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Peter W. Yost |
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Regular readers of AVweb are by
now familiar with the efforts of several groups
throughout the U.S. to re-create the Wright brothers' first flight for the
centennial celebration in 2003. One of those groups at the forefront of these
efforts is the Wright Experience,
based in Warrenton, Va. AVweb has periodically reported on the progress of the group, lead by retired American
Airlines pilot Ken Hyde, and his team of volunteers and paid staff. The Wright
Experience appears to be getting the most attention and support, being
contracted by the EAA (with
major funding support from Ford Motor Company) to build an accurate
reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer, and fly it on December 17, 2003, at
10:35 a.m., exactly 100 years to the minute of the first flight. The 1903
Flyer being built by the Wright Experience is the only one sanctioned by the
National Park Service to fly at Kitty
Hawk on the 100th anniversary. With the centennial less than 18 months
away, AVweb decided to visit Warrenton, Va, to talk with Ken Hyde and
his crew about their motivation, progress, and plans for the future.
The Wright Experience is headquartered in a two-story hanger complex on Ken
Hyde's private grass strip,
located in the beautiful horse country of central Virginia. The spacious
hanger includes metal and wood shops, engine workshop, and three full-size
Wright aircraft reproductions, including the 1903 Wright Flyer, in various
stages of construction. Upstairs is office space and a library with a growing
collection of books, photographs, copies of diaries, and artifacts on Orville
and Wilbur Wright.
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(Click photos for hi-res
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The
Wright Experience hangar |
Ken's interest in the Wright brothers began well before the current hoopla
surrounding the centennial celebrations. In 1992, Ken was contracted by the
U.S. Army to build a non-flying replica of the Wright brothers' first
production aircraft, the Wright Model B. In the 22 months it took Ken to
research and build the Model B, he was surprised to learn that there was still
much unknown about the Wrights and their methods for learning to build and fly
a heavier-than-air vehicle. Some of this can be attributed to the Wrights'
penchant for secrecy, for fear of others stealing their ideas and patents. And
some may be due to the fact that Wilbur, the more conscientious of the two for
recording the details of their work, died in 1912. It was the unknown facts
about the Wright's work that fascinated Ken and inspired him to learn as much
as possible about Orville and Wilbur and the aircraft they built and flew. In
2000, based on Ken's growing knowledge of the Wright brothers and his previous
experience building accurate reproductions of historical aircraft, the EAA
contracted with Ken and the Wright Experience to build a reproduction of the
1903 Flyer, and fly it at Kitty Hawk on the 100th anniversary
What is intriguing about the Wright Experience effort is that they are not
just building a reproduction of the 1903 Flyer. The effort is much more than
flying a reproduction on December 17, 2003, and then forgetting about the
Wrights until another major anniversary. Ken and his team are trying to
understand the entire thought process and scientific methods of the Wright
brothers as they not only learned to fly, but as they also perfected their
flying machines to make them practical. For the Wright Experience team, that
means a multi-year effort to follow the Wright brothers' same design
evolution, which started in 1899 with kites and gliders, led to the first
powered flight in 1903, and evolved to the first practical Wright production
aircraft, the Wright Model B, in 1911. This means not only constructing and
flying reproductions of the 1903 Flyer, but also the 1902 glider, with which
they worked out the intricacies of three-axis control, and the 1904 and 1905
powered aircraft, which had increased horsepower and refined flight controls.
It means conducting wind tunnel tests of Wright-designed airfoils, propellers
and full-scale aircraft to obtain accurate aerodynamic data. And it means
building, finding and using replicas of the same tools and materials (wood,
fabric, metals) the Wrights used to construct their airframes and engines.
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Hand-carving a 1904 Wright propeller
design |
Touring the Wright Experience workshop/hanger, one can't help but be
impressed with the details to which Ken and his team are pursuing in their
quest to be as accurate as possible in building their Wright reproductions. On
this day, team member Dave Meyers could be seen using the same type of
woodworking tools and carving techniques used in the early 1900s to hand-carve
a reproduction of the propellers used on the 1904 aircraft.
Seeking as much currently available information on the Wrights as possible,
Hyde's group has obtained help from the Wright descendents and museums
throughout the country, but there are still many missing parts to the puzzle.
