How to Fly Wright Flyer ?

 The Wright Flyer did not just usher in a new age of air travel just because brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright could get the contraption off the ground. What made the world’s first airplane revolutionary was that the pilot could control it.

The Flyer was the result of four years of careful study, with the Wright brothers pioneering many of the building blocks of modern aeronautic engineering, such as analysing wind tunnel data. The brothers also had to invent a whole new way of steering this flying machine, but over time they managed to get a grip of these controls, extending the flight time from 12 seconds on its premiere flight, to 59 seconds by their fourth attempt.

What You Will Need ?

Smart siblings, gasoline, anemometer, wright flyer and rail.

FILL HER UP

To get started, top up the Flyer’s 1.7 litre (1.6 quart) fuel tank with gasoline. This is mounted on a strut towards the centre of the plane, just below the upper wing. It’s positioned upright because the Wright brothers relied on gravity to feed the fuel into the plane’s internal combustion engine via a small metal fuel line.

GET INTO POSITION

The Wright Brothers decided pilots should operate the 1903 Wright Flyer by lying on their stomach, squeezed on the lower of the two wings. It means you have to crawl into position at the centre of the plane, ensuring that your head is pointing towards the front of the aircraft. Your body needs to be within the hip cradle so that you can steer.

START THE ENGINE

Use your right hand to move a horizontal lever, placing it into a central position. Since this is the fuel valve, it will open a cock and allow the flow of fuel to the engine to be controlled. Once the engine begins to run fast and smooth, your pair of assistants will pull on the propellers and release the restraining wires.

EXERT YOUR CONTROL

The plane travels down a wooden rail and when a 20 knot wind hits the nose, the plane rises. Pull back ever so slightly on the elevator control with your left hand to tilt the elevator section upwards. Steer by sliding left and right in the hip cradle – it pulls wires that warp the wings, increasing the angle of attack on one side while decreasing it on the other.

ENJOY THE RIDE

Keep an eye on the stopwatch and the anemometer that are mounted to the right on the front strut because they’ll tell you how far you’re travelling and for how long. Try and keep going for as long as possible and don’t worry the plane spinning out of control because the Wrights connected the rear rudder to the wing-warping system to prevent that.

LAND THE PLANE

Once the flight comes to an end, it will lower back to earth and land on its skids, which are located on the underside of the Flyer. After you leave the aircraft, give it the once over because a part of the airframe will inevitably be broken. It may need to spend a day in the workshop to get it back up to scratch for your next go.