WRIGHT BROTHERS Aeroplane Company

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To help those of you who would like to build a Wright aircraft for 2003 and make this a better Centennial of Flight for all concerned, the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company has posted the engineering drawings we developed for the 1902 Wright Glider below. We offer these free for you to download.

This is a wonderful project not just for those who enjoy building historical aircraft, but also for young people. If you're a teacher or a youth leader, there is no more exciting group project than an airplane, and no better example of good character to expose young people to than the Wright brothers. Use these plans and distribute them with our good wishes.

However, remember these are copyrighted plans and the copyright holder (us) claims all privileges and protection afforded by law. If you use or distribute these plans, you are bound to these conditions: 

You may not sell or profit from these plans. 
You cannot charge copying, handling, postage, or shipping fees. If we can contribute hundreds of hours of research, you can kick in a little paper and postage.
If you find a mistake on these drawings, you are honor-bound to let us know so we can correct it and make the plans better for those who come after you.
If you know of or discover better methods or additional suppliers of materials for building this glider other than those we describe in the plans or on this web site, you are honor-bound to tell us so we can distribute the information and continue to make this project a better experience, especially for the young people who participate.
You may make single copies for friends and acquaintances, but you may not publish these plans and offer them to the public in any form, electronic or paper, without written permission of the copyright holder.
We accept no responsibility if you attempt to fly this aircraft. This is a very primitive glider and can be quite dangerous, even for a skilled pilot.

There are 20 sheets of drawings, shown in thumbnails below. To save the sheets to your computer, right click on the thumbnail and choose "Save Target As" (in Explorer) or "Save Link As" (in Navigator) from the pop-up menu that appears. Save the JPEG file to a folder on your hard drive. These are big files; some pages are more than 1 meg. So it may take a while to download the entire set, depending on the speed of your modem.


Elevations, Page 1 of 20.

Wing Members, Page 2 of 20.

Miscellaneous Members, Page 3 of 20.

Wing Layout, Page 4 of 20.

Wing Assembly, Page 5 of 20.

Mid-Plane Assembly, Page 6 of 20.

Tail and Rudder, Page 7 of 20.

Elevator Members, Page 8 of 20.

Elevator, Page 9 of 20.

Elevator Control, Page 10 of 20.

Rigging, Page 11 of 20.

Final Assembly, Page 12 of 20.

Strut Hardware, Page 13 of 20.

Control Pulleys, Page 14 of 20.

Wire Hardware, Page 15 of 20.

Strap Hardware, Page 16 of 20.

Top Wing Covers, Page 17 of 20.

Bottom Wing Covers, Page 18 of 20.

Elevator and Rudder Covers, Page 19 of 20.
1903 Rudder Assembly, Page 20 of 20 (not yet available).

Each sheet has been scanned so that it can be enlarged to 11" x 17" without losing detail or pixilating. Owing to the limitations of the scanning and file transfer method we chose, the lines will not be especially crisp. But the plans will be quite legible and suitable for shop use. If you would like something that has a more published look to it, we offer a set of plans in color, drawn on  a plotter, for $75.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.  In keeping with the spirit of this project, we promise you that this money won't be used to pay salaries or the light bill. We will use any proceeds from the sale of the color plans sets to help support our school tour, The Spirit of Dayton Project. This is the portable museum of the Wright Brothers that we take around to schools throughout America. You may consider the money a donation to support this educational program. Send your check or money order to:

1902 Wright Glider Plans
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
P.O. Box 204
West Milton, OH  45383

Please, please, please -- let us know how your project is coming. Send us photos and updates from time to time so we can publish them here. And remember that you are invited to meet us at Jockey's Ridge State Park on the North Carolina Outerbanks on October 8, 2002 to help celebrate the first flight of an aircraft with 3-axis control. (Click HERE for more info). You are also invited to compete for the Wright Brothers Centennial Cup on July 4, 2003. (Click HERE).

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