Wet celebration recognizes 100 years of military flight

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Matt Proietti
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Aircraft history buffs descended on Fort Myer, Va., Saturday. So did Tropical Storm Hannah. 

Heavy rain throughout the day hurt attendance at the Centennial of Military Aviation celebration, which recognized the 100-year anniversary of a series of flights made by Orville Wright in September 1908 at the Army post, which is across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., and adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery. 

Indoor festivities were unharmed by the weather and included historical discussions, music by Army and Air Force bands, and a working reproduction of the Wright Brothers' aircraft that made its public debut at the Army post 100 years and three days earlier when Fort Myer was home to the U.S. Army Signal Corps' Aeronautical Division. 

While Orville Wright demonstrated the aircraft to federal officials, his brother, Wilbur, was flying another plane in France in hopes of encouraging European investors to back their work. 

Though the brothers had flown successfully as far back as December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Fort Myer generally is considered the site of their first public demonstration, said Scott Rawlings of The Wright Experience, which built the reproduction with funding provided by the non-profit Discovery of Flight Foundation. 

"(Before these flights), flying was like snake oil...people didn't believe it was real," Mr. Rawlings said. 

The flights proved that the Wright aircraft met government specifications required of a heavier-than-air flying machine. They were paid $25,000 to deliver an airplane that could fly at least 40 mph, remain airborne for an hour, and carry two people and enough fuel to fly 125 miles. 

The machine also had to be able to land back at its takeoff point without damage so it could immediately take to the air again. The payment also included instruction of two men. 

The aircraft, called the 1908 Wright Model A, had a 41-foot wingspan, weighed 800 pounds and was powered by a 28-horsepower engine that allowed the aircraft to fly 42 mph. 

The Wrights painted its wooden parts silver to make them appear metallic to anyone who saw the plane and hoped to use its design themselves, said Mr. Rawlings, a woodworker who joined The Wright Experience nine years ago. 

"They were businessmen and concerned about industrial espionage," he said. "There's no (extraneous equipment) with these guys.  They only built what was necessary. Their flights were incredible." 

Early in the day, dozens of people encircled the aircraft, getting close enough to touch it and watch staff members of The Wright Experience work levers to move rudders. People dressed in period clothing, including a man posing as Orville Wright. 

The 10 staff members of The Wright Experience pride themselves on making exact working reproductions, Mr. Rawlings said. 

"Everybody's an artist," he said. "We're working 40 to 70 hours a week and we're smiling the entire time. Our pedigree is that you can pull a photo from the archives and compare it to a photo of our aircraft (and see) an identical match." 

The reproduction will be on display throughout 2009 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport before moving to its permanent home at the future National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Va., about 15 miles south of Fort Myer. 

Descendants of the Wrights attended the event, as did relatives of 1st Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, the first military aviator to die in an airplane crash. The 1903 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy was killed at Fort Myer Sept. 17, 1908, in a crash that occurred while he was flying with Orville Wright at the controls. Wright recovered from his injuries at the post hospital, which today is garrison headquarters. 

Paul Glenshaw, director of the Discovery of Flight Foundation, presented a collection of film clips showing flights of Wright aircraft, including one from a Hollywood motion picture. 

"It's beautiful, graceful, elegant flying," Mr. Glenshaw said.