Focus on Education - 2004/02

February 2004 169
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS I have been
working on the 1905 Wright Flyer exhibit
for the National Model Aviation Museum. I
have had more than a few revelations while
involved in this project. Some concerned
the actual building of the exhibit; others
had to do with the personal interaction that
might have occurred between Orville and
Wilbur.
The Wright Flyer exhibit is the
brainchild of Michael Smith, our museum
curator. After he and I completed the
museum’s Remotely Controlled Aircraft
Simulator (RCAD), Michael thought it
would be great to replace the transmitter
that controls the aircraft with a working,
semiscale replica of the 1905 Flyer. This
project has taken on a life of its own.
Although it is close to completion, I feel
it only right to admit that I seriously
underestimated many aspects of the design
and construction. First, this exhibit was
never intended to fly; however, I believe
that it may have been easier to build this
aircraft to fly once than it was to build it to
last for two years of daily nonflying use.
The museum restoration facility is not
large enough or equipped well enough to
construct the exhibit there, so I decided to
build it in my workshop at home. This
meant that it had to be modular so it could
be taken apart and moved to the museum. I
scratched my head for a few days trying to
come up with a design that looked like a
1905 Wright Flyer replica on the outside
and still be modular.
Michael and I ended up with a design
consisting of six major assemblies: one
four-piece frame assembly, two bottomwing
assemblies, one top-wing assembly,
one canard/nose assembly, and one
rudder/tail assembly. There are control
levers, interplane struts, the engine, the hip
cradle, attaching hardware, and flying
wires that make up other parts.
This shows the engine assembly, hip
cradle, footrest, and rudder handle
mounted on the bottom wing. All the
sections needed to be modular so we
could disassemble and move the exhibit
to the museum.
The Wright Flyer replica nearing
completion in my workshop.
Another design hurdle was safety. We
weren’t worried about anyone crashing or
even falling off (we had to leave one of the
flying wires off to allow people get on!).
Primarily we were concerned with people
pinching their fingers (especially little
fingers) in the control levers and the hip
cradle.
The replica is made as safely as we
know how to make it and still have it
function somewhat
realistically; however
there will be a sign
posted on the exhibit
cautioning everyone
that the potential for
injury exists. We are
requiring that an adult
supervise children
when operating the
exhibit.
We had no drawings
to assist us in building
the project, but we did
have photographs. This
was a blessing and a
curse.
The angle from
which the photos were
taken always left
something to be desired. Often the photos
were misleading. Some had shadows that
appeared to be part of the object in
question—I think! In order to protect their
patent, the Wright brothers painted many of
the pieces of the aircraft silver so they
wouldn’t show up well in photographs.
The point is that photos are hard to
build from. Five different people can look
at a photo and see five different things.
Further confusing the issue is that much
has been learned about aerodynamics since
the 1905 Flyer was built. The Wright
brothers were far ahead of their time in the
way they thought about flight but they still
had only the knowledge of their day—
nearly a century ago.
We have the knowledge of a hundred
years of aviation experience. It is
extremely difficult to look at a vague
photograph of a part that you need to build
and try not to inject the thinking of the
present day into the intended design and/or
manufacturing process of that part. It
seems natural to try to improve upon their
efforts.
I had to fight this urge every step of the
way. It took roughly four days to build the
canard assembly the way I saw it in the
photograph. It took another 21/2 days of
disassembly, adjustment, and reassembly
to get it to function. It came very close to
exiting my workshop through the front
picture window at a high rate of speed!
While Michael was working on other
parts of the exhibit in the shop, we would
converse—ask each other questions, get
each other’s input, offer advice and
suggestions, etc., but by the third day of
working on that canard, my frustration
level was so high that I didn’t want to talk
to anyone until I had it figured out!
Michael obliged me and eventually I got it
to work.
What have I learned? I’m not quite sure.
The replica does function now. Does it
function in exactly the same manner as it
should? I don’t have a clue, but I hope it is
close.
Did Orville and Wilbur get frustrated?
They must have! Their stakes were
certainly higher than building an exhibit!
History tells us that they often took
opposing views on a subject to argue its
merits and then switch sides.
They were obviously very passionate
about their endeavor, but did they ever get
frustrated to the point of yelling or
throwing things? I wonder ...
I have enjoyed this project more than I
can say; however, I will be glad when it is
finished. As I am writing this in mid-
November, it should only be a couple more
weeks.
I hope Michael and I have managed to
build an interactive exhibit for the museum
that people will enjoy. I have learned many
things that I would not have otherwise
known.
In closing, I feel that I have a much
better idea of all the things I still don’t
know about the 1905 Wright Flyer.
Focus on Education
Jack Frost
AMA Education
Coordinator
Tel.: (765) 287-1256
Ext. 515
[email protected]
Michael Smith (R) and I sand the left half of the wing of the
Wright Flyer replica. Conversation helped us come up with
solutions.
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