June 1, 2003
Wright Replica Meant to Inspire Youths
Mark Havnes
Salt
Lake Tribune
ST. GEORGE -- The Wright Brothers' plane, done right.
That is how Chuck Larsen describes a replica of a plane built by Wilbur and
Orville Wright in Dayton, Ohio, and flown in 1905, two years after the brothers
made the first controlled flight by humans at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Dec. 17,
1903.
About 500 people came to see the futuristic version of the plane Friday at the St. George airport.
Larsen said the plane was built as an engineering project by students at Utah State University in Logan, using composite materials including Kevlar, graphite, foam and fiberglass, with its two 125-pound wings wrapped in a thin Dacron. It is a dual-prop aircraft, powered by two gasoline engines, bicycle sprockets and chains.
After appearing for the public at the Ogden Hinckley Airport on June 21, the USU Wright Flyer will be taken to Dayton for the Inventing Flight Celebration beginning July 3. There, it will be flown by former Utah Sen. Jake Garn.
Larsen, a retired professor of aviation technology at USU, said construction of the plane began May 5, 2002. It took its maiden flight March 11. "Some things were redesigned to make it more efficient and to make stable what is inherently an unstable aircraft," he said.
The aircraft has made 64 flights, with the longest lasting 12 minutes and achieving its highest altitude at 650 feet off the ground.
David Whidauf, a USU professor in the department of industrial aviation who came up with the idea for the plane with Larsen, said the plane is meant to instill an interest in flight among young people.
"It's supposed to light the fire of desire" to fly, Whidauf said.
Francis Allen of La Verkin traveled to St. George to see the aircraft.
"It's excellent," said Allen, who has never flown. "I'm glad I came up to see it."
Garn attended Friday's program, took the pilot seat and practiced with the control stick.
"It's a lot harder to turn a [whole] wing, than an aileron," Garn said. An aileron is an airfoil on the wing.
