|
|
Archive Section: Kitty
Hawk 2003 Celebration Events
As our archive
section grows, our archive page load time will increase so please
be patient while all of the articles and their pictures load.
Please
Select The Archive Story Of Your Choice:
104th Anniversary of First Flight as told
by Darrell Collins
Welcome to the 104th anniversary celebration of the worlds first
powered flight. A hundred four years ago they used to say that the sky is the
limit. Now we are reaching for the stars. As we begin the next century of pilot
flight, reaching for the stars will be the greatest challenge for generations
to come.
The world has changed from the flight of 1903. Flight has become second
nature for hundreds of millions of people. It is almost impossible for us to
imagine the world of the Wright brothers. The fundamental principles discovered
and developed by the Wright brothers laid the foundation for the first
generation of flight and travel from Kitty Hawk to the moon in the lifetime of
a human being.
As we watch the milestones slip by, one might say we have a heritage, a
legacy of greatness. In a letter to Octave Chanute dated May 13, 1900, Wilbur
wrote, "for some years I was afflicted with the belief that fight is
possible to man. My disease has increased in severity and I feel that it will
soon cost me an increased amount of money, if not my life."
On the cold windy morning of Dec 17, 1903, the dream came true. Wilbur and
Orville Wright made the worlds first successful powered flight in a heavier
than air machine.
The Wright brothers began their experiments in Dayton, Ohio, in 1899 with a
5-foot kite they controlled from the ground. They were testing a system of
control they called wing-warping.
They would soon realize that the weather conditions in Dayton were not
suitable for extensive glider experiments. That year they wrote the National
Weather Bureau in Washington, D.C. requesting a list of locations in America
where the winds were constant. Kitty Hawk, NC was on that list.
The letter to the Kitty Hawk weather station reached the hands of the local
postmaster, William Tate. Tate was the man who brought the Wright brothers to
Kitty Hawk.
He wrote a letter right back. In the letter he described that there were no
trees or grass, just deep soft sand. There were four giant sand dunes know as
Kill Devil Hills. The only way you could get to Kitty Hawk was by sailboat. Not
too many people lived here.
So Kitty Hawk offered privacy, secrecy, and isolation. And they would find
at Kitty Hawk something they would find no where else --- "southern
hospitality."
The hospitality played a very important role behind the Wright brothers’
success. In our flight room auditorium in the main museum over there we have on
display a symbol of that outer banks hospitality.
Ladies, it is an 1899 sewing machine. It was ordered from the Sears catalog
for $2. Addie Tate, William Tate’s wife, let Wilbur Wright use her sewing
machine to sew the cloth covering the wings for the first glider in September
1900. It was not covered with cheap material; it was covered with imported
French sateen. The local ladies who live on the outer banks at that time had
never seen such high quality cloth in their lives. They stressed concern openly
to the Wright brothers why they were they wasting such high quality cloth on a
flying machine?
When the brothers were finished with their gliding experiments that year
they gave that cloth to Addie Tate and on that same sewing machine she made two
dresses for her two girls, Irene (age 3) and Pauline (age 4).
The next year, 1901, when the Wright brothers returned to Kitty Hawk the
little girls were running around in their dresses.
I’ve worked here for a long time, but about twenty years ago I did an oral
taped issue interview with one of the Tate daughters. I will never forget her.
Pauline was 93 years old and her mind was as sharp as a tack. She described
those dresses to me completely because her mother also taught her and her
sister to sew on the same sewing machine.
I finally asked, "do you still have the dress?" She said, "no
honey we wore them out." The best dresses they ever had in their
lives.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the dedication of the Wright
Memorial atop of big Kill Devil Hill. It’s a monument dedicated to a
commemorative event so significant that it has transcended the boundaries of
our universe and will continue to inspire the next generations to achieve the
impossible for the duration of life on this earth.
It marks the only spot on this earth that these two fellows would ever find
what they were looking for. After all who would ever believe that two high
school educated bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio would ever invent the
airplane. Yet, it is carved in granite atop of big Kill Devil Hill. The
inscription on that monument reads:
"In Commemoration of the Conquest of the Air by the Brothers Wilbur and
Orville Wright – Conceived by Genius – Achieved by Dauntless Resolution and
Unconquerable Faith."
The monument is a testament to every nature of the human spirit and what the
Wright brothers did here that changed the world forever.
