Flying tribute to aviation pioneers

The 1903 Wright Flyer is a very attractive subject to model-not only because it is the famous first flyer but also because everything about it captures the imagination. Its sateen-covered wings conjure up images of sailing ships and adventure. The motor and controls are simple and elegant, especially compared with the likes of, say, an F-15. What modeler hasn't imagined himself in Wilbur's and Orville's perch, floating high above the sand dunes? The Wright Flyer is more than a milestone; it's an intriguingly beautiful machine and a tribute to the tireless efforts of the pioneers who turned the dream of flight into a reality.

But as appealing a model as the Wright Flyer is, its design is not the most conducive to flight. Not only did I want to pay homage to this extraordinary machine, but I wanted to take on the tremendous challenge of building and flying a model of an aircraft that barely flew in real life as well. After all, it was the very first plane. Some of its features-such as counter-rotating props, anhedral wings (the wing bends down at the tips, instead of up), interlinked wing warping and rudder control-were far from what we now consider standard. Though it made the project more difficult, I really wanted to duplicate as many of these features as I possibly could.

One of the biggest problems was that the Wright brothers deliberately designed their aircraft to be unstable. They planned to test-fly it on a very windy beach, and an unstable plane is less sensitive to wind and is more maneuverable. Perhaps inspired by seagulls, they discovered that anhedral helps prevent wind gusts from lifting a wing.

That the Wright Flyer was extremely tail-heavy also contributed to its instability. To counteract the tail-heavy design, I tried to keep the plane as light as possible. Aft of the balance point, I tried to save weight wherever I could. I used tissue paper to cover the model and even made props out of plywood. (Because the props were in the rear of the plane, they could be much flimsier than is normally acceptable.) With each prototype, I decreased the diameter of the wing struts, and I mounted anything heavy as far forward as possible. The battery is placed as far forward as possible yet is still hidden. (It's in the pilot's chest!)

Since this model combined many unique features, crash-survivability became extremely important, just as it was to Orville and Wilbur. Indeed, the entire front of the original Wright Flyer worked like a giant shock absorber. On my model, rubber bands served that purpose; I used them to mount everything outside of the wing truss. Keeping the plane light not only helped with stability, but it helped to minimize crash damage, too.

I was extremely eager to take on the challenge of incorporating counter-rotating props in my model. Counter-rotating props are not commercially available, so in the spirit of the Wright Brothers, who built even their engine from scratch, I set to work making my own counter-rotating props. Ultimately, these props contributed much more than scale realism to the project. The rudder was ineffective at counteracting the torque caused by two propellers spinning in the same direction. The counter-rotating props actually prevented the plane from pulling hard to the left.

On the original Wright Flyer, a single motor turned both props, but this was one challenge that I declined to accept. Though it would have been fun, such a setup would have been cumbersome. Instead, on my Wright Flyer, a single motor turns each prop.

In the end, the difficulty involved with the design and construction of this model made flying it even more rewarding. Its many unique features made the test flights very exciting. Following several mishaps, I was at last able to complete a successful flight, and at that moment, it was a little easier for this Wright Brothers fan to imagine the pure joy they must have felt on that historic day 100 years ago.

Copyright Air Age Publishing Oct 2003
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