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| Original and (under construction) 2007 models |
Two years of painstaking work was not enough to get a replica of a 1914 Glenn Curtiss Rodman Wannamaker America flying boat airborne in time for the annual Seaplane Homecoming in upstate New York last weekend — a result that shows how amazing it was that the original aircraft was successful. The flight crew was able to start both of the vintage 90-hp OX-5 engines and taxied the replica across Keuka Lake, to the cheers of hundreds of spectators on shore. But the trick seems to be to get both engines to run at top RPM at the same time. The volunteers working on the project have changed the elevator dihedral and added weight in the front of the hull, and plan to continue testing and achieve first flight soon. A video of the America taxiing at the Homecoming is
posted online.
The replica is being built at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, N.Y. The team will continue to work on the airplane and attempt to fly it again at next year’s seaplane event.
