The Wright Brother Plan Drawings
1903 Wright Flyer Replica Construction & Dedication
Howard DuFour directed the construction of the 1903 Wright Flyer Replica working from drawings made by the Smithsonian Institution of the original Wright Flyer housed in the National Air and Space Museum. Since the drawings were of the finished Flyer, there were no tolerances given for any dimensions of any part or assembly. Howard set the accurateness of structure or tolerances to within .010± of an inch.
The replica is constructed of basswood rather than the bandbox used on the original. Bandbox was unavailable in the lengths required. Muslin covers the wings and all metal parts were custom-fabricated from drawings of the originals. The propellers were synthetic and donated past Hartzell Propeller. The engine is a mock-up of the original, fabricated by Howard's son, Larry DuFour.
The specifications of the 1903 Wright Flyer Replica match those of the original, with the exception of the overall weight of the machine. The replica weighs 550 lbs. due to the deviation in the weight of the engine and its auxiliary parts.
Specifications of the 1903 Wright Flyer
| Bridge (Length of Wings): | 40 ft. iv in. |
| Chord (Width): | half-dozen ft. 6 in. |
| Gap (Vertical Distance Between Wings): | Approximately 6 ft. two in. |
| Camber (Curvature of the Fly): | Approximately 1/20 |
| Wing Area: | 510 sq. ft. |
| Horizontal Rudder Area: | 48 sq. ft. |
| Vertical Rudder Area: | 21 sq. ft. |
| Length of Fuselage: | 21 ft. 1 in. |
| Weight of Original: | 605 lbs. |
| Weight of Replica: | 550 lbs. |
Construction Photos
National Composite Research Corporation, located on the former Defense Electronics Supply Center grounds, donated space for the construction of the 1903 Flyer replica.
The original 1903 Flyer was built of spruce, which is no longer available in the quantities needed. In its place, basswood was selected for its straight grain in order to resist warping.
Wing surfaces were covered in Pride of West muslin. The rolls of muslin were 43 inches broad with a thread count of 200 per square inch.
Each of the core volunteers brought a solid engineering, woodworking, or aeronautics groundwork to the project. The grouping worked to maintain the measurement and angles from the original blueprints.
The propellers, constructed and donated by Hartzell Propeller in Piqua, Ohio, were fashioned from pieces of poplar approximately 8 anxiety in length.
Over 8,000 stitches were hand sewn by the volunteers. Howard DuFour, Project Director, remarked, "It's amazing how much those boys depended on the cloth to hold the airplane together."
The accurateness of construction or tolerances are .010± of an inch. The specifications of the 1903 Flyer replica match those of the original, with the exception of the overall weight of the machine. The replica weighs 550 lbs. due to the departure in weight of the engine and its auxiliary parts.
Charley Taylor, the Wrights' mechanician, congenital the engine for the original flyer. Using drawings for the original engine, a replica was fabricated to the verbal specifications except for the materials used. Fully assembled information technology weighs approximately 70 lbs., almost half the weight of the original.
The 1903 Flyer Replica in the atrium of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library was dedicated on September 6, 2001, to the memory of Wilkinson "Wick" Wright, 1922-1999, great nephew of the Wright Brothers and generous friend and supporter of the Wright State University Libraries.
Dedication
Information technology is also a tribute to the volunteers who donated their skills and nearly 4,500 hours of time to create the Flyer and encourage the spirit of invention in each of us.
University Librarian Victoria A. Montavon opened the dedication plan featuring guest speakers Dr. Kim Goldenberg, 1903 Flyer volunteer Josephine Elliott Lucas, Flyer project chief Howard DuFour, and Marion Davis Wright. Volunteers honored at the dedication along with Howard DuFour were:
Jim Arehart
Rubin Battino
Jerry Beech
Dawne Dewey
Lawrence DuFour
Don Groves
Fred Hess
Virginia Hess
Bruce Hinkle
Hans Holtztrager
Constance King
Josephine Elliott Lucas
Jack Murphy
Jack Ohmart
Jay Phipps
Darrell Sevy
Gloria Sgro
Gary Stitzel
Peter Unitt
Don Yeager
Ii plaques designed past Virginia Hess, i honoring Wilkinson "Wick" Wright and the other honoring the volunteers, hang on pillars flanking the aeroplane.
Marion Davis Wright speaks adjacent to the plaque honoring Wick Wright.
Picture of the plaque honoring the volunteers.
Source: https://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/wrightbrothers/flyer/construction
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