http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Sep20.html

Awww, too bad. The two Gustav Weisskopf replicas flew easily enough,
proving that the Wrights were dead wrong when they claimed the GW
No.21 CANNOT FLY... just look at the design.
Time to admit the real first to fly sustained powered and controlled
flight was in 1901 with the GW No.21 and NOT in 1903 with the Wrights.


Inetersting article. It mentions an Wright replica that fails to fly yet shows
a picture of a "1903" flying according to the caption. The article mentions
other replicas. Failure of one to fly in circumstances other than the Wrights
experienced proves only that that one failed to fly, not that the Wrights
failed to fly.

TLC had a show of a faithful replica being built. They even built their engine
from original drawings using materials that existed in 1903. They found some
cloth of the type the Wrights used, sent it to an expert for evaluation and had
some made.

An interesting aside is the Smithonian's Flyer is apparently made from parts
from more than one airplane. The show made mention of this if I heard them
correctly.

Dan, U. S. Air Force, retired