Maine Aviator Gets 1910 Wright Replica In the Air

Dana Smith is one of a very small group of aviators who knows what its like to fly a Wright aircraft. As a matter of fact, Dana is the only aviator in this hemisphere who knows what it's like to fly a powered Wright aircraft with a canard out front.

Dana Smith was the featured speaker at the First Flight Luncheon on December 17, 1999, near Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright brothers. Aviation Trail hosts this luncheon every year at the Officer's Club, Area C, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just a stone's throw from Huffman Prairie. This year, we celebrated the 96th anniversary of powered flight.

Those of us who have been following the aviation news understand what an elusive trophy Dana has captured. The secrets of the Wright canard configuration that allowed the Flyer 3, Military Flyer, Model A, and early Model EX to fly have been lost to history. There are problems with the existing drawings, as the National Geographic Society proved when their Flyer 3 replica crashed on takeoff.

Dana is an aviator and engineer who runs his own aircraft mechanics school in Sanford, Maine. He's restored and replicated historical aircraft for many years - you can see some of his work at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum. For the last four years, he's been wrestling with the problem of making a Wright canard aircraft fly easily and safely.

Dana set out to build a replica of an early Wright EX, a single-seat version of the Model A that the Wrights built in 1909 and 1910. He studied the existing drawings for Wright canard airplanes, built a replica as close to history as he could make it, then conducted careful hands-on flight research. He found problems with the center of gravity, wing angle, rudder placement, and elevator balance, just to name a few.

This year, his research paid off - his modified Wright EX handles well, and he has begun making longer and longer flights as he garners more experience. He has not yet flown in public - he's saving that event until he finds a sponsor. But he will show a videotape of his test flights.

Dana is now working on a reproduction of the 1911 Model EX - the airplane that Cal Rodgers flew across the United States. Dana's hope is to repeat Rodger's crossing for the Centennial of Flight in 2003.

The EX is designed for travel -- it breaks down and fits into a medium-sized cargo trailer.

Assembling the EX.

The EX assembled.

A close-up of the cockpit.

Running up the engine -- the replica is powered by 100 hp Renault marine engine.

And take-off! This is a still from a video of the EX's first test flight.

Back in the hangar.