No fewer than three full-size replicas of Orville and Wilbur's
first powered flying machine grace the Paris show in Kitty Hawk
Centenary year. Of particular interest in a Franco-American context
is that constructed by 18 engineering students of the Paris-based
ESTACA (Ecole Superieure des Techniques Aéronautics et
de Construction Automobile). Sponsored by Messier-Dowty, their
Wright 'Flyer' replica is on display in the U.S. Pavilion, Hall
3, Stand F4-2.
Tasked with recreating this historic aircraft, project manager
Guillaume Bullin and his group identified three leading objectives:
learn the construction techniques employed by the Wrights; rediscover
know-how of 100 years ago; and experience the spirit of innovation.
Reference material included Le Bourget's Musée de l'Air.
Wilbur Wright's recreated plans of 1927, internet sites and contemporary
photographs. Students even borrowed hardware from bicycle mechanisms,
as did the brothers draw on their original trade for suitable
components.
Work began at Melun, southeast of Paris, in December 2002 and
was completed six months later. Wings were produced in six sections
and their wooden ribs were bent to shape by heating over a domestic
stove normally used to cook pork-no 'spare rib' quips, please.
Family and friends were drafted in to sew fabric, then 200 meters
of bracing wires were installed.
There are replicas and replicas. This one is intended to be a
Flyer in the truest sense of the word, an aspiration due to be
tested on December 17 this year, the exact anniversary of the
Wrights' epoch-making flight. In the interests of safety and as
an acknowledgement to a century's technological advancement, the
original's 80 kg, 12 hp motor is replaced by one delivering 35
horses for a total penalty of only 47 kg.
In parallel, ESTACA is working on a more modern aircraft as a
design and construction exercise for students. Association Zephyr,
the design team, showed a model of the two-seat Zephyr low-wing
lightplane at the last Paris Air Show, when construction was just
beginning at Creil, north of here.
