100th Anniversary of Flight is Today

Post by **Anklecranker** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:28 pm

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (AP) - President Bush made a quick trip to pay tribute to the Wright brothers' first flight Wednesday, saying those who witnessed the event 100 years ago sensed "that the world might never be the same."

They may not have envisioned just how commonplace flight would become - especially if you live in the White House. Bush breezed down to North Carolina early Wednesday, delivered his speech, and left in time to be back in Washington by midday.

"In the future, flight will advance in ways that none of us can imagine as we stand here today," said Bush, his hair soaked by rain. "Yet always, for as long as there is human flight, we will honor the achievement on a cold morning on the Outer Banks of North Carolina."

Bush took one flying machine, a helicopter known as Marine One, from the White House to nearby Andrews Air Force Base; then boarded another, the jumbo Boeing 747 commonly known as Air Force One, for North Carolina; then he was onto another helicopter for the hop to the Outer Banks.

He traveled hundreds of miles aloft for a trip lasting only a few hours, which is not unusual for this president: He has logged nearly 100,000 miles on Air Force One this year alone, White House officials say. Wednesday, he flew into a driving rain storm here.

More than 168,000 flights take off from America's airports every day, said Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

Pro-space optimists had buzzed for weeks over whether Bush would use the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight to announce a new mission to the moon, but the White House made clear the president had no such intentions.

Actor John Travolta, introducing Bush, told the president, "not only do I vote for that option, but I volunteer to go on the first mission."

Bush made no commitments on a new space mission, but said of Travolta: "We shall call him moon man from now on."

The Wright Flyer "flew just 12 seconds and 40 yards," Bush noted. A second flight lasted 59 seconds. "Yet everyone who was here at that hour sensed that a great line had been crossed and the world might never be the same," said Bush, a one-time fighter pilot.

The president's trip was a full-circle return of sorts to the dunes of Kill Devil Hills, N.C., just south of Kitty Hawk, the site of "12 seconds that changed the world."

Bush traveled aboard one of the world's most recognizable descendants of the Wright Flyer. He left shortly before a replica of the Wright plane was scheduled to take off at 10:35 a.m. EST. As it turned out, the re-enactment was delayed by rain.

As the president departed, Air Force One passed directly over the muddy field where thousands of spectators were awaiting the re-enactment. Flying at 1,200 feet, the pilot dipped a wing to salute the crowd, and flashbulbs popped by the hundreds below.

Bush needed to return to a busy afternoon schedule at the White House, including policy briefings and holiday receptions, McClellan said. Also, the White House worried his presence might distract from the celebration if he stayed longer, McClellan said.

The Experimental Aircraft Association hired retired pilot Ken Hyde to build a precise Wright flyer replica to fly on the centennial, capping a weeklong festival honoring the Wrights' successful flights of Dec. 17, 1903.

Post by **Anklecranker** » Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:30 pm

Re-Enactment of Wright Bros. Flight Fails[/font]

By MARGARET LILLARD

Associated Press Writer

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Foreman reports the weather prevented a successful reenactment of the Wright brothers' flight. (Audio)

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KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (AP) -- One-hundred years after the Wright brothers' first flight, a replica couldn't get off the ground and sputtered into the mud Wednesday trying to recreate the moment.

The muslin-winged biplane fell off the end of a wooden track and stopped dead in a muddy puddle. Pilot Kevin Kochersberger dropped his head in apparent chagrin and later laughed as the plane was hoisted back on the track.

Shortly before 4 p.m., the team started the engines and turned the wooden propellers, then backed off and said their efforts to fly the replica were over. The first attempt had already been delayed by about two hours after a heavy downpour.

Though disappointing, the failed re-enactment was not historically inaccurate. The Wrights also crashed their flyer, three days before finally getting it off the ground.

The re-enactment was originally scheduled for 10:35 a.m., exactly 100 years after the brothers from Dayton, Ohio, made their first tentative hops through the air with a delicate contraption fashioned in their bicycle shop.

Post by **Interdictor** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 2:22 am

What a shame she didn't fly....

Oh well, You and I, Ankle, got to see her in person. That was quite a thrill in and of itself. What an incredible masterpiece.

Do they plan on subsequent attempts? I'd like to see it go up, even if it isn't on the anniversary day.