Some of the museums are reluctant to release all of their Wright brothers
artifacts for study, or even let Ken review them at the museums. To celebrate
the centennial, the museums may be planning their own displays within the next
few years, and could be looking at their Wright holdings as a possible revenue
source for the museum. So like archeologists, Hyde and his team must use what they have
obtained, including photos, notes, drawings and diary entries, and look at
this data in a different way to deduce what the Wrights were thinking at
various stages of their development work. One example of the team's detective
work concerns the pitch control handle on the 1903 Flyer. According to the
Wrights' notes, the Flyer actually became airborne for a distance of 112 feet
for the first time on December 14, three days before the historically-recorded
first flight. But being sticklers for accuracy, the Wrights didn't count it as
the first powered flight. Their launch track was slightly downhill, and they
did not want to consider this as a real flight for fear that people would
claim they were helped by gravity. During this "non-flight," they also
encountered pitch problems that led to one of the skids being broken during
the landing. However, nowhere was it recorded how the Wrights solved this
pitch problem prior to their first legitimate flight on December 17. Comparing
digitally enhanced photos of the Flyer taken on December 14 with pictures of
the Flyer on the 17th, Hyde and his group were able to determine that the
pilot pitch handle had been lengthened after the December 14 flight. This
allowed for better pitch control with less pilot input, due to the increased
leverage action of the longer handle. In effect the Wrights had encountered,
and then solved, one of the earliest incidents of pilot induced oscillations
(PIO).
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Reproduction of the Wrights' wind
tunnel |
Besides the "classroom" detective work of the Wright Experience, much
valuable data and information has been obtained through a series of wind tunnel
tests of the 1901 glider, various Wright propeller designs, and the
airfoil for the Model B. These wind tunnel tests have been critical to the
understanding of the aerodynamics of the Wright aircraft, and also their
control characteristics.
Ken Hyde praised the cooperation of NASA and Old Dominion University (ODU),
and also the work of Dr. Kevin Kochersberger, an Associate Professor of
Mechanical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, in conducting
these tests. Kevin in currently on a teaching sabbatical at ODU, where some of
his time is spent working on the Wright Experience. Kevin started working with
the Wright Experience in 1999 when Ken realized he needed engineering help to
truly understand the aerodynamic discoveries of the Wright brothers.
One of the interesting findings of the ODU wind tunnel tests is that the
Wrights were very good at designing and building efficient
propellers that were crucial to their efforts to fly. Wind tunnel tests of
the Wright's bent-end propeller, used on Wright aircraft from 1905-1915,
revealed blade efficiencies close to 80%. (Propeller efficiency refers to the
percentage of engine brake horsepower that gets converted into useful thrust
horsepower by the propeller.) According to Kevin, this is remarkable
considering most modern-day props have increased their efficiency only
slightly to around 85%.
During the AVweb visit, Kevin also demonstrated the reproduction of
the Wrights' ingenious wind tunnel. Using a simple, but clever, balance system
within the tunnel, they were able to determine fairly accurate lift and drag
coefficients of nearly 200 airfoil sections beginning in 1901. For those
interested in the details of the wind tunnel tests, Kevin has co-authored
numerous technical
papers.
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An operating
Vertical Four engine, serial number
20 |
Besides the development of a workable three-axis control system and
efficient propellers that enabled the Wrights to fly, their other major
breakthrough was their development of reliable, relatively lightweight engines that
produced enough thrust to fly. The Wrights' early aircraft (1903-1905) used a
horizontal four-cylinder layout, with horsepower increasing from the original
12 to 21 in several years. Steve and Jim Hay are building the reproduction of
the 1903 engine for the Wright Experience, and those who have attended Oshkosh
may be familiar with similar reproductions they have built and run at the air
show for many years.
Also, a propulsion evaluation of an authentic 1910 Wright Vertical Four
engine used on the Model B has been completed, including dynamometer testing.
The running of this engine, serial number 20, was demonstrated by Greg Cone of
the Wright Experience during the AVweb visit. After a few pull-throughs
of the simulated prop, the engine started right up and ran smoothly. This
engine was the culmination of the Wright brothers' engine development,
producing 35 horsepower and powering the Wrights Model B production
aircraft.
It will be a hectic 18 months before the Wright Experience tries to fly the
reproduction again at Kitty Hawk, N.C. In the hangar, the basic structures of
both the 1902 glider and the 1903 Flyer are complete, awaiting fabric
covering. In another example of their quest for accuracy, Ken and his team
want to use the exact same type of fabric as was used to cover the 1903 Flyer.
Unfortunately, that type of fabric hasn't been made for years. So Ken has
approached several textile manufactures to see if they can reproduce the
original style of fabric.
Fortunately, Marianne Miller Hudec, great-grand niece of Wilbur and Orville
Wright, has a section of authentic fabric from the lower-left wing of the
original 1903 Flyer that she has graciously loaned to Ken for study. You can
still see some stains and a patch on the fabric that Ken has in his office.
