Winter 1999
1902 Wright Glider Test Flights Postponed

A series of static tests showed that our reproduction of the 1902 Wright Glider has some design flaws that will make it difficult to fly. The most serious of these flaws are an aft center of gravity and an improperly balanced elevator.  In the interest of safety, we have decided to build a second "stand off" replica with an adjustable CG and controls for flight testing.

Winter 1999
Builder of the 1910 Wright EX Wows 'em in Dayton

Dana Smith, an aircraft builder and aeronautical engineer who hails from Limerick, Maine addressed a gathering of Dayton aviators and aviation enthusiasts on December 17, 1999 -- the 96th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. And he showed us something we haven't seen in this town for the better part of a century -- a canard-design Wright airplane in flight! 

There are several groups across the nation that are endeavoring build flying reproductions of Wright canard aircraft, such as the Flyers, Model A's, or early EX's. And we're all finding it tricky to achieve the aerodynamic stability needed to make safe demonstration flights. (Early aviators -- including the Wrights -- were a lot less finicky about stability than pilots, builders, air show promoters, and insurance companies today.) For four years, Dana pursued a simple, straightforward aerodynamic research program that might have been planned by Will and Orv themselves. And just this summer, he achieved this elusive goal -- a stable, reliable, flying replica of a 1910 Wright Model EX .

Bowlers off, Dana. Good flying.

Summer 1999
Lost and Found: The Wright Company Documents

For almost a century, the business records of the Wright Company -- the airplane manufacturing business that Wilbur and Orville Wright began in 1909 -- have been presumed lost or destroyed. Then, a few years ago, they mysteriously reappeared.  first-to-fly.com is working to purchase these documents for the Wright State Libraries, Special Collections and Archives, where they will be made available to the public for the first time ever.

Summer 1999
Own This Airplane! first-to-fly.com Offers a 1902 Wright Glider

To help raise the $900,000 needed to purchase these documents and make them available to historians and scholars the world over, first-to-fly.com will give a full-size, flying, historically accurate replica of the 1902 Wright Glider to whatever business, institution, or individual gives us the first $100,000 to kick off our capital campaign.

Winter 1999
"The Spirit of Dayton" is On the Road

Although we're not yet flying the glider, we are touring it. We've rolled our 1902 glider, 1901 wind tunnel, 1899 kite, and 1878 "bat" replicas into a portable museum that is now traveling to schools, museums, and other educational institutions. We've also developed a number of unique stands that allow us to display the glider in different ways, depending on the event and the people who are viewing it. We can mount it a kids-eye level to get schoolchildren up close and personal with the work of the Wright brothers. We can rest the flying machine 8 feet in the air so people can walk around or dine beneath it. We can even roll it down the street in a parade!

Summer 1999
Telling the Untold Story of Early Aviation

What's so important about the Wright Company papers? For decades, the early history of the aviation industry in this country has been shrouded in mystery. Few history books spend more than a few pages on the Wright Company, even though it was a keystone in this fledgling business. These rediscovered documents clear up many of the questions that have puzzled historians for decades. "This is like finding a secret room with letter after letter after letter," says Joe Gertler, current owner of the documents. "There are nine filing drawers full of documents and on every page there's a new revelation."