The Wright stuff: reservist hopes modern-day version of early aircraft will promote interest in aviation careers

Citizen Airman, August, 2003 by Anita Pavey

From a non-motorized glider featuring wing frames built of bent ash wood and covered in French sateen fabric to a craft made of state-of-the-art, exotic materials and powered by Harley-Davidson, Orville and Wilbur Wright's vision of flight has reached new heights at Utah State University.

Dave Widauf, an associate professor at USU's College of Engineering, saw that vision become a modern reality after asking himself what the Wright brothers would have done if they had access to today's technology.

"We wanted to find a way to promote aerospace programs at USU, honor the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight, and inspire youth in aerospace and aviation," said Widauf, who, is an Air Force Reserve colonel, serves as the senior individual mobilization augmentee in the Engineering Directorate, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

He sat down with colleague Charles Larson, and together they came up with the idea to build a version of the Wright Flyer using composite materials.

"We knew we could keep the essence of the airplane but make it lighter and stronger," the colonel said.

After reviewing plans for the 1903 flyer--the tree that flew at Kitty Hawk, N.C.--and determining it would not fly, they decided to build a modern version of the lesser-known 1905 Wright Flyer III.

"We didn't want to build something that wouldn't fly," Widauf said. "Even the Wright brothers said the 1903 Flyer was impossible to fly, so they came back and changed it."

The Wright brothers came to the conclusion about their aircraft the hard way. After making history by keeping their 1903 Flyer in the air for 12 seconds Dec. 17, the brothers went back to Ohio discouraged after a crash damaged the craft beyond repair. They went back to, the drawing board, redesigned their aircraft and made history again with the 1905 model, which flew for 39 minutes, 24 seconds and covered a distance of almost 24 miles, longer than all their previous flights combined.

Widauf and his colleagues, working with USU's Space Dynamics Laboratory, decided to make the project a community affair by involving students and faculty from various areas in the College of Engineering along with a group of senior citizens who had worked on aircraft before and local high school students.

"We changed some things," Widauf said. "It's actually closer to the 1909 Military Flyer with two seats and the landing gear."

The project took 4,000 hours to design and 6,000 hours to build, he said.

Even with the extra seat and gear, the USU Wright Flyer is lighter than the 1905 Flyer because of the composite materials used to build it. Composites, which are very strong structurally and lightweight, are a blend of two or more materials in which the individual elements are still distinguishable. Composites, such as Kevlar and graphite, are commonly used in sports equipment, cars, and aircraft like the B-2 and F-22.

Widauf and his students used fiberglass and Kevlar-coated foam to replace the wood and cloth used on the original Flyer. Another departure from the original plan is the addition of a Harley-Davidson twin-coon 88B engine replacing the original built by Charles Taylor for the brothers. One of the most difficult challenges of the project was to take all these modern materials and equipment and create an aircraft tidal still looks like the Wright brothers' 1905 Flyer.

Some aviation enthusiasts were upset by the group's plans to modernize the flyer. However, Widauf said they worked with attorneys for the Wright family, and the Wright Brothers Foundation eventually sanctioned the aircraft.

"We had a wonderful showing at the Ah' Power 2003 event May 9-10 at Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio)," Widauf said. "A gentleman walked up and introduced himself as Stephen Wright, the Wright brothers' great-grandnephew. He sat in the airplane and loved it. They (members of the family) invited us to Kitty Hawk in December (for the 100th anniversary celebration of the Wright brothers' first flight) and are very excited about the airplane. The unique thing is this is not an exact replica, and we never meant it to be."

The USU Wright Flyer made its debut flight at Utah's historic Wendover Airport March 12, staying airborne for 23 seconds and traveling 800 feet. Since then, it has been on a whirlwind tour throughout the West, impressing spectators at every turn. Perhaps more impressive than the technological achievement is the emotional response the aircraft elicits from people by bringing past and present together.

"We never imagined how it would affect those who have been a part of aviation during this past century," said Trina Paskett, a public relations specialist with Space Dynamics Laboratory. "I have watched the crowd become silent as a 90-year-old World War I! pilot dressed in full uniform sat in the Flyer. I saw a disabled elderly man painfully get out of his wheelchair and with assistance climb into the pilot's seat where a transformation took place as he sat proudly reminiscing of times he used to fly."