 HE
Centennial Flyer, a
replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer 1, will be the end result of a national
program involving young people all over the United States -- and YOU, if
you would like to volunteer to help. Working with
the WACO Aviation Learning Center, we have adapted one of their workshops, in which young people
-- under the supervision of adult volunteers -- make the rib of an
airplane. For this particular learning experience, the kids will make the
ribs of a Wright Flyer. Each kid will make a 1/8 scale rib that they can
take home, then the whole class will participate in the construction of a
full-size rib. During the building process, the kids will learn basic
aerodynamics, some tool skills, and a little aviation history.
We are promoting and coordinating this project through
Popular Woodworking magazine, enlisting craftsmen, pilots, and
educators around the
United States to conduct these workshops. Once someone volunteers to
conduct a class, we'll send them course materials - jigs for the ribs,
materials for the full-size rib, and a video showing how to conduct a
class.
The kids who participate in these workshops
will sign the full-size ribs they manufacture then send them back to us in
Dayton, Ohio. We will also invite each young person to make a prediction --
what do they expect the next 100 years of aviation will bring? They'll
write this down and send it along with the rib.
At the shop we have specially built at Wilkies
Bookstore, Fourth & Ludlow in downtown Dayton, we'll assemble the
ribs into an airframe. Hopefully, we'll be able to include at least one
rib from each of the United States. If we have extra ribs, we'll capture
the signatures by slicing them off with a veneer saw, then applying them
to the spars. The end result will be museum-quality replica 1903
Wright Flyer 1 built by the children of America. We'll also edit the
predictions and assemble them in a book that will be displayed with the
airplane. For the next century, our children and our children's children
will use this unique display to get a navigational fix on their lives,
their dreams, and their space-bound culture. If
you would like to volunteer to run a workshop, get in touch with us at: mailto:[email protected].
If you'd like to know a little more about what you're letting yourself in
for before you decide to volunteer, you can read the preliminary info we
send out to workshop leaders be clicking Workshop
Info.
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The 1903 Wright Flyer 1 made the first controlled,
sustained, powered flight on December 17, 1903.
You can help young people to build a replica of this
historic aircraft. Shown here is a replica built by John Reynolds.
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