1910 EX Replica

WRIGHT BROTHERS Aeroplane Company
A Closer Look
1910 EX Replica

The Wright brothers built the "Model EX" aircraft for exhibition flights. At first they had shunned the exhibition business, but once they incorporated the Wright Company to manufacture aircraft in late 1909, their investors convinced them that it was essential to the future of the company. Wilbur and Orville decided to build a special aircraft for this purpose, patterned after the single-seat Model A that Wilbur had flown around the Statue of Liberty during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in 1909. A single seat, they reasoned, would remove the temptation for exhibition pilots to take people on joy rides. It would also allow them to make a slightly smaller and faster aircraft that would compete well in both speed and endurance trials.

The first EX airplanes were built early in 1910. These were the last Wright aircraft to have the distinctive front elevator or canard used in their gliders and Flyers. Already the Wrights were conducting tests with rear-mounted elevators and by late 1910, they would eliminate the canard altogether. They remained convinced that the canard was a more effective pitch control surface than a rear elevator, but they conceded that the aircraft was more stable and easier to fly without the large control surface in the front.

In 1996, Dana Smith and Ken Whiting decided to reproduce the last of the Wright canard aircraft. It was a much more complex job than they had bargained for. The Wrights were not draftsmen and there were no engineering drawings of original Wright canard airplanes. Those that had been done were of the airplanes after they had been restored or rebuilt. Because these restorations were done from memory -- and because accurate aircraft conservation wasn't a major concern when these planes were restored -- they were incorrect. Ken and Dana had to repeat the same series of trial-and-error flying experiments that the Wright brothers must have gone through to arrive at a working aircraft. But they succeeded. Their 1910 Wright Model EX reproduction is the first Wright canard aircraft to fly in this hemisphere in over eighty years!

The original 1910 Wright Model EX was designed to break down for easy transport and so is the replica. Dana and Ken have engineered it to fit in a cargo trailer.	The center section of the EX slides out of the trailer on rolling jack stands. The crew first attaches the front skids to the airframe.	And then come the landing gear. The gear is made from bicycle parts, much like what the Wrights used.	Once the landing gear is installed, Dana and Ken lower the airplane and remove the jacks. From this point on, the EX can be easily maneuvered on its own wheels.
Next comes the canard. This is mounted on pivots at the front ends of the skids.	Ken attaches the control links to the canard...	...while Dana assembles the cockpit and controls.	This replica includes a few amenities that weren't available on the original -- such as a throttle and seat belts.
The engine is a 100 hp Renault Marine. The radiator was salvaged from an old Model T Ford automobile. The radiator cap, unfortunately, was lost.	The tail and the tail outriggers are mounted to the rear spars.	And the rudder controls are attached to a kickbar. The original rudder was a box kite that turned on a single pivot. Each of the vanes in this rudder swing independently to provide better control.	Once the "fuselage" is complete, Ken and Dana mount the moving or "warping" sections of the wings to the rigid center section.
With the wings in place, they add the struts, flying wires, and landing wires needed to rig the aircraft.	Ken checks each wire for the proper tension while Dana makes a quick walk-around inspection.	The very last parts to be attached are the propellers. These are 8-foot-long bent-end props, same as on the original EX.	Chains drive the props same as the original aircraft, but the chain guides are teflon-coated tubes to reduce wear.
A close-up of the assembled aircraft.	The assembled EX viewed from inside the hangar	Another view, out in the sunshine.	And yet another, poised on the runway.

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