Reference: Darrell Collins is the historian for the Wright Brothers National
Memorial.
66th Celebration of Orville’s Birthday
 Friday,
August 19, 2005 was National Aviation Day and Orville Wright’s birthday was
celebrated at the Wright Brothers’ National Memorial.
Orville was born in Dayton, Ohio, on August 19, 1871. His birthday was
honored by presidential proclamation in 1939 by designating the date as Annual
Aviation Day.
The daylong celebration was kicked-off at 10 a.m., in the First Flight
Pavilion auditorium by Tom Crouch, Senior Curator of Aeronautics at the
Smithsonian Institution. Crouch noted that if Orville were alive today he would
be 134 years old. Another member of the family, Katharine, was born on the same
day, three years later. The Wright’s younger sister was born on August 19,
1874.
Patrick Reed, acting Superintendent,
Outer Banks Group next welcomed the visitors followed by Sherry Rollason, Mayor
of Kill Devil Hills.
 Rollason,
shown here with her grandson, Benjamin and myself, noted that Kill Devil Hills
(where the Wright Memorial sits) didn’t exist when the Wright brothers flew
here. The city wasn’t incorporated until 1953. The brothers journeyed 4 miles
south from the village of Kitty Hawk to the Kill Devil Hills site because there
were sand dunes to fly off from and no trees. Also a life saving station was
located at Kill Devil Hills whose crew willingly helped the brothers carry the
gliders up the sand dunes.
 Bill
Harris, mayor of Kitty Hawk and the president of the First Flight Society, was
the next to great the visitors. Harris is a direct descendent of Elijah Baum, a
young boy who first met Wilbur when Wilbur stepped ashore in Kitty Hawk bay and
was guided by Elijah to William Tate’s house.
 At
this point Col. "Red" Smith, past president of the First Flight
Society and board member introduced the feature speaker, Col. James M. Holmes,
Commander of the 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson air Force Base,
Goldsboro, NC. The base is the home to the F-15E Strike Eagle. He gave brief
history of the 4th Fight Wing including Iraq. His talk brought a
loud applause from the audience.
 Col.
Holmes and Tom Crouch then proceeded to cut Orville’s birthday cake. Also in
the picture on the left are Park Rangers Fentice Davis and Geneva James.
Following the cake cutting, four F-15s
flew in formation flew overhead.
 Next,
Ken Hyde, President and Founder of the Wright Experience, was introduced by
Janette Yoerg, great grand niece of the Wright brothers on the Reuchlin Wright
side of the family. Picture shows Ken and myself talking.
Hyde discussed the Wright machines of
1904, 1905 and the return of the Wrights to Kitty Hawk in 1908. Interesting
film footage of the Wright machine in flight was shown.
 Tom
Crouch proceeded to the Flight Room Auditorium (where a reproduction of the
Wright Flyer is exhibited) and spoke to another crowd of visitors. Here is a
sampling of some of his comments:
Wilbur became interested in the problem
of flight when he realized that he was 30 years old and his talents hadn’t
been tested yet. At the time he was working in their bicycle shop.
What set Wilbur apart from the others was
that he could think in the three dimensions of flight --- pitch, yaw, and roll.
Others had worked on lift and propulsion. That left roll as the key problem to
solve to obtain controlled flight.
They selected Kitty Hawk as their test
ground because it was the first rural location on the list of windy sites
provided by the weather bureau. A letter from William Tate guaranteeing
friendly people helped confirm their decision.
The 1902 replica glider that resides in
the Flight Room auditorium behind the Flyer was built under the supervision of
Orville at Wright-Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio
The testing of the 1900 glider at Kitty
Hawk was a demonstration of the modern engineering process and that the Wrights
were engineers of genius.
Orville and Charles Taylor stopped
working on the engine after if produced 12.5 hp because that is all that the
calculations showed was needed.
The propellers were wrapped with cloth on
a bias to provide additional strength. They were painted silver to make the
cloth less noticeable
Additional pictures follow:
 Terry
Beacham, surfman #2, Kill Devil Hills Life-Saving Station, direct descendent of
William Thomas Beacham, serving when Wright brothers were at Kill Devil Hills.
Joe Hardman and members of the First Flight Society man information table.
Darrell Collins, historian, Wright Brothers National Memorial, talking
with me.
