Wright brothers' plane to take to the air again

Published on Thursday 20 March 2003 00:00

PAINSTAKINGLY built by hand from muslin, wood and steel, an exact replica of the Wright brothers’ plane is to be flown by aircraft enthusiasts to mark the 100th anniversary of powered flight.

The replica of the Wright Flyer, which weighs 43 stone, was unveiled at Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Tuesday.

Tom Poberezny, president of the Experimental Aircraft Association and US Centennial of Flight commissioner, said: "This centennial is perhaps our greatest opportunity to rekindle a fascination and appreciation for flight and what it contributes to our society."

In the world’s first flight, on 17 December, 1903, the Wright Brothers launched their plane in a 12-second, 120ft flight. It was flown three more times that day. The longest flight lasted 59 seconds and covered 852ft.

The hand-built Flyer replica boasts a 40ft wingspan and a 12-horsepower, four-cylinder engine. It will tour the nation before making its first flight on 17 December in Kill Devil Hills, just south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Ken Hyde, a retired commercial airline pilot and founder of the Wright Experience, the organisation that built the Flyer replica, said rebuilding the plane has been a dream of his for more than a decade.

The reproduction features details faithful to the original and was made without any modern alterations, a difficult task since many of the tools used by Orville and Wilbur Wright no longer exist. The Wright brothers also often worked in secrecy, leaving behind few blueprints or other guidelines.

Amanda Wright Lane, a great-grandniece of the Wrights who will witness the flight in December, called the replica plane "the work of kindred spirits".