THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507160052
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
Drooping, dusty and worn, the replica of the first power-driven plane looked tired - not a fitting memorial to the pioneering brothers who taught the world to fly.
So on Saturday, volunteers from distant cities launched Project Wrights' Stuff to refurbish the replica of the plane that first carried a man into the air - the Wright brothers' 1903 flier.
They spent the day carefully dismantling what has been the most popular feature of the Wright Brothers National Memorial since its 1963 unveiling.
``There is no debate that the Wright brothers made considerable contributions not just to flight, but to life as we know it,'' said project co-leader Bruce Milam, an aerospace engineer for Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. ``All of us here have been touched by the Wright brothers' accomplishments, and we are doing this to give back.''
On the blustery morning of Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright became the first human to fly in a power-driven plane. His flight off Big Kill Devil Hill lasted 12 seconds. The original 1903 Wright flier has hung from the ceiling of the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum since 1948.
Warren Wrenn, supervisory park ranger for the Wright Brothers National Memorial, said the elements have caused the replica to show signs of aging.
``Several major things have been happening over the years,'' Wrenn said. ``The fabric has become so brittle and so soiled and old. Wing truss wires have become slack. Parts have broken. Some of this is from our own usage, but a lot of it has to do with humidity and ultra-violet rays taking their toll.''
To the delight of visitors, park rangers relate tales of the first flight while shifting the flier's movable parts to demonstrate operation of the elevator and rudder as well as the warping of the wings.
Warping the wings several times during the eight to 12 talks the memorial hosts each day has weakened the replica. Wrenn said the Wrights, who only flew the 1903 flyer four times, warped the wings fewer times in all their flights than the rangers do in an afternoon.
Except for replacing the wings' fabric in 1978, the replica has not been refurbished. Wrenn said he had been looking for a way to restore the replica for the last three years. After an on-site visit, the American Institution of Aeronautics and Astronautics agreed to sponsor the project in connection with the U.S. Park Service.
Much of the project's supplies has been donated. Wrenn estimated they will spend less than $35,000 for the project, which would have cost as much as $1 million if handled by a private contractor.
``We want a good, clean, professional-looking Wright flier,'' Wrenn said. ``That's why we are here - to commemorate what the Wrights achieved. And it was really, quite frankly, embarrassing for a federal organization to show this thing.''
The group has gone to great lengths to preserve the flier's authenticity.
After an exhaustive search to find pure muslin cotton - the once-common, unbleached fabric the Wrights used to cover the wings - the group finally found the fabric in Egypt. The Egyptian Embassy agreed to donate the fabric for the project.
``Interesting enough, in the 1900s, the Wright brothers just went right down to the corner hardware store and took muslin off the shelf,'' Wren said. ``Now it's almost impossible to find, and, believe me, we looked.''
On Saturday, volunteers tied identification tags on each plane part during the morning. After a noon break, the team clipped connections, unlaced wires and began dissembling the plane, careful not to damage the pieces.
Today, a moving truck will transport the pieces to Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland, where restoration will begin. In the meantime, the shows will go on at the memorial, centered around the 1902 glider used by the brothers to test their theories. The restoration project will be completed in time for an Oct. 7 rededication.
Bill Kraham, a lawyer and member of the AIAA, said he thought the restoration was important enough for him to drive more than six hours from Kent Island, Md.
``People love the Wright flier - they love being able to come here and see how it works,'' Kraham said. ``People can't do that anywhere but here. It's unique.
``It's something we need to preserve.'' MEMO: THE 1903 WRIGHT FLYER
First Flight: Dec. 17, 1903. Orville Wright launched the plane off
Big Kill Devil Hill as his brother Wilbur ran alongside. Wright was
airborne for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet of ground.
Wing spread: 40 feet, 4 inches
Length: 21 feet, 1 inch
Height: 8 feet, 2 inches
Weight: 605 pounds, not including pilot
Chord (wing depth): 6 feet, 6 inches
Full engine speed: 1,090 revolutions per minute
Engine: 11.81 horsepower
ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by DREW C. WILSON, Staff photos
Clyde Zimmerman, center, steadies the replica's top left wing at the
Wright Brothers National Memorial on Saturday.
Phil Cassara, bottom, and Bruce Milam, both engineers at Goddard
Space Flight Center in Maryland, were co-leaders of the
refurbishment project.
KEYWORDS: WRIGHT BROTHERS' AIRPLANE by CNB