Ultralight Pilots Goodwill Mission
My wife and I were walking on the beach of Kill Devil Hills, NC last Dec. 17th
while enjoying watching an ultralight airplane fly overhead around the Wright
Memorial. Little did we know that we would meet the pilot several hours later
at a reception celebrating the 101st anniversary of the first flight
held at a local hotel sponsored by the First Flight Society.
 He
turned out to be more than your average ultralight pilot; he had just flown his
ultralight all the way to Kill Devil Hills from Venezuela. His name is Omar
Contreras and he had flown from Margarita Island, Venezuela, to Kill Devil
Hills, stopping along the way in Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, the
Bahamas and Florida.
He said his purpose is to spread goodwill by creating and strengthening
partnerships among cities along the way. When he leaves Kill Devil Hills he is
heading for New York and then flying across the country to Los Angeles. From
Los Angeles he will head south to Mexico and Central America, and then head
west to Colombia before returning home. His journey will have covered 11,500
miles.
This isn’t the first time he has made such a journey. Last spring he
completed a 13,000-mile adventure through South America visiting over 100
cities in four months.
His
ultralight is a Clipper 912S made in France. The plane is capable of 75 mph
with an altitude ceiling of 18,000 feet.
His trip is sponsored by variety of businesses and other organizations,
including Kitty Hawk Kites on the Outer Banks.
In talking with Omar you could sense the spirit of the Orville and Wilbur. I
think they too would have enjoyed Omar’s adventure.
Check out his website. It is in Spanish and English. www.volandoelnorte.com/
Aviators from
Wooloomanata, Australia
While attending the Wright Brothers Centennial I met the three guys that
must have come the farthest to attend the festivities.
 I
met them at the Kill Devil Hills post office one morning where I had gone to
buy some centennial stamps. I was a little early and there were three other
people that were standing in line ahead of me. We got to talking and I found
out that they were pilots and had flown all the way from Australia. That began
an interesting several hour conversation with Boyd Monro, Fabio Bertin and
aircraft owner, John Petit. (Notice the Wright Memorial in the background of
the picture).
Their trip home to Australia would take them through JFK-New York, Iceland,
Greenland, Scotland, Heathrow-London, Ankara-Turkey, Tehran, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, Singapore and Bali-Indonesia.
 Woloomanata
is located in Victoria and once served as a base for Spitfires, the famous
British fighter of World War II. It is not a town or city that can be found on
a map.
I was impressed that they were flying this distance in a two-engine Piper
Navajo. The plane has been modified with 350-hp turbo-charged engines and four
blade propellers. They also carry a satellite phone.
All three of the men are veteran pilots and take turns flying the plane.
They said that they had a great time visiting the site where the Wrights
flew and were fascinated with the markers noting how far each of the four
original flights traveled.
Wright Brothers Sculpture
 There
is a wonderful new sculpture at the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park in
Kill Devil Hills. It is a life-size sculpture that depicts the Wright Flyer
just as it is lifting into the air on its first successful attempt. Orville is
lying on the lower wing controlling the plane. Wilbur is running with his arm
outstretched as the plane moves beyond his reach. John Daniels is some 84 feet
back just squeezing the bulb that activates the shutter of the camera on a
tripod.
 The
men are made of bronze and the Flyer is made of stainless steel. The entire
sculpture is made in realistic detail. The camera looks as if it could actually
take a picture and the engine on the flyer looks like it could actually run.
 The
sculptor is Stephen Smith (left in picture) from Marshville, N.C. The
10,000-pound Flyer is located just below the Wright Monument on the south side
and was installed just in time for the centennial celebration
 One
of the great things about the sculpture is that it is interactive. Kids can
climb on the flyer and examine it in detail. You can look the figures in the
eye as if they were alive.
The $250,000 sculpture was paid for by the N.C. Department of Cultural
Resources, using public arts programming funding. The four remaining witnesses
to the first flight will be added one at a time each year. Adam Etheridge, one
of the members of the life saving crew, is scheduled to be the next addition.
The Engine that Powered the Reproduction Wright Flyer
As the person responsible for the reproduction engine that powered the
reproduction 1903 flyer that flew at the Wright Brothers National Memorial
during the Centennial Celebration, Greg Cone of the Wright Experience pampered
the engine.
Greg didn’t build the engine. Jim and Steve Hay, the owners and operators
of the Hay Manufacturing Co. in Minnesota did that. Their company’s primary
business is making trumpet parts, steel stampings and tool work.
