THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090371
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
When Wilbur and Orville Wright brought their flexible-winged flying machine to the Outer Banks in 1903, they transported pieces of the plane on boats and in trains.
When the replica of the world's first powered plane returns to its home at the Wright Brothers National Memorial today, 150 separate sections of the famous flying machine will be stored in the back of a rented Ryder moving van.
At least 15 volunteers will spend the weekend reassembling the replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer at the National Park Service's Kill Devil Hills visitors' center.
When their work is finished, the model will be more authentic than ever before.
``The public will see a restored flier that is more like it was the day the Wright brothers flew it,'' Bruce Milam said Wednesday from his office at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
``We've refurbished the instruments on the panel. A University of Virginia professor replaced the wrapping on the wing struts. All the woodwork was redone at a hangar at Patuxent River Naval Air Station,'' Milam said. ``It was a little bigger job than we'd anticipated. But we've fixed the plane so that it will look like it did the day it first took off.''
Milam and Bob Pickard co-managed Project Wrights' Stuff - a group that removed the replica of the Wright Flyer from its Kill Devil Hills home in July. Composed of members from the American Institution of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the volunteer group includes engineers, scientists and space consultants. Milam buys rockets for NASA. Other members design blankets for space shuttle launches, manage plans for missions to Mars and perform a variety of high-profile tasks in the public and private aeronautical industries. At least 6,000 volunteer hours went into restoring the replica of the Wright brothers' plane.
The original flier has hung from the ceiling of the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space museum since 1948.
But each year, an average of 500,000 people visit the National Park Service's copy of the plane on the Outer Banks. That replica was constructed in 1963 by people from the same professional organization. Other than replacing the fabric on the wings in 1978, the replica flier has not been refurbished - until now.
``It was very easy to motivate these folks,'' said Milam, who coordinated 40 volunteers from Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to work on the antique aircraft model. ``This is the roots of our profession. Whether you're working with rockets or space shuttles, it all started here. Without the Wrights and their flier, none of us - anywhere in the world - would be where we are today.''
Workers went over every inch of the wood-and-wire flier while reconstructing it, Milam said. They replaced ribs on the plane; cleaned and refashioned warped struts; and an aircraft propeller manufacturing company from Plant City, Fla., donated a rebuilt propeller. The most difficult part of the project, said Milam, was finding fine-weave cotton similar to muslin that the Wright brothers used to cover the plane's wings.
``We couldn't find long, stapled cotton anywhere in the United States. So we made contact with the Egyptian Embassy and they ran a special bolt of the fabric - made to the Wrights' specifications,'' Milam said. ``They donated that to us.''
By using volunteer experts and builders, the National Park Service was able to get its flier restored for about $30,000. Ranger Mary Doll, who oversees the Wright Brothers National Memorial, said if the federal government had to pay for the entire project, it would have cost taxpayers more than $150,000.
``Our visitors have missed the flier since this summer. We'll all be glad to get it back,'' Doll said Wednesday. ``The public is welcome to come watch these guys reassemble the plane.''
Besides refurbishing the replica, volunteers plan to build a dolly and wooden track on which to mount the plane - to the exact specifications of the one that helped the Wrights get their flier aloft.
The plane will be completed by Monday. The mounting system and rails will be finished by Dec. 17 - in time for an official dedication on the 92nd anniversary of the world's first heavier-than-air powered flight.
Orville Wright first flew the flier on that same day from the base of a tall sand dune known as Kill Devil Hill. He remained airborne for 12 seconds and flew 120 feet. He and his brother completed three other flights in their first powered flier.
``Before, the flier sat on a wide, wooden base. With this new dolly and rail track, visitors will be able to see how the plane actually was sitting when it took off from the ground,'' Doll explained. ``A lot of people are under the misconception that the plane took off from on top of the hill. Now, they'll be able to see that it started on the ground and flew up.
``This restored replica of the flier - and the new mounting system - will really be a good, improved interpretive tool for all of our visitors.'' ILLUSTRATION: Returning Home
About 2 p.m. today, volunteers will return the replica of the Wright
brothers' 1903 flexible-wing flier to its home at the Wright
Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. The public is
welcome to watch experts reassemble the refurbished model of the
world's first powered airplane throughout the weekend. The project
is scheduled to be completed by Monday.
Ranger talks in the flight room will be rescheduled over the weekend
to accommodate the flier's return. The Wright Brothers National
Memorial is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Cost is $4 per
vehicle.
For more information, call the National Park Service, (919)
441-7430.
by CNB