1903 Centennial Flyer Project to Span America!

With the help of Popular Woodworking magazine and other national publications, we have begun to solicit craftsman 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 while they build a generic airplane rib. We have adapted this workshop by using the story of the invention of the airplane to dramatize the basic aerodynamics and substituting a Flyer rib for the generic one.

When someone raises his or her hand to run one of these workshops, we will send them all the necessary workshop materials, including rib assembly jigs, handouts for the kids, and a video of a successful workshop. The young people who attend the workshop will each build a 1/4 scale Flyer rib while they listen to a story of how the Wright brothers discovered the secret of flight. They can take these small ribs home with them as keepsakes. Then all the kids will help build a single full-size rib. Each participant will be invited to sign the rib and make a prediction about what the next 100 years of aviation will bring. The volunteer workshop leaders will send the signed rib and the prediction back to the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company.

In a space thoughtfully provided by America's Packard Museum, 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 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. We will also edit the predictions of the young people and assemble them into a book.

On December 17, 2002, we will invite Miami Valley residents and the workshop participants 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.

Would you like to get involved? Maybe help run a workshop in your area? To learn more about the workshop and get an idea of what's expected from workshop leaders, see our page on Workshop Information. If you decide you would like to help run a workshop, please ping:
mailto:[email protected]
or write:
Centennial Flyer Project
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
P.O. Box 204
West Milton, OH  45383

The 1903 Centennial Project will enable young people to join in the celebration by building a replica of the 1903 Flyer, such as this one built by John Reynolds. The replica will hang where over 4 million people will see it each year -- possibly more in 2003.