They also build antique engines. They built their first 1903 Wright engine
in 1976. This engine was first run at the EAA convention in 1977 and has been
run during every EAA Convention since then.
The Wright Experience had Hays build three engines for the reproduction 1903
Flyers.
Greg said that when the engines arrived at The Wright Experience he
disassembled them for inspection and carefully put them back together. He said
that if he was the one responsible for them, he had to make sure they met with
his satisfaction.
At the Wright Memorial I watched Greg and the others start the engine in the
Flyer several times. Greg would bend over the engine carefully adjusting it
while two assistants spun the propellers to start the engine. It usually took a
number of tries before the engine would start. It would cough a few times
before kicking-in.
Sometimes it wouldn’t start at all. Such was the case after the successful
flight of Nov. 20. They tried a number of times to get it started but they had
to gave up for the day.
On another occasion the engine started but ran roughly because all four
cylinders were not firing properly. The usual problem was that the points
and/or combustion chambers became contaminated from the 50-octane gas, which
was the same octane gas that the Wrights used. When this occurred the points
and the inside of the combustion chambers had to be thoroughly cleaned.
Perhaps the best performance given by the engine was on the flight of Dec. 3rd.
As the Flyer began to lift off the launching rail, it was hit by a crosswind
and began to roll to the right. The right wing plowed sand while Kevin
Kochersberger struggled to make a correction. This placed an extra heavy load
on the engine. The engine groaned but kept going and Kevin was able to fly 115
feet.
I asked Greg if he primed the engine before starting it. He said that was a
judgment call. Sometimes he did, but he had to be careful because there was a
danger of fire if it was primed too much.
The engine was relatively simple. Fuel flows by gravity from a can into a
reservoir in the top of the crankcase, where it vaporizes and mixes with the
air flowing into the cylinders. Instead of spark plugs, it has igniters that
close like switches when a cam turns, then spark as they separate.
Some people think that the Wrights heated the cold engine before starting
it. I can find no evidence that this was the case. There is no carburetor. The
fuel is fed into a shallow chamber in the manifold situated next to the
cylinders where it heats up, quickly vaporizing the air-gas mixture.
The cooling system for the engine consists of gravity feed from the radiator
that is marginally effective. The Wrights sometimes ran the engine
"red-hot."
A dry battery that is not a part of the plane is used to start the engine.
Once started, a magneto on the plane takes over and provides continuous
electricity at 10-volts.
The original engine was designed by the Wrights to produce 8-hp, but did
better than expected and was able to produce 12-hp.
Greg said they were able to produce 18-hp on the dynamometer with the
reproduction engine, and on a test flight, they produced 20-hp @ 1100-rpm. (The
Wrights liked to run the engine at 1150-rpm on their 1903 machine.) Greg said
the engine got stronger with each run. Their longest run was 9 minutes.
Here are some pictures:
The first picture is of Greg with the engine in the background.
The second picture is of Greg starting the engine.
 The third picture is of the remains of the original 1903 engine block
showing the 3 cylinders that remain. The engine broke when a sudden guest of
wind at Kitty Hawk overturned the stationary airplane. The missing cylinder,
however, was not caused at Kitty Hawk, but was deliberately broken off sometime
later and used for casting new parts.
The buckeye Iron and Brass Works in Dayton provided the 1903 aluminum
casting
made from Alcoa aluminum. An aluminum casting was innovative for that time because aluminum was
not yet used for gas engines.
 The
fourth picture is an outline drawing of the 1903 engine that appears in Charles
E. Taylor by H.R. DuFour. The Wrights did not make any engineering drawings
of the engine. They provided sketches to Charlie Taylor, their mechanic, who
then made the engine from them. He had an operating engine on Feb 12, 1903 in
only 6 weeks.
Unfortunately, the next day the engine body and frame were broken when the
bearings seized due to inadequate lubrication. A new aluminum casting was
received at the Wrights’ shop in May and the rebuilt engine was tested in
May.
This was not the first gas engine designed and built by the Wrights. They
had earlier built a one- cylinder engine to power the machine tools in their
bicycle shop. It used the natural gas used in the gaslights.
The fifth picture is a picture of a restored 1903 engine.
Valiant Effort of Flyer Fails
The Flyer made a valiant effort to fly on the 100th birthday of
its first success but the weather wouldn’t cooperate.