According to Ken, after approaching several manufacturers, they feel they have
finally found one who can faithfully reproduce the fabric, down to the same
thread size and weave, to cover the reproduction Flyer.
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A
simulator offers realistic flight characteristics of the Model
B
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Other major milestones planned prior to the centennial flight included wind
tunnel tests of the 1902 glider, scheduled to commence in June at the Langley
Full-Scale Tunnel in Virginia. It was their flight experience with the 1902
glider that allowed the Wrights to perfect, and ultimately patent, their
concept for three-axis (roll, pitch, and yaw) control, and give them the
confidence to proceed with a powered aircraft. Meanwhile, work will continue
on the 1903 Flyer, with plans to also put that into the Langley tunnel around
January 2003. Ken and his team are even kicking around the idea of having a
pilot "fly" the aircraft in the tunnel so they can get a feel for the aircraft
before they actually fly it in free flight. If those tests go well, they hope
to do actual flight tests starting next spring. While some have claimed that
the 1903 Flyer was so unstable that it would be dangerous and foolish to fly
an exact reproduction, Ken thinks otherwise: "I don't lie awake at night
worrying whether it will be risky to fly. We are following the same approach
as the Wrights, and we feel we will have a very good understanding of the
aerodynamic and flight control characteristics of that aircraft before we ever
attempt to fly it. If it worked for them, it should work for us."
Also, a flight simulation of the 1903 Flyer, with flight characteristics
based on wind tunnel data, is also being developed to help train the pilot, or
pilots, who will fly the machine. At this time Ken isn't saying who will be
chosen to fly the 1903 reproduction first, although he admits that he is
certainly one of the candidates. If all goes well with the initial flight
tests next spring, they will then take the Flyer reproduction on a tour of the
country prior to re-creating the December 17 flight at Kitty Hawk.
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Ken
Hyde's devotion to all things Wright extends to his
car |
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So what happens after the anniversary flight activities and much of the
attention from the press and public subsides? The 1903 Flyer reproduction
flown at Kitty Hawk will go to the Ford
Museum in Michigan, and Ken's team will build another one to be displayed
at the National Park Service museum at
Kitty Hawk. Then, if the Wright Experience can obtain the necessary
funding, Ken and his team would like to continue to re-create the next five to
seven years of Wright aircraft development after their historical 1903
flights. Those plans include building flying reproductions of the 1904 and
1905 aircraft, with which the brothers perfected their engines and control
systems, and ending with a reproduction of their first practical production
aircraft, the Wright Model B. And after the Wright Experience accomplishes
their goal of building reproductions of all the Wrights' aircraft? According
to Ken, "My 'Field of Dreams' is to have a living museum where all these
reproduction aircraft and artifacts are displayed, and even occasionally
flown. A museum where we can continue to do research, but also a place with
hands-on displays and shops where school kids can come to learn about the
Wright brothers and to touch, smell, see and experience what the Wright
brothers gave us." In another effort, Kevin Kochersberger is developing a
science curriculum and traveling exhibit based on the Wright brothers' work.
Geared towards students in grades K-12, Kevin foresees exhibits and lessons
that "...focus on the Wright brothers' scientific methods to solve complex
problems using the process of analysis, design, build, and test ... then they
would reanalyze, rebuild and retest. And they did this over a number of years.
The lesson is that great things aren't accomplished overnight."
Over the next 18 months, we will find out if the hard work of Ken Hyde and
his team, plus the other teams attempting to re-create the Wright brothers'
first flight, are successful. Though many people have made these various
efforts out to be another race "to be the first to fly," it shouldn't be
regarded as a great disappointment if some, or all, of them don't get off the
ground. Though it would be nice to see them succeed, what really matters is
that the original Wright Flyer did take to the air almost one hundred years
ago, and in the process, changed our world for the better. The efforts of the
Wright Experience and the other teams will help us better understand and
appreciate the ingenuity and passion of the Wright brothers. By filling in the
gaps of technical knowledge, and helping us understand the thought process of
Orville and Wilbur, they are leaving a Wright brothers legacy for future
generations and bringing much-deserved attention to the two bicycle makers
from Dayton, who many feel were never fully recognized in their lifetime.
More Photos from The Wright
Experience
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(Click photos for hi-res
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Grass runway next to the
Wright Experience hangar |
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Dr. Kevin
Kochersberger and Ken Hyde |
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Partially
completed Model B to be flown for a PBS
documentary |
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The wing
warping mechanism on the 1902 glider
reproduction |
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Fabric
from the lower left wing of the original 1903
Flyer |
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