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  • Wright Flyer

    Who was surprized by the way the day unfolded??? I wasnt...

    I was upset by the fact that they chose not to fly it at the correct time ( 100 years, to the minute) They chose to fly it later, with the same ( and expected) outcome. If it was to have flopped, it should have on time. Talk about missing a once in a lifetime oppertunity.

    I know the weather (wind) has to be correct for the Flyer to get off the ground, and its a quite fickle machine. But I find it quite humorus that the Wrights built the craft in under a year, from scratch, not knowing if it was even possible, and with little help...and it worked.

    The teams doing the replicas are for the most part well funded, have vast knowlage of flight, and complete machine shops and computers and still couldnt get it done in 4 years.

    The Wrights were beyond genius, 100 years later that fact is a cold , hard slap in the face. The teams should not be disapointed, for they are not near the Wright Brothers level in any way.

    As impressive as modern technology is, the simple things in life (like making wood and linnen fly) still elude us.

    Perhaps those Old' Rhinebeck boys should have given it a try instead, and all the engineers could have stayed home.

    Engineers didnt make it fly in the first place, and probably never will.

    ( Engineers didnt go 500 mph with props either)

    I hope by the 200th anniversary, that they have it all worked out.

    Thanks Wright Boys!! Dont know what we would done without you!

  • #2
    In their defense

    Bob,

    In defense of the Wright Experience team, they not only had to recreate the original, they had to research where there was little information, in order to achieve as accurate a rendition of the original as possible.

    Given the Wright Bros. penchant for secrecy, I believe their task was monumental, at best.

    That they did not go at the exact moment, you'd have to give them *some* credit for thinking of the pilot's safety, as well as give them an inch or two for wanting to succeed, rather than fail.

    The weather conditions yesterday at Kitty Hawk were terrible, at best..

    Yes, they were well funded, yes, great credit is due the Wrights for their amazing success.

    I don't believe the current team deserves the bashing though. They tried, they gave a lot as individuals, they were not able to recreate the flight. So it goes..

    Wayne
    Wayne Sagar
    "Pusher of Electrons"

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    • #3
      Safety..

      Wayne, We are in total agreement that safety is first.... ANY machine is replaceable, people are not.

      I also understand that part of the legnth of the project was due to making it as accurate as posible. Not easy with 100 year old, grainy photos as your only source of info, besides some hand written notes.

      I didnt mean to bash anyone. If I had any thing to say negitive, It would be that there were too many chef's stirring the pot. Like Kelly Johnson's team, or the Rutan operation, a small and motivated team will accomplish many things a big and cumberson one will not.

      Having Scott Crossfield in charge of pilot training was great for photo shoots, but in reality probably wasnt the greatest choice.

      Even if he had the credentials, he would be very intimidating to the the pilots...

      The team suceeded in building a 1903 Wright Flyer serial # 002 which was 1/2 the goal. As demonstrated, and as hard as that was, it was the eaiser of the two goals.

      To have a chance to acheive the results the Wrights did, you would have to operate as they did.... Focused and single minded.

      I dont know the future of the team, or the flyer. I hope they get another chance to show everybody that the weather was the only thing in their path to sucess.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Safety..

        Originally posted by AllisoBob
        If I had any thing to say negitive, It would be that there were too many chef's stirring the pot. Like Kelly Johnson's team, or the Rutan operation, a small and motivated team will accomplish many things a big and cumberson one will not.
        Besides their brilliance, I think this might well be the key to their being able to succeed.. Perhaps, a bit of thinking outside the box as well... probably a LOT of credit to that ability.

        They did things their own way and their discoveries led to our current mastery of the sky.

        What they did is absolutely amazing considering the time they did it.

        On the Wright Experience team thing, did you see hour long show on Discovery last night? They did manage a flight, and a crash (ouch) a little more than three weeks ago. The flight, which lasted about 5 seconds, was very similar to the original flight, but was done in less wind. Had the conditions have been more the same as when the Wrights did it, then it might have been even more like the first.