At approximately 12:10 p.m. the Flyer started down the launching rail with
pilot Kevin Kochersberger, at the controls. It was looking good as the machine
gathered speed and Kevin kept the wings level. But it wasn’t to be. The wind
faded and the engine began to lose power because of the dampness. Kevin worked
the elevator and the nose pitched up, but the tail of the machine remained on
the rail and the machine settled into a puddle formed in a depression in the
sand.
Kevin dropped his head for a moment as if to say, "so close ---
nuts!"
They hoped to make another attempt later in the day. The engine was started
at 3:35 p.m. but the wind was still too light.
After a frustrating 9 hours of intermittent downpours and light winds, the
folks at the Wright Experience called it a day.
Note: Ken Hyde
later confirmed that water on the launching rail was a major
reason that the Flyer was unable to make a successful launch.
They had waxed the rail and that caused the rainwater to form
bubbles. When the Flyer hit the water bubbles, it caused the
water to spray over the engine. The spray landed on the ignition
causing the engine to start missing at the critical point of
take-off.
The crowd of over 35,000 spectators made their way to the exits,
disappointed at the weather, but happy to have been a part of the day’s
events. They had experienced the real Wright experience that the brothers had
often endured in their pursuit of the first flight.
In 1903, the Wrights spent 3 months at Kitty Hawk enduring frustrating
mechanical and weather delays before they experienced success. The last few
days before their successful flight serve as an example.
Saturday Dec. 12, 1903, Orville and Wilbur were finally ready to fly after
they had installed new propeller shafts that had cracked, but there was not
enough wind to fly. They decided to test the machine on the launching rails and
in the process broke the point of the tail rudder that had caught on the end of
the launching rail. They had to go back to the hanger again for repairs.
Sunday Dec. 13, 1903, the brothers didn’t fly because it was Sunday. They
could have made the attempt because the weather was good, but they had promised
their father not to work on Sunday. Instead, they walked on the beach, did some
personal business and read books.
Monday Dec. 14, 1903, the wind had died again, but they were anxious to see
if the Flyer would fly. They decided to place the Flyer on the
down slope
of Big
Kill Devil Hill to give the machine a faster takeoff speed to make up for the
lack of wind. The brothers knew that this would not count as true flight
because they would be starting from a point higher than the landing, but it
would be a good test of the plane and their ability to fly it.
As it turned out, the downhill start produced a launching speed that was too
fast. Wilbur pitched up at a steep angle, stalled and landed hard, breaking the
front elevator.
Wright Experience pilot, Terry Queijo, experienced a similar phenomenon on
Nov. 25, 2003, when the Flyer was going faster than she expected on takeoff,
and it stalled and crashed. The ca nard configuration is susceptible to pitch-up
at high takeoff speed.
Monday Dec. 15, 1903, the day was spent making repairs.
Wednesday Dec. 16, 1903, they were ready to fly, but the wind was
insufficient.
Thursday Dec. 17, 1903, success at last! They demonstrated the power of
persistence.
The 2003 reproduction Flyer did have successful flights on Nov. 20 and Dec.
3. with Kevin at the controls. You can view video clips of these flights on the
Wright Experience web site: www.wrightexperience.com.
The flight on Nov.
20 marked the first time in 100 years that a Wright Flyer was
successfully flown and landed without damage using an authentic
engine.
The reproduction Flyer is the result of 10 years of research and 3 ½ years
of construction. Fourteen volunteers worked on the project, seven of them
fulltime.
There is no doubt that the weather was miserable on this day. The periodic
deluges were punctuated by drizzle. The wet sands created small lakes and muck
in some of the high traffic areas. My rain suit did a good job of keeping me
dry except for one problem – the rain ran down my rainsuit into my shoes.
Even the President had to stand in the rain without protection for nearly 15
minutes while giving his speech.
I had a great time!
Here are some pictures of the attempted takeoff:
Below are the successful flights of Nov. 20 (97 feet in 5 seconds) and Dec. 3,
2003 (115 feet in 12 seconds).
Kevin did a masterful job of controlling the machine on this flight. As it took
off, it veered to the right causing the right wing to plow into the sand
ripping the wing fabric and cracking some ribs. Nevertheless he was able to
level the plane and continue flying.
