Wright Flyer a handful for today's pilots
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Aviation experts building
a flying replica of the world's first airplane have found the Wright stuff
in the hands of modern pilots, anyway is a little wrong.
Orville and Wilbur Wright made four brief flights on Dec.
17, 1903, marking the first time a manned plane sustained powered flight. That
same day, a gust of wind mangled their handmade aircraft and it never flew again.
"I'd say it was almost a miracle they were able to fly
it," said Jack Cherne, an aeronautical engineer who is chairman of the Wright
Flyer Project, sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute
of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The group is one of at least three nationwide trying to
complete flying reproductions in time for the 100th anniversary of the Wright
brothers' flights near Kitty Hawk, N.C.
None have accumulated the wealth of data that the AIAA
group has on the 1903 Flyer, which is now on display at the Smithsonian's Air
and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
In recent years, the group conducted extensive wind tunnel
tests of both one-sixth and one-eighth scale models as well as of a non-flying
full-scale version of the Flyer.
Using that data, they created a computer flight simulator
that shows the plane to be so unstable, it is nearly impossible to fly.
"It's like balancing a yardstick on one finger, two at
one time. If you lose it, it goes quickly," said Fred Culick, a professor
of aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology who is first in line
to pilot the plane when it is completed.
The exercise also humbled experienced Air Force test pilots.
"Every pilot, his first try, crashed the simulator. It
took less than a second," said Capt. Tim Jorris, one of a small group of pilots
at Edwards Air Force Base who tried the simulator.
The pilots eventually took to the skies in a Learjet 24D
programmed to fly like the original Flyer. Most had to rely on a computer-assisted
stability system to keep the jet aloft.
"I thoroughly cannot imagine the Wright brothers, having
very little experience in powered aircraft, getting this airborne and flying,"
said Major Mike Jansen. "My respect for what they did went up immediately the
first time I took the controls."
As the project's members begin work on the replica they
intend to fly, perhaps as early as next summer, they are tweaking the Wrights'
original design to improve the plane's performance.
Modifications will include changes to the shape of its
wings and a more powerful engine to drive the twin propellers. A computer feedback
system will assist the pilot.
"We want the experience, but we don't want to kill ourselves,"
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