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Meanwhile:
How about a
little music?
We have a selection of tunes that were
popular during the first days of aviation, performed by Sue Keller, courtesy the
Ragtime Press:
Want to ask a question? Tell
us something? Arrange a showing of one of our airplanes? Ping:
mailto:[email protected]
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 he story
of the Wright brothers and the invention of the airplane are woven deep
into American mythology, so deep that it profoundly affects how we see
ourselves. Two plucky mechanics, with no funding other than what
they can scrape together themselves, out-invent the world's best
scientific minds and achieve the age-old dream of flight by virtue of
their common sense, imagination, and stick-to-it-iveness. Once you know
the basic story, it becomes a metaphor in your own life, confirming the
worth of your dreams and the work you do to achieve them. For this reason
alone, it's a story worth telling again and again.
As we approach 2003, the centennial anniversary of the
Wright brothers' first powered flight, there will be an increased interest
in this story as well as opportunities to tell it in new and exciting
ways. The most exciting way to tell an aviation story is, of course, to
use airplanes. So the Wright
Brothers Aeroplane Company has launched several programs
that include the recreation of early
Wright flying machines -- kites, gliders, and aircraft -- and flying
them. We then
share the unique
experience of building and flying these old birds with kids of all ages.
Sound interesting? We
invite you the get involved!
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Click on a
photo to enlarge it.
The 1899 Wright "Kite."
The 1900 Wright Glider.
The 1902 Wright Glider.
The 1905 Wright Flyer 3.
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 The
Centennial Flyer is a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer 1 that is
being built by children around the world. Volunteers lead workshops in
which kids build and sign Flyer ribs while they listen to the story of the
Wright Brothers. They send these signed ribs to Dayton where we are
assembling them in a replica that will hang in the Dayton International
Airport to remind visitors where it all started. |
To young folks sign their name to a rib for the
Centennial Flyer. |
| Return
to Kitty Hawk brings the Wright gliders
back to the North Carolina Outerbanks to celebrate the Wright gliding
experiments. We flew the 1900 Wright Glider on October 22, 2000 -
the centennial of the Wrights� first attempt to fly. In 2001, we flew
the 1901 Wright Glider. And on October 5 through 8 of 2002,
we�ll fly the 1902 Wright Glider to celebrate the
centennial of the first controllable aircraft. To help mark the 2002
anniversary, we are inviting all parties with historic gliders to come fly
with us at Jockey's Ridge State Park just 3 miles south of
Kitty Hawk. If you don't have an historic glider and you'd like to build
one, we offer FREE PLANS
for the 1902 Wright Glider! |
A short glide in a 1901 Wright glider replica at
Jockey's Ridge State Park. |
| "The
Spirit of Dayton" Project is a "portable
museum" of the Wright brothers, the centerpiece of which is our 1902
Wright Glider. Other artifacts include the a replica Wright bicycle, their
wind tunnel, a Victorian printing press that spits out copies of their
first newspaper, and a rubber band-powered helicopter Orv and Will built
as kids. These items become the props in a spirited presentation of the
Wrights� quest to invent a controllable aircraft. |
Demonstrating wing warping for the students of Sugar
Creek School. |
| The
Birth of Aviation
brings all six Wright aircraft together
in Dayton, Ohio in July of 2003. When all six are complete, it will
mark the first time that they have all been displayed together. This will
allow visitors to Dayton during the Centennial of Flight to
trace the remarkable mixture of inspiration, ingenuity, and serendipity
that propelled the Wright brothers in their determination to create a
practical flying machine.
Back to the top
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Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company volunteers
building the 1902 Wright Glider, our first replica. |
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