Wright Brothers "Flyer" 1903

[Ted Robinson]

If a gust of wind found its way into my office, I might be worried. That actually happened to the real original one, wind flipped it over and broke it.

I'd like to fly one of them

 

[Daniel20]

I'd like to fly one of them

Umm....If I had a choice between flying in a true replica or a modern powered hang glider I would choose neither. After successfully walking 14" wide beams 30' in the air from time to time over the last 40 years, I feel I have used up most of my luck.

 

[RDN1954]

Seeing her again in her full glory, your Wright Flyer still is an impressive model and an accomplishment to be proud of.

 

[Daniel20]

Seeing her again in her full glory, your Wright Flyer still is an impressive model and an accomplishment to be proud of.

Thank you so much Johan.

 

[Namabiiru]

Thank you so much Johan.

That recipe box actually makes a perfect stand. You could make a trip to Kitty Hawk, fill the box with sand and close it up so that it should be heavy enough to stay put under ‘normal’ circumstances.

 

[Ted Robinson]

Umm....If I had a choice between flying in a true replica or a modern powered hang glider I would choose neither. After successfully walking 14" wide beams 30' in the air from time to time over the last 40 years, I feel I have used up most of my luck.

I never flew a hang glider. Made maybe 25 flights in an ultralight but moved on to actual flight lessons. I had an Aero commander 560 for a while but gave it up to get a Cessna 210 turbo. That Cessna was a.delight to fly and with an almost1000 mile range made most trips practical without refueling concerns. I got my A and P so maintenance expenses were about the same as a 172. I still miss her,
N6754r.

 

[Daniel20]

Living inland along the gulf coast I have all the sand I need practically in my back yard. Weighting down the box is a great idea and I could strap the skids to it without much difficulty. Thanks for the idea, @Namabiiru.

 

[Daniel20]

I never flew a hang glider. Made maybe 25 flights in an ultralight but moved on to actual flight lessons. I had an Aero commander 560 for a while but gave it up to get a Cessna 210 turbo. That Cessna was a.delight to fly and with an almost1000 mile range made most trips practical without refueling concerns. I got my A and P so maintenance expenses were about the same as a 172. I still miss her,
N6754r.

Pilots are a special group of people of which I have the most respect. At my age I'm keeping both feet firmly on the ground.

 

[RussF]

I'd like to fly one of them

I have my private ticket as well, although I haven't flown in years. We used to make the annual trek to Oshkosh and one year, they had a full scale mockup of the cockpit area of the Wright Flyer hooked up to Microsoft Flight Simulator. You got to climb up onto the wing, lying prone with the left lever controlling the elevator and the hip cradle sliding left and right to warp the wings and move the rudder. The goal was to see if you could keep it in the air for as long as Wilbur's final flight on Dec. 17, 1903 of 852 feet. When I tried it, no one had made it yet, don't know if anyone ever did. It was surprisingly difficult to control. Of course, someone with no flight training at all probably had a better chance than those of us who had some, because our natural instincts kicked in which ruined everything. It's hard to get used to moving your hips to roll/turn an aircraft.

 

[Ted Robinson]

I have my private ticket as well, although I haven't flown in years. We used to make the annual trek to Oshkosh and one year, they had a full scale mockup of the cockpit area of the Wright Flyer hooked up to Microsoft Flight Simulator. You got to climb up onto the wing, lying prone with the left lever controlling the elevator and the hip cradle sliding left and right to warp the wings and move the rudder. The goal was to see if you could keep it in the air for as long as Wilbur's final flight on Dec. 17, 1903 of 852 feet. When I tried it, no one had made it yet, don't know if anyone ever did. It was surprisingly difficult to control. Of course, someone with no flight training at all probably had a better chance than those of us who had some, because our natural instincts kicked in which ruined everything. It's hard to get used to moving your hips to roll/turn an aircraft.

I wonder how accurate the simulation was. I never made it to Oshkosh.
Most of my flying was purely for fun.
I had a maintenance business on Van Nuys airport called Warbird Willies for several years and about half of our work was restorations a long with Bill Correa.
I would purchase older airplanes and restore them. I got to fly a lot of different models.

 

[RussF]

I wonder how accurate the simulation was. I never made it to Oshkosh.
Most of my flying was purely for fun.
I had a maintenance business on Van Nuys airport called Warbird Willies for several years and about half of our work was restorations a long with Bill Correa.
I would purchase older airplanes and restore them. I got to fly a lot of different models.

Now that sounds like a fun job!

 

[Daniel20]

When I tried it, no one had made it yet, don't know if anyone ever did. It was surprisingly difficult to control.

I remember my dad talking about the difficulty learning to use a link trainer. He said it was almost impossible to stay ahead of it (not sure what he meant though).

 

[Ted Robinson]

I remember my dad talking about the difficulty learning to use a link trainer. He said it was almost impossible to stay ahead of it (not sure what he meant though).

I used a simulator during IFR training. It wasn't stable in any axis and would wander off course and altitude.
My instructor said it is designed that way to make you constantly actually notice what you are seeing as you do the instrument scan. I didn't feel like I was gaining anything from the simulator so we started flying under the hood at night.