KILL DEVIL HILLS (USA), Dec 17: An attempt to re-enact the first powered human flight with a replica of the Wright Brothers wood-and-cloth biplane was a flop on Wednesday, dampening a celebration of 100 years of human flight.

The replica of the Wright Flyer moved down a wooden track and its nose appeared to lift off the ground briefly before flopping back down and coming to rest in a puddle of water.

The re-enactment capped a weeklong First Flight festivities at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina, where Orville Wright made his 12-second, 36-metre flight on Dec 17, 1903.

US President George Bush hailed the Wright Brothers’ achievement as a victory of American ingenuity.

“The Wright Brothers’ invention belongs to the world but the Wright Brothers belong to America,” Mr Bush said while addressing a crowd of soggy spectators before the re-enactment attempt.

“We take special pride in their qualities of discipline, persistence, optimism and imagination.”

Air Force One, carrying the president, flew over the memorial on its way back to Washington.

Rain delayed the re-enactment attempt and then organizers had to wait until early afternoon when the winds picked up enough to give it a go. The replica of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s Wright Flyer needs more than 16kph of wind to fly.

Kevin Kochersberger, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology, piloted the replica of the primitive 274-kg biplane built of spruce, ash and muslin. The craft has a 12-metre wingspan and is powered by a 12-horsepower engine.

The plane, with a top speed of just 48kph, had crashed at least once in trials but flew on other occasions.

The celebration of the first century of powered flight lured a galaxy of the world’s greatest aviators, including Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first men on the moon, Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the sound barrier, and John Glenn, the former senator and astronaut.

“These past 100 years have brought supersonic flights, frequent space travel, the exploration of Mars and the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which right now is moving at 62,400 kilometres per hour toward the outer edge of our solar system,” Mr Bush told thousands of rain-soaked spectators.

“This day, however, is one for recalling a heroic event in the history of our nation and the story of mankind. Here at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, we remember one small machine, and we honour the giants who flew it,” he said.

The location where the Wright brothers flew was part of the area known in 1903 as Kitty Hawk, which became famous around the world as the birthplace of powered flight. But the site, in the shadow of Kill Devil Hill, is now part of the town of Kill Devil Hills, which was created in 1953.

Kitty Hawk still exists as a town just north of Kill Devil Hills.—Reuters