the new Airside C Terminal for Southwest Airlines, Independence Air, and Spirit. The architecture establishes a new standard for airport architecture. The Terminal was designed by Albert Alfonso whose family roots are in Cuba. When Albert was two years old the Alfonso family fled the regime of Fidel Castro. Under the leadership of family patriarch Carols Alfonso, Sr., a superb family legacy of the highest quality architecture and ground breaking design was established in the Tampa Bay area.
The finished "q" was more than 90 feet long and weighs approximately 2,300 pounds. It is possibly the largest hanging sculpture in the United States and the world. More than four million people a year will see the sculpture!
How did Gronka get involved? On a call to Sea Quest Kids Advisory Board Member, Charley Morgan, Charley advised Gronka of what he was working on and said, "I could sure use your help". Help he did get in large measure. There was a three man team on the Morgan side of the assembly team until the last week and a half. Gronka in an ultra human yeoman effort went 340 hours in three weeks, finishing the last four and a half days straight without sleep! No artificial stimulants taken! Time could not be spared in order to meet the Airport deadline. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Press Release
Sea Quest Kids Take A Flyer
For Immediate Release
Event: Christopher Still, world renowned artist, unveils the 11'x17' Mural, "Final Boarding Call" and "q", the 91' modern art sculpture suspended 14' off the floor at the Grand Opening of Airside C at the Tampa International Airport
Where: Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida
When: April 18, 2005
Why: Grand Opening of Tampa International Airport Airside C for Southwest Airlines, Independence Air, and Spirit
Sea Quest Kids Contact: Steve Gronka: Cell 404-434-0660; E-mail: sgronka@cs.com; and Web site: www.advanceaf.org
Christopher Still Contact: 727-204-7036 Web: www.christopherstill.com
Charley Morgan Contact: 727-647-1272 Web: www.charleymorgan.com
Sea Quest Kids' Fearless Leader, Steve Gronka was drafted to be part of a miracle team that put together and hung a 91' long modern art sculpture at the Tampa International Airport. We nicknamed it the Wing. The official art name for the wing is "q". "q" is the variable for dynamic pressure in the lift equation, q = ∏ air density [rho] times velocity [V] squared. Lift = dynamic pressure [q] times velocity [V] squared times Coefficient of Lift [C sub L; wing, airfoil] . This equation defines the physics which enable an object to fly. The rib is actually an enlarged reproduction of the rib from a wing and represents a lifting foil common to commercial and private aircraft doing utility type work. The rib is officially the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 23105. It was a workhorse airfoil shape broadly used in aviation from the mid 1930s to just after World War II. A rib the size of the one that we built would fit an aircraft larger than the Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes.
The man who engineered the rib and the attachment of the associated array of panels depicting themes from commercial aviation, was none other than flight aficionado and Hall of Fame America's Cup Sailor, Hall of Fame Yacht Designer, and founder of Morgan Yachts, Charley Morgan. Charley designed the engineered beams that we built and lofted the whole project in 1/3 scale. He also engineered the pattern for the Benoist Ribs and engineered the array to hold the aluminum panels.
The art design of "q", the rib and attached array of aluminum panels was the work of world renowned artist Christopher Still of Tarpon Springs, Florida. The array of aluminum panels are supported on Benoist ribs. Benoist ribs formed the wing shape of the Benoist airboat #43 Type XIV. It flew across Tampa Bay on the first scheduled commercial flight in aviation history on January 1, 1914, establishing the birth of commercial aviation in the United States.
Christopher Still was chosen from more than 800 artists who were reviewed for the primary original artwork to appear in Airside C. Christopher composed and painted an 11 foot by 17 foot mural for the terminal. It was the original commission. The mural depicts a scene which combines the history of commercial aviation and the history of Tampa International Airport. The Airport scene is set in the time period of the late 50's. It is a magnificent work of art. The NACA 23105 rib and the associated array of aluminum panels were added in by the "goodwill" of the artist after the original commission was made.
Everything in the rib had to be custom built from the wooden rib beams to the vertical and diagonal wooden tube struts. The rib was preassembled in a shop in St. Petersburg and then taken apart to transport over to Tampa International Airport. The Benoist Rib wing section was also pre built at the St. Petersburg shop set up by Charley Morgan. The NACA 23105 rib and the Benoist Rib wing had to be sectioned and taken to the airport. The tallest part of the rib was 9 feet and 9 inches. It was taken to the airport in four sections. A ten foot high window in the side of the glass walled terminal had to be taken out to get the sections of the rib into the main concourse. The team reassembled the rib on the floor in front of Starbucks Coffee and attached the array of aluminum panels. It was raised about fifteen feet off the floor.
To hang "q" the assembly team ended up having to contend with some obstacles that they were not told about. In the space where the sculpture was to be hanged, a flight monitor ended up being hung at each end. A bank put in an ATM on the floor where the tail end of "q" had to go in order to make the lift.
Hanging the sculpture was similar to launching a blimp. The lift required three tag lines with about fifteen people on each line. As the lift began it was apparent that all ten people of the assembly team and every spectator standing by were needed. Gronka hailed everyone within earshot to man a line. The call went out up and down the terminal and there ended up being about 50 people. It was an astonishing effort. Thanks to Beck Construction, the company which built the terminal and the Airport management we had the men, women, and machines to do the job. The fine people from Beck and the Tampa Airport Management pulled through the assembly team on numerous occasions, even down to feeding us when there wasn't a moment to spare to go and get something to eat.
"q" had to be pulled out away from Starbucks in order to clear their sign and simultaneously shifted forward to get the tail end behind the ATM and the overhead flight monitor. At one astonishing moment, all hands departed "q" thinking that all was well, leaving Gronka who single-handedly held the 2,300 pound sculpture from crushing the Starbucks sign and the sign for the Tampa Bay News Connection. It was a humorous moment when after a few minutes Gronka's head appeared from behind the panels hailing Charlie Morgan to have all hands return.
"q" was lifted from its side, pulled out, shifted forward, gradually tipped vertical, slowly eased back toward Starbucks, and then pulled to the rear to clear the flight schedule monitor at the front end. It was then maneuvered directly overhead to the hanging shafts and shackles. Ironworker, Michael White, guided the sculpture the final few feet. When he completed fastening the last shackle, he rapped the shackle twice with his wrench to signal that the metal was in place and the job was done. A resounding cheer went up from the crowd most of whom had been drafted to man tag lines.
The art of the wing and panel array were to be consistent with the monumental architecture of the new Airside C Terminal for Southwest Airlines, Independence Air, and Spirit. The architecture establishes a new standard for airport architecture. The Terminal was designed by Albert Alfonso whose family roots are in Cuba. When Albert was two years old the Alfonso family fled the regime of Fidel Castro. Under the leadership of family patriarch Carols Alfonso, Sr., a superb family legacy of the highest quality architecture and ground breaking design was established in the Tampa Bay area.
The finished "q" was more than 90 feet long and weighs approximately 2,300 pounds. It is possibly the largest hanging sculpture in the United States and the world. More than four million people a year will see the sculpture!
How did Gronka get involved? On a call to Sea Quest Kids Advisory Board Member, Charley Morgan, Charley advised Gronka of what he was working on and said, "I could sure use your help". Help he did get in large measure. There was a three man team on the Morgan side of the assembly team until the last week and a half. Gronka in an ultra human yeoman effort went 340 hours in three weeks, finishing the last four and a half days straight without sleep! No artificial stimulants taken! Time could not be spared in order to meet the Airport deadline. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Advance America Foundation:
6 South Dillwyn Road
Newark, DE 19711
Phone: 404-434-0660
Web: www.advanceaf.org