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August 25, 2002
Wright Flyer gets wings at USU
By Beth Dove
Standard-Examiner
LOGAN -- Proving they have the Wright stuff, engineering and aviation students from Utah State University burned the midnight oil to put the finishing touches on their modern-day replica of a historic aircraft.
The project had been delayed by some late-arriving equipment. But working into the wee hours paid off.
The Wright Flyer was ready for its debut Saturday before some 6,000 admirers at the Logan-Cache Airport.
"It"s amazing what people can accomplish when they"re not afraid of failure," said Dave Widauf, the project"s executive director, addressing the crowd at the unveiling ceremony.
Widauf was referring not only to the students" efforts but to the courage and determination of Wilbur and Orville themselves, who crashed and rebuilt the original craft several times.
"To me, these guys were lunatics," said Hugh Theurer, one of the students who worked on the project. He said it"s hard for modern aviators, who do everything by the book, to even imagine catapulting themselves down a hill hoping to get airborne.
The flight that changed the face of modern transportation took place Dec. 17, 1903, covering 120 feet and lasting 12 seconds.
"I still can"t fathom how they were able to accomplish that feat," said Chuck Larsen, who together with Widauf, conceived the idea of building a full-scale replica of the famous Kitty Hawk, N.C., airplane.
Noel Carmack of Hyrum, who accompanied his son and niece to see the flyer, was even more impressed with the brothers" deed after seeing for himself the wingspan of more than 40 feet.
"I knew it was large, but to see it in person, it"s more monumental," he said. "It must have been difficult for them to fly."
As part of the celebration, an F-16 performed a series of maneuvers, then parked next to the flyer for modern contrast.
Like several of the morning"s speakers, Allan Steed, director of the university"s space dynamics laboratory, expressed amazement at the warp-speed progress seen in flight technology during the past century.
He noted that astronauts were probing space in under 60 years after the Wright brothers" first flight. Within another decade, man had set foot on the moon.
"What will our great-grandchildren be doing?" Steed said. "Where will they take this gift of flight?"
Saturday"s event was only the first of the airplane"s planned stops. It is set to go on display at the Utah State Fair in September. After that, it returns to the university to be readied for flight, including being outfitted with a fabric covering. Test flights are scheduled this fall.
Then it"s on to a statewide tour next spring culminating with a trip to the Inventing Flight Celebration in Dayton, Ohio, in July. There, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of powered flight, former U.S. senator and astronaut Jake Garn will take the aircraft for a spin.
Garn addressed the crowd Saturday, admitting to a lack of experience piloting such primitive aircraft. But, the veteran pilot pointed out, "I have a lot more experience than the Wright brothers had when they flew it."
The plane"s final destination is still up in the air. Larsen said Hill Air Force Base wants it as does a Wright brothers museum in Ohio. There are rumors the Smithsonian might be interested.
Larsen wouldn"t be unhappy to see the flyer stay in Utah.
"Then I could look at it once in a while -- show my grandkids."