        The team members commented several times in the show that the Wrights had 1000's of glider flights under their belts by the time they were able to fly the '03 flyer.

        It looks as though very sensitive pitch is the thing hardest to overcome in flying the machine. Had the team done as many glider flights, they might have been better able to handle the pitch on the '03 replica. From both the successful flight, as well as the crash of the replica, it appeared that not handling the pitch correctly led to the early termination of the first and the nasty crash in the second.

        All in all, a great effort in my opinion.

        Wayne
        Wayne Sagar
        "Pusher of Electrons"

        Comment


        • #5
          Wright Experience Patches

          I have four jacket patches I picked up at Kitty Hawk. They will go, one at a time, to the first four people who send me a stamped, self addressed, envelope. Best I can do. The week was great, even in the rain.

          Len Ashburn
          2065 N. Luett
          Indpls, IN 46222

          Comment


          • #6
            <<Engineers didnt go 500 mph with props either>>

            Quite the statement.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered
              <<Engineers didnt go 500 mph with props either>>

              Quite the statement.
              "Engineers" like Bruce Boland and Pete Law sure made a difference at Reno...

              Oh, and keep in mind the genius of Kelly Johnson, Ben Rich, Ed Heinemann, Edgard Schmued, Burt Rutan, etc.
              Rutan Long EZ, N-LONG
              World Speed Record Holder

              Comment


              • #8
                Having Scott Crossfield in charge of pilot training was great for photo shoots, but in reality probably wasnt the greatest choice

                Thats got to one of the worst quotes I have seen in quite
                some time. You would have had a hard time finding a more
                quality person for the job. He wasnt a photo op guy. He actualy
                worked with the pilots training with a WRIGHT glider replica
                pulled behind a van.

                Comment


                • #9
                  If the Doc' ( Charly Taylor) and Bruce/ Pete (The Bros.) were alive in 1900, they might have pulled off the same feat...

                  I may have unfairly used the stereotype "Engineer" to describe a booksmart, but visionless drone...

                  Those at Reno are hotrodders, tinkerers, and dreamers......

                  Sheepshin or not.

                  The Engineers mentioned would have gone on to do whatever they wanted, with or without formal education.

                  As far as Scott Crossfield...If someone was building a rocket powered, multiple mach, 1903 Flyer..he would be the man. But their not.

                  Someone with a background in slow, ground effect,seat of the pants, twitchy flight would have done better. ( Old Rhinebeck types)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Being a Monday Morning Quarterback is soooo easy, isn't it?

                    I do have to agree with Wayne on a few things. The Wrights did have quite a bit of experiance with their gliders before attempting the Flyer. Also if you remember, Wilber crashed the flyer earlier in the day before Orvile succeded in his flight. It was crashed again pretty good a few days later. The Wrights were extremely secretive to the point of possibly paralleling todays Skunk Works! I was wondering the other night as I watched the special on TV, who's to say they didn't alter the plans a tiny bit when they submitted them? Afraid someone might try to copy their design. The original Wright Flyer was severly damaged after the original flight, quickly rebuilt, broken down, stored in crates, donated and shipped to the Smithsonian, then damaged in a flood, sat for years, then restored, with a then very old Orvile Wright saying "I think that's how it looked". Even with mesurements taken from the Flyer as it sits in the NASM, the possability of a few things being a little off is pretty high. With the teams penchant for making everything as accurate as they can, maybe some flaws were built into it. There was another guy (Don't remember his name, sorry) who built a replica using modern technology, who built his as he thought it should be built. He flys that thing all over the place (figure of speech) I don't think the teams (or the Wrights) did too bad. Even if you look at some of the old footage of any of the Wrights airplanes, you can see a definate porpousing effect going on.

                    Race 29
                    Full throttle till you see God, then turn left!

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