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| Wright Brothers 100th Anniversary Celebration |
| 2003-12-18 |
| The source is me; I was there. Kill Devil Hills, NC (on location) -- Under blustery skies and intermittent rain, President Bush, John Travolta and numerous aviation heroes led a celebration of the 100th anniversary of first powered flight by the Wright Brothers. At the north end of the national park, a re-creation of the first flight using a 1903 model Wright flyer painstakingly built to the original plans was delayed by rain, and then failed to fly in the single attempt made a couple hours later. The Flyer, built using materials and processes faithful to the original, managed a short hop at the end of the launch rail but did not fly. About 30,000 people were at the memorial during the morning, and over half stayed well into the afternoon in hopes of a second attempt. People were disappointed at the weather but otherwise happy and joyful. The celebration capped the five day event. The previous day honored "100 aviation heroes" with a roll call, appearances by a number of heroes including Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Chuck Yeager, and a 100-person free-fall parachute jump. Monday’s high point was a fly-by of 100 aircraft arranged in order from early 1910 era craft to the most modern military and civilian aircraft. The Park Service sponsored the event with major support from the Experimental Aircraft Association, the Ford Motor Company (which will receive the replica Flyer for the Ford Museum) and Microsoft. Several historical airplanes were on display including the obligatory Stearman and Corsair. A Marine Osprey was present for Tuesday; the Marines did public walk-through tours for delighted attendees and answered questions. John Travolta, a long-time aviation buff and pilot, was master of ceremonies for the morning. President Bush spoke briefly in the morning celebration praising the Wright Brothers and all aviation heroes. Bush arrived and left on Marine One at the First Flight airstrip at the site; about 45 minutes after he left Air Force One did a low fly-by wagging its wings in salute. Both the President’s remarks and the fly-by were well received by the crowd. Driving rain and varying winds dogged the morning and prevented any attempts at putting the Flyer into the air until shortly after noon, when a break in the weather led to an attempt. The launch sequence was the same as for the Wright brothers: two men turned the propellers to start the engine, after which the plane was released down a catapault rail (60 feet, as with the original). At the end of the rail the plane hopped briefly and then went nose down into the water-logged sand. From my vantage point, the wind was about right (perhaps 15 knots) but the plane never appeared to have sufficient air speed. The Flyer was not damaged in the attempt. The emotional part for me: at precisely 10:35 am, the time of the first flight a hundred years ago, about 30 people including myself stood at the #1 granite marker, touching it. About a hundred people watched curiously as one person in the group with a GPS-synched watch did a countdown. At the right moment we all counted in unison, "1, 2, 3, ... 12" to honor the 12 second first flight. As we hit "12", we looked up in the skies to see a B-2 doing a low fly-by in salute. Perfect timing. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 The winds were apparently too light for the Flyer. Remember; the Flyer was the aircraft equivalent of an alpha release of software. The Wrights were pretty sure it could fly, but the biggest reason for building it was to see what it could teach them. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-12-18 9:44:19 AM |
| #2 Bush Lie Wrights Can't Fly /LLL |
| Posted by: Swiggles 2003-12-18 8:49:15 AM |
| #1 SW--I live in NC and was told that they had videotaped successful flights to show if the one today didn't work, that indeed that plane could fly--did you see that? |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-12-18 1:57:20 AM |