Replica, 1903 ‘Wright Flyer’ aircraft and six removed components

Replica, of the 1903 ‘Wright Flyer’ aircraft and six removed components, including: - (1948-268/1) Replica, of the 1903 ‘Wright Flyer’ aircraft; (1948-268/2) Aviation instruments: Impellor, unsigned, connected to a Stop-Watch, unsigned, which is connected to a Distance Meter, by Jules Richard, Paris, France, all three instruments are attached to a two-piece oak frame; (1948-268/3) Bar, oak (wood), rounded at both ends; (1948-268/4) Bar, rectangular oak, with two brass brackets at one end; (1948-268/5) Black painted steel cylinder, with handle at one end, and cone shape at the other end, to which a rubber hose is attached, along with a brass pipe and painted steel valve; (1948-268/6) Black painted – oblong in section - steel bar, with straight tubular ‘handle’ at one end; (1948-268/7) Cycle odometer, on steel stand affixed to mahogany base, all parts made by The de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, 1948. The actual 1903 ‘Wright Flyer’: designed and built by the Wright Brothers: Orville and Wilbur, achieved the world’s first successful heavier-than-air powered flight, on 17th December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, United States.

This is an exact copy of the aircraft that made the first powered flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on 17 December 1903. The 1903 Flyer was developed by Wilbur and Orville Wright from their successful 1902 glider and used the same system of wing warping, coupled with rudder, for control of roll and direction. However, the powered 'Flyer', as the Wrights called it, was an entirely new aircraft with wing area, dimensions and power requirements carefully calculated according to the experimental results the brothers had obtained from their wind tunnel. The light four-cylinder engine was designed by the Wrights and built by them and their assistant, Charlie Taylor, in their cycle workshop. The propellers were also a Wright design and important to their success. They realised that a propeller was a rotating wing and derived an effective design from the wind tunnel work. The aircraft took off from a launching rail, running on bicycle hub rollers, and landed on the skid undercarriage.

This replica was constructed by apprentices at the de Havilland aircraft company - under the supervision of Orville Wright - using measurements and information taken directly from the original Wright Flyer when it was displayed in the Science Museum and before it was returned to the USA for display.