December 19, 2002	Thursday	Shawwal 14, 1423

BOLINGBROOK (Illinois): In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright built and flew the first aeroplane and launched modern aviation, but nearly 100 years later modern aviation is still not sure how the two brothers did it.

At least four teams of craftsmen and scientists across the United States are building replicas of that first wood-and-fabric aeroplane to learn how the Wrights, two bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio, with no college education succeeded when other inventors of the day failed.

These replicas are intended to fly on or before Dec 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the Wrights’ first flight.

“The actual beginning of it is not understood that well. If you think about the prevalence of air transportation in our society, we don’t really know how they did it,” said Tom Norton, a member of the Wright Redux Association, which is building a replica at a small airport in this suburban Chicago town.

Even with the aid of computers and space-age testing systems, the builders of these replicas are still keeping their fingers crossed that their aeroplanes will fly.

The projects are hampered by a lack of complete Wright Brothers plans, a lack of materials used in 1903, and a lack of craftsmen who have the skills to work on something designed so long ago.

The Wright Redux aeroplane will closely match the original, including the muslin fabric on the upper and lower wings, an identical four-cylinder engine, and the same crude controls.

The pilot will lay in a wooden cradle on the lower wing and steer by shifting the cradle with his hips, just like Orville Wright did when he piloted the first flight 120 feet (36 metres) in 1903.

RETURN TO KITTY HAWK: The Wright Redux aeroplane is to fly next Dec 17 from the lawn at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. After that it will be donated to the museum.

The Wrights’ first flights were at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. There were four flights on Dec 17, 1903, the longest being 852 feet (258 metres), before the aeroplane was destroyed by a gust of wind.

Another replica, commissioned by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in Warrenton, Virginia, is scheduled to fly at Kitty Hawk on the centennial date. It is also being built with materials like those used on the original.—Reuters