Cheers & Jeers: Wright Memorial
Centennial Celebration
Cheers for great events,
speakers, exhibits and flyovers. Grade: A
Cheers to the Department of Transportation for the
extraordinary shuttle system and traffic control. We never
waited more than 5 minutes for a bus at either end. The drivers
and staff at the arrival point were courteous and helpful. The
point of departure for buses with different destinations was
clearly marked and waiting lines clearly designated. Grade: A+
Jeers for Mother Nature for not providing sufficient wind on
Dec. 17. Grade: F
Cheers for Wright Experience crew for valiant attempt to fly
on Dec. 17. Grade: A+
Jeers for Reuters news headline on Dec. 17 that read, "Wright
brothers reenactment flops in the mud." Grade: F
Cheers for the courteous, self controlled crowd. Grade: A
plus
Jeers for building an expensive outdoor stage that couldn’t
keep the rain off President Bush during his speech. Grade: F
 Jeers for spectator paths that became lakes with angle deep
muck during the rain. Grade: F
Jeers for placing guest speakers in the corner of the EAA
Building, exposing them to the loud crowd noise within the
building. Also, no one was assigned to introduce the speakers.
Quality of speakers: Grade: A+, Noise pollution: Grade: D
Cheers for the volunteers who maintained a cheerful manner
throughout the centennial. Grade: A
Jeers for the undefined waiting lines in the food tents that
were overwhelmed by the crowd. We brought our own food after one
experience. Grade: D
Jeers for holding panel sessions within the Wright Brothers
Visitor Center that has inadequate space and sound system. Many
people could not see nor hear the proceedings. Grade: D
Cheers for the estimated $15 million of visitor expenditures
and estimated $10 million in infrastructure improvements. Grade:
A
Jeers for attendance less than expected. Organizers had
expected 35,000 per day to attend the centennial. There was only
one day that estimated attendance exceeded 30,000 and that was
on Dec. 17th. The worse day was Dec. 12th when
estimated attendance was only 5,000. Grade: C
Cheers for the positive impact on local businesses. Many were
able to recoup losses resulting from Hurricane Isabel. However,
not all businesses shared in the increased income. Final
economic impact still to be determined. Grade: B
Reproduction
1903 Flyer Crashes
I witnessed the crash of the reproduction 1903 Flyer on Tuesday Nov. 25th
at the Wright Memorial Park in Kill Devil Hills. It was trying to make a
training flight at the time.
It appeared to be making a good start. The engine started after a few
attempts, it was a windy day helping to produce lift and the Flyer started down
the single rail in good fashion.
As the Flyer attempted to rise from the starting rail, disaster struck. The
front end rose too fast and too steep. It stalled and just as suddenly slammed
into the soft sand. The whole sequence took only a second or two.
Fellow pilots Kevin Kochersberger, who had flown successfully the Tuesday
before, and Chris Johnson ran from each side to check on pilot Terry Queijo.
She was shaken
and had a mouth full of sand but thankfully
otherwise emerged
unhurt.
The same could not be said for the Flyer. The wooden frame was broken in
several places and the muslin wing covering was torn in spots. The wooden wing
leading edge spar were broken, making the wing curve in unusual places. Several pieces of
broken wood were collected from the ground by the staff.
The engine appeared to remain in place and was not damaged seriously.
The crash was far from discouraging. They are experiencing the events as the
Wrights experienced them. Wilbur had experienced a similar incident on Dec. 14,
1903, three days before the famous first flight
As Orville tells the story: "After a 35 to 40-foot run, it lifted
from the rail. But it was allowed to turn up too much. It climbed a few feet,
stalled, and then settled to the ground near the foot of the hill, 105 feet
below. My stopwatch showed that it had been in the air just 3 ½ seconds. In
landing, the left wing touched first. The machine swung around, dug skids into
the sand and broke one of them. Several other parts were also broken, but the
damage was not serious."
Far from being discouraged, Orville said "on the whole, we were much
pleased."
The Wrights had the damage repaired in two days. It will take more than two
days to repair the new version of the Flyer.
The crew of the Wright Experience have concluded that the cause of the crash
was that the Flyer had was going too fast to take-off with control. Their
conclusion is based on flight recorder readings of the machine's pitch, roll,
yaw and engine torque.
This is an interesting result. I had presumed that the major
problem on take-off would be not enough speed. Apparently, the
known pitch instability of the Flyer as well as the other control
inputs create problems for the pilot at higher take-off speeds.
The bigger problem facing the Wright Experience is time. Dec. 17 is not far away
and they would like to have both pilots gain experience by flying four times
before the big event. Good flying weather is one thing they can’t control and
there is the possibility of further crashes that would take time for repairs.
