Wright Flyer reenactment

[zonker]

I thought it was pretty cool. I had the time off, I should have gone down there.

They just didn't have enough wind, but the re-enactment was more than enough.

Also very cool that Air Force 1 dipped its wing on departure.

 

[jrav8tor]

Hey fellas,

Remember that the Wright Bros. didn't get it to fly on their first attempt that day either!

Like LJDRVR says, look past that puddle of mudd. It's still amazes me how far we have come in 100 years.

 

[Catbird]

A flop?.... Maybe to some people, but to the majority of type A, PFT, Low ball pilots this is a opportunity. Place the present pilot group on the street, send the pieces to Mexico for MX, and reattempt in the near future with the eager beavers. I'm sure they will fly the vehicle in freezing rain..... Of course only after having a subcontracted Mx outfit pencil whip the rigging repairs. If any of the eager beavers decline the test flight they can always find some Russian or Chinese pilots to do it for very cheap. Hell if it's good for you and me it's dam well good for a few twigs and Linen. I was surprised to see that the Wright Flyer was absent of advertising. Expected to see a Kotex brand name or something a little more proper like Prozac tatooed on the "Wright Brothers" foreheads. I'm surprised the TSA didn't require a Kevlar jockstrap and Mode C equipment along with a drug test for the "brothers". I'm sure the CAP was standing by along with a dozen Homeland Security assistant directors and our leaders at the FAA ready to spring into action if old Orville had deviated from his flight plan by a few feet or "displayed" suspicious behaviour. If the Wright brothers attempted anything such as this these days the local tree huggers and cops would have thrown them in jail in a New York minute. Maybe when the "Brothers" attempt the next flight John Hinckley will be able to be in attendance with his mommy and daddy of course. The Secret Service will fly them down for the day on a G5 so they can keep a close eye on old "dead eye". I just wish the next captain at the controls of the "Flyer" meets the EEOC requirements. This melting pot of a country demands a African,Eskimo,Muslim, Female disadvantaged quadraplegic flying with her teeth on the controls for the next departure.

 

[Hawker1]

I think it's amazing that they made the exact plane, and even though it didn't fly the first time doesn't mean it won't fly at all. My hats off to all of the individuals that pulled this reenactment off. Almost flew over there for it. Glad I didn't though. The weather was terrible.

 

[avbug]

It wasn't the exact airplane, actually. The original airplane doesn't exist, as it was flown at Kill Devil Hills. That airplane was heavily modified by Wilbur at a later date. The exact nuances of the airplane that flew 100 years ago is a mystery. Drawings are available in rudimentary form of later Flyers, but not the 1903 in it's form at the time.

 

[bobbysamd]

Wright Brothers re-enactment

I think the idea was to recreate the original flight using the same technology the Wright brothers had available, not to do "better".

I agree with Chunk, it shows how amazing a feat it was 100 years ago.

I second Chunk. It proves that the Wrights had a good reason to select Kitty Hawk over other locations.

There's probably a way to research National Weather Service records to find out the winds on December 17, 1903. The winds must have been far stronger that day than yesterday.

 

[AV8OR]

Tought the result was too bad as well. Maybe they'll try again later though.

Greatest disappointment though.....that when Pres. Bush was mentioning all of the heros of aviation that were pesent, he metioned everybody but Scott Crossfield. As far as I'm concerned he is as big a hero of that era as those other steelly eyed jet age pilots mentioned. A mistake in my estimation, especially since he was one of the major contributors to the project.

 

[enigma]

It wasn't the exact airplane, actually. The original airplane doesn't exist, as it was flown at Kill Devil Hills. That airplane was heavily modified by Wilbur at a later date. The exact nuances of the airplane that flew 100 years ago is a mystery. Drawings are available in rudimentary form of later Flyers, but not the 1903 in it's form at the time.

This agrees with what I have read. The original Flyer was destroyed by a wind gust and was modified upon the rebuild. It was subsequently damaged and more modifications were made during those repairs. After Wilbur died, Orville attempted to put it back to original sometime around the occasion of the Flyers exhibition in London, but a lot of time had passed since the original build date and even Orville wasn't sure if his restoration is authentic.

Interestingly enough, Ken Hydes "Wright Experience" Flyer is probably more authentic than the original which is currently displayed at the NASM since the NASM flyer was restored from Orville's memory and Hydes Flyer used ever bit of discernable data that $1.2 million could acquire. I understand that the recreators scanned ever known picture into a computer and used a powerful program to match the dimensions between images, and then used those dimensions to develop the best possible set of blueprints.

Recreating the engine was apparently even more of a challenge since it was built by eyeball. The prints that do exist for the engine do not produce a workable engine if followed to the specified dimensions.

cheers,
enigma

 

[Slim]

I've seen Ken Hyde's work before. That work includes a Jenny he flew to Oshkosh. That flight received front page coverage in USA Today. His wife drove to Oshkosh faster than he could fly.

The Discovery Channel had a two-hour production covering Ken's activities, as well as others, in this project.

The airplane did fly. However, the weather prevented flight yesterday. My father, a retired aeronautical engineer, pointed out conditions, as documented by the Wright brothers in 1903, showed higher winds and cooler temperatures. While disappointed, I'm not surprised the airplane didn't fly yesterday.