Wright Replica At Ford Museum

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Sixty years later, Henry Ford’s dream has been fulfilled … well, sort of. Ford wrote Orville Wright in 1943 reminding him that if he ever wanted to part with the airplane that flew at Kitty Hawk, Ford had just the place for it in Dearborn. Well, the (mostly) original Flyer went to the Smithsonian instead and the Henry Ford Museum now has the replica that didn’t fly in Kitty Hawk last November. Edsel Ford II didn’t see it as a consolation prize when The Wright Experience aircraft was officially unveiled in Dearborn on Friday. “Sometimes you don’t get what you wish for in life. Sometimes you get something better,” he said. That spin was made possible by the fact that the plane in the Smithsonian is a re-jigged and repaired version of the original machine. The first Flyer was damaged in a flood and crashed twice and the ensuing repairs required parts that were not original equipment. Therefore, in Ford’s (and EAA’s) estimation, the replica is actually “a far more accurate representation of the original plans than is the repaired and modified one that hangs at the Smithsonian,” according to the EAA release. Can’t wait for the letters …

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