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USU recreates Wright Brothers 1905 flyer By
Matt Stephens
WRIGHT BROTHERS REBORN: Dave Widauf stands next to a portion of the wing on a replica of the 1905 Wright brothers airplane. / Photo by Matt Stephens LOGAN-- On the 24th of August in 1902, the Wright brothers -- with perseverance, extensive research, state-of-the-art materials, an encouraging headwind and a little luck -- made aviation history with the first flight. The flight lasted an astounding 12 seconds and flew 120 feet, less than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. One century after technological advancements have broken the sound barrier and sent men to space, a small team of aviation experts at Utah State University used the same attributes the Wright brothers used to recreate that historic moment. Dave Widauf, head of USU's flight technology program and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, went from working with the B-2 bomber to the Wright brothers aircraft. Widauf has been interested in aviation since he was a child. The chance to recreate history by building it was something that greatly interested him, and it gave him a great promotional tool for the aviation department. In conjunction with the USU's Space Dynamics Laboratory, a group of motivated senior mechanical engineering students set about making history. Nick Alley, a graduate student and project manager for the Wright flyer, said the senior students were the unsung heroes. "The project would not have happened without them," said Alley. He doubted if SDL would have been on board if it were not for the engineering students involved. "They did everything, including completely redesigning and building the airplane, and they did a great job," Alley said. "The amount of time they spent was absolutely incredible." Widauf and the team set about the task of recreating the Wright brothers' airplane almost two years ago. The plan was to make an airplane that was going to fly, not something that would only be good in a museum. For that, the team would go about the project much in the same way the Wright brothers had done 100 years ago. They would use perseverance, extensive research, and state of the art materials to recreate the 1905 Wright brothers airplane. Widauf said the original airplane was too unstable to fly. He used an analogy of firing an arrow from a bow. When fired in the normal way the arrow flies straight and true. When you fire an arrow backwards if goes all over the place. That is what the original Wright flyer would have been like, he said. He gave the Wright brothers a large amount of credit for flying it as well as they did. Knowing the airplane was unstable, Widauf had the team enter all the data from the original Wright brothers' airplane into an advanced computer system that allows them to test the airplane without having to build it. After testing the airplane in the computer, the senior students came back and told him the airplane would not fly and the reasons for it. Widauf already knew the airplane would not work. Therefore, the team went about redesigning the airplane to fit with the specifications of modern technology. Alley said, "The students redesigned everything to make it more aerodynamic and stable." Alley taught the students about aerodynamics and aviation principles then just sat back and watched them work. The senior students put in about 400 hours apiece while working on the project, for a combined total of over 4,000 hours, he said. Widauf mentioned the project has received some criticism for not being identical to the original Wright brothers' airplane. But that was never the intention of the project. He suggested that the criticism is one of the reasons why it is getting so much attention. "The idea is the essence behind the airplane," Widauf said. "If the Wright brothers were alive today they would have used all the technology available and the best materials. That is what we are doing. "We want this thing to fly," he said. The materials the USU team used in the airplane were far from the spruce and muslin the Wright brothers used 100 years ago. Kevlar, graphite, aluminum and a space-aged foam, being used for the first time in an airplane, are among the modern materials being used. In addition to the space-aged materials present in the airplane the team is also using a state of the art engine donated by BMW to power the airplane, yet another distinct advantage Widauf and his team have over their predecessors. The original Wright brothers' airplane had a non-carbureted 4-cylinder engine. Widauf also received engines from Harley Davidson, although he opted for the BMW engine in the first plane. The team will use the Harley engines for the second plane that is being planned. "Lots of people are getting on board the project," Widauf said. He said USU President Kermit Hall, although skeptical at first, is now fully aboard. He said one of the questions people ask is why Utah? Why not Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the Wright brothers' airplane originally took flight? Widauf's response is, "Why not Utah? USU has an extensive aviation history that has been in existence for 70 years." During World War II the Army Air Corps Maintenance and Flight Training was stationed at USU. At that time, USU trained record numbers of aviation mechanics and it has been a leader ever since, Widauf said. "Our program is a force to be reckoned with, and our graduates are in high demand," Widauf said. "Many graduates have jobs before they finish the program." Despite having jobs the senior students who worked on the project all came back to the unveiling of the airplane last August, he said. Widauf and Alley are part a long list of people who are eventually going to fly the airplane, among them former Utah senator Jake Garn. "The experience has been great for everyone involved, so far the USU Wright flyer is the only airplane sanctioned by the Wright Brothers 100 Years of Aviation Celebration," Widauf said. "The best thing about being an engineer is that you take something that you designed and see it go from a drawing to actually being built. That is probably one of the most rewarding things, then to see it work," Alley said. Widauf said funding for the project was not a big problem. Private contributors really helped. He said the next problem is getting enough money to go on tour throughout Utah and taking the airplane back to the centennial celebration in North Carolina in 2003.
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