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Re-Building the Wright Flyer

Posted by timothy on from the we-hope-they-wear-modern-helmets dept.

Isaac-Lew writes: "Several teams are trying to build a working replica of the first Wright Brothers' airplane." As the article says, "The catch is: Each team wants its plane to fly more or less as the Wrights' did." The only problem with that is that as Orville Wright put it, their plane was "exceedingly erratic," so the recreators have made some slight concessions to safety.

5 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. personally... by hype7 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd be much more interested to see them try to recreate Da Vinci's one :)

    ::evil laugh::

    After his first flight, he refused to talk about it again :)

    -- james

  2. Ha! They'll be in for a surprise! by Trinition · · Score: 2, Funny

    Won't they be in for a surprse when they find out it doesn't fly? Flying is a myth, just like that government-sponsored tale about men walking on the moon.

    It says so in my 1962 Soviet Encyclopedia.

  3. Warning!! by JJ · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't fly!!!!! You'll get too close to the sun and your wings will melt. (This from another early flight pioneer.)

    --
    So long and thanks for all the fish . . . !!!
  4. Re:What reminds me.. by Alien54 · · Score: 3, Funny
    But while we're at it, don't forget Jacob Ellehammer, the Danish flying pioneer. He also flew in 1906 but as his plane was tethered to a central pole his flight is usually not considered the first flight in Europe even though he flew before Santos Dumont did.

    I had the mental image of a rope winding it's way around a pole. to an ending fit for a cartoon.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  5. Re:Seems that they have forgotten one thing.... by mccalli · · Score: 5, Funny
    The fact is, that the Wright flyer only flew 12 seconds on that first flight, and I'm sure it didn't do it very quickly...

    Err...surely it did it in twelve seconds?

    Cheers,
    Ian