How many more practice flights to attempt is in the hands of 82-year old Scott
Crossfield (first man to fly Mach 2) who volunteers to instruct the pilots.
Hyde said the they have a spare of everything, including the engine in case
of further mishaps.
(Good news follow-up) The Flyer after repairs was back in the air on
Wednesday Dec. 4th. This 3rd flight lasted 12 seconds and went 115 feet. The
pilot was Kevin Kochersberger, who successfully flew the first flight of the
series on Nov. 20th.
Here are the autographs of the flight crew:
Kevin Kochersberger
Terry Queijo
 Scott
Crossfield
Here are some pictures taken of the crash on Nov. 25th:
First picture shows the flyer in readiness to start down the rail.
Second picture shows the flyer after it hit the ground.
Third Picture shows the pilot, Terry Queijo, at her right is Scott
Crossfield, and to his right is Kevin Kochersberger.
The remaining pictures are views of the Flyer.
The 1903 Wright Flyer Flies Again
The reproduction 1903 Wright Flyer lifted off the ground about 1 p.m. on November 20, 2003.
It marked the first time in 100 years that a Wright Flyer was successfully
flown and landed without damage using an authentic engine.
Paul Hyde’s group, the Wright
Experience, had been waiting for good flying weather for two weeks at the
Wright Memorial to attempt a flight in anticipation of performing on December
17th for the Wright Brothers Centennial.
Kevin Kochersberger, 42, one of the two pilots selected to fly the machine, flew
97 feet into a 15-18 mile headwind out of the Northeast. It was a
straight-line flight five feet off the ground, ending in a soft landing with no
damage. The total flight consumed 5 seconds.
Orville’s first flight traveled 120 feet in 12 seconds. He had a headwind
of 27-mph.
Ken Hide, Pilot Kochersberger, Terry Queijo who is the other pilot, and the
entire crew were jubilant at their success. Some were even in tears. A number
of naysayers had predicted their Flyer would never fly.
The two pilots hope to each test-fly the Flyer four times prior to Dec. 17th.
Kochersberrger wore a white helmet and a safety harness as a precaution.
They had originally planned to do their test flying in a secret location
near Hatteras, but hurricane Isabel put an end to that. As an alternate they
are using the Wright Brothers Memorial park. They hope that they will be able
to do most of their flying in the morning before the park opens.
For this grand occasion there were a number of visitors in the park who were
allowed to watch from a distance. They were not allowed to take any pictures of
the machine in flight.
Hyde was reported to have said that "the Flyer did pretty much what
we expected. Its performance matched Wilbur’s notes. We couldn’t ask for
anything more than that."
Hyde’s Flyer is the only machine of many that are flying in honor of the
Centennial that closely conforms to the Wright’s original design. Now that
they know that it can fly, the next big hurdle will be the weather on the 17th.
Everyone should pray for a wind of at least 15-mph on that day.
FAA Certifies 1903 Wright Flyer as Airworthy, But
Will It Fly?
The FAA has issued a "Special
Airworthiness Certificate for the reproduction 1903 Flyer that will attempt to
reenact the Wright Brothers first flight at the Wright Memorial National Park
on December 17, 2003. A FAA aviation inspector has reviewed the Flyer and
determined that it is prepared to fly.
The certification doesn’t say that it
will fly. It certifies that after visiting the Ken Hyde’s shop and watching
it being built that the machine has met structural and safety specifications.
The FAA says they are interested in two things: the safety of the pilot and the
people on the ground.
Ken Hyde is the president of the Wright
Experience, the organization that built the Flyer for the EAA. The Wright
Experience over the past decade has kept strict adherence to preserving the
legacy and design of the Wrights making it the worlds most accurate 1903 Wright
Flyer reproduction.
The only concession to a better
product was a modern glue to cement the pieces of the propeller
together.
The Airworthiness Certificate issued
under FAA Order 8130.31 of April 30, 1903 requires 21 limitations that EAA and
its pilots must adhere to when operating the Flyer. These criteria include the
following.
The Airworthiness Certificate including
the 21 limitations must be visible to the pilot and located on the aircraft
during flight. I don’t know
where they will attach it on the Flyer. Perhaps it will be pasted on the front
elevator.