Post by **Uncle Entity** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:43 am

LONG LIVE TO THE GYRO CAPTAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!

Post by **Anklecranker** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 3:11 pm

http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001 http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001No plans for more attempts.

I think they made four on the anniversary date. The fact that it didnt fly with the greatest engineering minds and unlimited funding makes the Wright's feat even more great in my opinion.

When in Dearborn I got to stand in there original bicycle shop and home. Both were purchased by Henry Ford and moved to his museum, piece by piece. What an awesome opportunity to have seen Air Force One, the great symbol of freedom, flyby low and tip a wing in salute.

For those who dont know , I live in the same state that first saw flight in 1903. I've been to Kitty Hawk, walked the dunes, and have seen the memorial.

May God bless all and grant freedom.

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Post by **Gordon Hayes** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:46 pm

Hi Ankle.

Cal went there , perhaps 4 years ago..she sent me some pictures of the location, Cal was there on a sunny day.

She had a picture of a Wright bros replica sitting in a Kiosk type of building just near the first flight location, there was a big monument to the Wright brothers on the hill at the end of the range. She took a picture from the monument because from there you could look back toward the kiosk and see the markers of the various flight distances.

She seemed real excited by the history and the power of the place..

I hope that all ex-bike shop owners are that cool..

Cheers

Gordon

Post by **drivethiscrate** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:56 pm

Spacecraft built on the quiet goes supersonic on its first solo flight

By Jim Skeen in Mojave, California

December 19, 2003

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Testing ... SpaceShipOne - the new commerical space program. Photo: AP

A privately funded spacecraft built by the noted designer Burt Rutan has achieved its first supersonic flight.

The blue-and-white-winged craft, named SpaceShipOne, on Wednesday reached a top speed of Mach 1.2, about 1500 kmh after being released from a carrier aircraft in its first test flight powered by its specially built rocket engine.

"Our flight this morning by SpaceShipOne demonstrated that supersonic flight is now the domain of a small company doing privately funded research, without government help," Mr Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, said.

"The flight also represents an important milestone in our efforts to demonstrate that truly low-cost space access is feasible."

SpaceShipOne sustained what Scaled Composites called minor damage at the end of the flight when its left landing gear retracted at touchdown at Mojave airport, causing the aircraft to veer to the left and leave the runway.

There were no injuries and the aircraft's damage can be easily repaired, the company said.

SpaceShipOne is a three-person craft being developed to fly more than 100 kilometres above Earth - 20 kilometres above where space begins. The 7.6-metre-long SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by a twin-engine jet called the White Knight, then let go to ignite its rocket engine.

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To reach space, SpaceShipOne is to fly nearly straight up at a speed of about 3860 kmh, more than three times the speed of sound.

The craft is one of the contenders for the X Prize - a $US20 million ($27 million) prize offered by a St. Louis-based foundation to the builder of the first privately developed spaceship to carry three people to 100 kilometres up, then do it again within two weeks.

SpaceShipOne was built in secret and financed without government help at an undisclosed price by Mr Rutan, whose most famous aircraft was the Voyager, which circled the globe in 1986 on one tank of fuel. Mr Rutan unveiled SpaceShipOne in April at Scaled's Mojave plant.

During Wednesday's flight, SpaceShipOne was carried to an altitude of 48,000 feet (14,630 metres) over the California City area by the White Knight, which was piloted by Peter Siebold. At 8:15am, the flight test engineer, Cory Bird, pulled a handle to release SpaceShipOne.

The test pilot, Brian Binnie, steered the aircraft upward and fired its rocket motor. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier, the company said.

At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near Mach 1.2. It reached an altitude of 68,000 feet, the company said.

The flight was the eighth for SpaceShipOne and was the first powered flight. In earlier flights the craft has glided back to Mojave airport. SpaceShipOne began its flight tests in August.

Los Angeles Daily News

Post by **Interdictor** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:17 am

Incredible how far we have come in 100 short years, isn't it? Just imagine where we'll be in 2100...

Post by **drivethiscrate** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 1:08 am

Probably 6 foot under.

Post by **Anklecranker** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 2:52 pm

Finally someone realises the dream I had in the seventies. Use jets to a certain point in altitude, then fire a rocket to proceed into space. I had hoped that was the original idea for the Space Shuttle when I first heard of it in 1976.