Workshop Info

WRIGHT BROTHERS Aeroplane Company

With the help of Popular Woodworking magazine and other national publications, we have begun to solicit craftsman and pilot volunteers to conduct hands-on aircraft-building workshops. These workshops were originally developed at the WACO Aviation Learning Center of Troy, Ohio — kids are taught how an airplane works and how it’s constructed while they build a generic airplane rib. We have adapted this workshop by using the story of the invention of the airplane to dramatize aerodynamics, and by substituting a Flyer rib for the generic one.

When someone (such as you) raises his or her hand to run one of these workshops, we will send all the necessary workshop materials, including:

	A videotape of a typical workshop, including the presentations that must be made to the kids.
	Written instructions and information for the workshop instructor.
	Educational materials to be handed out to the kids. (The instructor must estimate the maximum number of kids he or she expects. We strongly advise that you limit each workshop session to 15 students or less. If more sign up, plan to run several sessions.)
	CAD plans for a 1903 Wright Flyer, including the side layout for a Flyer rib. (We will include enough of these so every student can have his own set.)
	An assembly jig for a full-size Flyer rib.
	Materials (spruce, ash, glue, and brads) for a full size rib. (If you plan to conduct multiple sessions, we will send addition materials.
	Templates for �-scale Flyer ribs and assembly jigs.
	Sample �-scale rib parts and assembly jig.
	Prediction forms, so each kid who wants to can make a prediction about what the next 100 years of aviation will bring.
	Packaging and instructions for packing and sending the completed rib(s) and other materials back to us.

We ask you to provide:

	A suitable location to conduct the workshop, with chairs and worktables for the kids.
	Materials to make the �-scale ribs and assembly jigs. (These materials are all small enough that they can be made from scrap wood. However, they must be cut to size prior to the workshop.)
	100-grit sandpaper and sanding blocks to sand the wooden parts.
	A camera and someone to snap a few shots of the kids building ribs. (Digital photos are okay – in fact, we prefer them since we’d like to post these pictures at our web site.). Note: If we use any of these photos to advertise these workshops, or if we use them for the interpretive display that will be exhibited with the completed Flyer, we may contact you to help us obtain consent forms from the parents of the children involved.
	Permanent-ink pens so the kids can sign the completed full-size rib.
	The names, addresses, and e-mail addresses of all the kids who participate in your workshop(s), plus the date and location of the workshop(s).
	Postage or shipping expenses to send the rib and assembly jig back to us (less than $20).

The young people who attend your workshop(s) will each build a �-scale Flyer rib while they listen to the story of how the Wright brothers first developed the skills need to build a flying machine, then discovered the secret of flight. The kids can take these small ribs home with them as keepsakes. Then all the kids will help build a single full-size rib. You will invite each participant to sign the rib and make a prediction about what the next 100 years of aviation will bring. Afterwards, you’ll send the signed rib and the prediction back to the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company. We’ll also need the assembly jig so we can send it out again to another volunteer and copies of any photos you might have taken so we can put them up on the web, sing the kids praises, and thank them for the rib. (We’ll sing your praises too.)

In a space thoughtfully provided by America's Packard Museum of Dayton, Ohio, we will assemble the ribs into a museum-quality replica. Here again we will ask young people to help us, putting together a construction team from local kids in the Miami Valley. There are over 70 ribs in a Flyer, and we will try to include at least one rib from each of the United States. If there any extra ribs, we will remove the names with a veneer saw and apply them to the Flyer spars. We will also have the local kids who help us with the assembly sign the spars so the signatures of all the young participants are captured. By the way, if there are extra ribs, we’re not going to tell anyone whose rib made it and who was discarded. As far as your kids are concerned, they all made it.

Meanwhile, we will also edit the aviation predictions made by the kids and assemble them into a book. If any two kids make the same prediction, we will try to include both names under that prediction. And we will, of course, discard and predictions that may be in bad taste. In the back of the book, we will record the names of all the children who worked on the airplane. We will send this list out to each of our volunteer workshop leaders before the book is published to make sure we have not missed anyone.

Several times a year, we will send out a news bulletin to update you and your kids on the progress of the 1903 Centennial Flyer. We’ll send this news via e-mail to all those kids who provide us with an e-mail address and via snail mail to those kids who don’t have a computer or an e-mail connection. And, of course, the kids can check our web site at www.wright-brothers.org at any time to see how the project is coming.

On December 17, 2002, we will invite all the workshop leaders and participants and those local volunteers who help in the assembly to the Dayton International Airport, where we will unveil both the 1903 Centennial Flyer and the Centennial Book of Aviation Predictions. The Flyer and the book will be seen by many of the millions of visitors who come to the Miami Valley each year, reminding them that Dayton is the birthplace of aviation. And eventually — since there is a good chance that some of our young airplane builders will go on to accomplish the very things they predict — they will serve to remind our children's children that great deeds begin with great dreams, and great dreams are inspired by great hearts. Such as yours.

Thank you so much for your interest. We hope to hear from your soon.

With all good wishes,
Nick Engler, Director
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
mailto:[email protected]