The Flyer may only operate within the
designated areas. Wilbur would
have gone much further than the 842 feet he did fly on his fourth flight if he
hadn’t experienced a downdraft and hit the sand. Until then he thought he
might make it to the village of Kitty Hawk four miles away. This year any
possibility of that happening has been ruled out.
The aircraft may not be operated over
densely populated areas or in congested airways.
They will have to stay within park boundaries and fly a straight flight path.
No person may operate this aircraft for
carrying persons or property for compensation or hire.
There is no room for passengers. No mementos are allowed for later sale on
ebay.
Aerobatic maneuvers are not allowed.
I don’t think anyone would want to try aerobatic maneuvers on purpose, but
there may be some that take place unintentionally. Wilbur, on December 14th,
flew up in a sharp angle, stalled, and came down quickly to earth. The four
flights on the 17th were all of the undulating type—making for a
wild ride.
The bigger problem is whether the Flyer
will fly at all on December 17th. Unless flight conditions are
almost perfect, it won’t fly. Wilbur said they needed at least 15 mph to fly
their gliders. The headwind in 1903 was 27 mph along with cold weather.
Another problem that didn’t exist in
1903 is crosswinds. Trees and buildings now are in the path of the wind blowing
from the northeast causing crosswinds. This can make controlling the Flyer more
difficult than when the Wrights flew.
Fred Culick, professor of aerodynamics at
the California Institute of Technology says that three weeks of wind-tunnel
tests of their Wright Flyer replica "clearly showed how unstable it was
and how it can’t be flown safely."
In the meantime, Terry Queijo and Kelvin
Kochersberger are busy learning how to fly Hyde’s Flyer under the tutorage of
veteran test pilot Scott Crossfield.
Thousands, my self included, will be at
the Wright Memorial on the 17th keeping our fingers crossed hoping
that the Flyer does gets off the ground.
Orville’s Birthday
Orville’s birthday was celebrated at the Wright Brothers National Memorial
in Kill Devil Hills on August 29th. I was one of the celebrants.
The all day program featured a number of exhibits and speakers. The two that
I found most interesting was Tom Crouch, senior curator, Smithsonian National
air and Space Museum, and Ken Hyde, president of the Wright Experience.
Crouch is the author of the "Bishop’s Boys" and co-author of a
new book, "The Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age."
His presentation summarized the critical events leading to the invention of
the airplane by the Wright Brothers. His remarks were illustrated with slides
of original photography taken by the Wrights.
 Unfortunately,
the effectiveness of the slides was diminished by the inability of the park
service to find a way to turn out the lights over the screen. I could barely
make out the pictures sitting in the front row. I doubt the people in the back
of the room could see them at all.
Also, there was one other event in the same room that generated talking
noise during the question and answer period that made it difficult for people
to hear. This caused the people in the rear to begin to leave thereby
generating more noise. The event took place in the recently constructed
temporary pavilion.
 Ken
Hyde gave a status report on preparations for the planned flight of his
reproduction Wright Flyer on December 17th. Four pilots, including Hyde, are
now undergoing flight training for the big event. They are learning to fly just
as the Wright Brothers did by using gliders. (Picture left to right: Stimson,
Ken Hyde, Joe Hardman -park volunteer)
It will be a tough challenge. Wind tunnel tests at Langley confirm that the
machine is highly unstable in pitch and has marginal lateral stability.
Hyde’s organization, Wright Experience, has conducted extensive research
to assure historical accuracy in the building of their reproduction of the
original Wright Flyer. The effort is detailed in a Discovery Channel
documentary tentatively scheduled for showing next month.
One of Hyde's biggest challenges was obtaining the turn-of-the-century
muslin fabric used on the wings. It was known as "Pride of the West."
The fabric is no longer available and had to be especially made for the
project. They found some textile companies in North and South Carolina who
could manufacture the thread and weave the cloth.
Hyde introduced one his associates, Paul Glenshaw, who had searched for old
movies of the Wright’s machine in flight. He showed several clips of these
including one from a Max Sennett movie.
What I found amazing from viewing these old movies was the great control
wing warping gave the Wright machines in flight.
 One
of the unscheduled highlights of the day was the appearance of Orville. It
actually was John Hogan, an intermediate school student from Holy Cross School
in Montgomery County, Maryland. He was dressed like Orville, including the
moustache.
His parents brought him to the park because he is doing a project for the
school on the Wright Brothers and he wanted to be where it "all
started."
|
|
