The spirit was willing, but the winds were weak.
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The climax of the weeklong commemoration of the Wright brothers’ first flight here 100 years ago was to have been a re-enactment of that epochal achievement by an exact replica of their aircraft. President Bush, who arrived during a thunderous downpour, also was expected to launch the next 100 years of flight with a vow to revive the U.S. manned space program.
There were disappointments on both counts.
Heavy rain and poor winds combined to prevent the replica from taking off, compelling the project’s organizers to postpone a takeoff attempt until next year’s anniversary.
In a short speech at the height of the deluge, Bush promised that the United States would lead the world in aerospace, but he did not promise further exploration of the moon and the solar system. He left immediately after his speech. About 10 minutes after the failed takeoff, Bush flew over the park in Air Force One.
The Wright Flyer replica had been set to take off at 10:35 a.m., as the original 1903 Flyer had a century before. Because of the rain, the effort was postponed until 12:30 p.m., when the primitive flying machine was wheeled to its 200-foot wooden launching rail.
As pilot Kevin Kochersberger lay on his stomach in the flyer’s hip cradle on the bottom wing, and crew members pulled the flyer along the guide rail, the wind died down to as little as 6 m.p.h., dooming the takeoff, which required winds of about 10 m.p.h.
Crawling the rail
The aircraft traveled ever so pokily along the guide rail, failed to gain enough speed to become airborne and plunked down into a dark puddle on the sands of the Wright Brothers National Memorial a few feet from the spot where the Wrights’ machine had become airborne.
Though the front of the flying machine may have reached lift for a split second, the tail never did, despite cheerleading by more than 30,000 eager spectators, two descendants of Orville and Wilbur Wright and the grandson of Charles Lindbergh.
The high humidity in the air sapped the ability of the 12-horsepower engine to provide the Wright Flyer replica with enough airspeed, said Ken Hyde, founder of the Wright Experience, which built the airplane for the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Kochersberger, a mechanical engineering professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of interest and support for the endeavor.
“The presence of the Wright family here, the sight of the rail and the sound of the engine, all made this an amazing experience,” he said.
Rhett White, a historian with the Roanoke Island Historical Association at nearby Ft. Raleigh, said Wednesday’s failure was history repeating itself. He was in the crowd in 1978 when a Wright Flyer replica was launched here in an attempt marking the 75th anniversary of man’s first powered flight.
“If it got up at all, it was only a few inches,” he said.
Bush hailed the Wright brothers not only for changing the world with their invention but also for what they typified of American character.
“The Wright brothers’ invention belongs to the world, but the Wright brothers belong to America,” Bush said. “We take special pride in their qualities of discipline and persistence, optimism and imagination of people like them, and a lot of other people throughout our history.”
He noted that like many of the great inventors of their era, the Wrights came from an ordinary background, but achieved their goals and greatness through dogged persistence and faith in their ideas.
“So many great inventions arose in this country, and so many of the great inventors came from unlikely backgrounds,” Bush said.
“The Wright brothers had their storefront bicycle shop. Thomas Edison was a newsboy. Eli Whitney and Henry Ford worked as farmhands. George Washington Carver was born a slave. There is something in the American character that always looks for a better way, and is unimpressed when others say it cannot be done.”
Bush said these traits kept the Wrights from giving up, even when confronted with the same kind of challenges that faced the team trying to recreate their epic flight Wednesday.
Bush disappointed many at the event by not discussing the future of America’s troubled space program. Published reports and weeks of rumors in the aerospace community predicted that he would seize upon the Wright brothers commemoration to announce a rebirth of American manned space flight that might include a permanent space station on the moon and a manned flight to Mars.
Moon in his eyes
Actor John Travolta, master of ceremonies at the event and an expert pilot, mentioned these reports and expressed interest in being included among the first passengers to the moon.
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Bush told him, “From now on, we’ll call you Moon Man.”
Otherwise, the president said only that the unmanned space vehicle Voyager One was nearing the edge of the solar system and that, “by our skill and daring, we will continue to lead the world in flight.”
Among those who wished Bush had said more was veteran flier Ethel Meyer Finley, who flew warplanes and served as a flight instructor as one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots in World War II and whose grandson, Lt. Benjamin Deissig, flew one of the Apache attack helicopters providing air cover for the raid that netted deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“Well, his [Bush’s] facts were straight,” she said, “but we were hoping we would hear when we’re going to continue the space program.”
Many people tramping out of the muddy park said the trip was worthwhile, especially if it encouraged youngsters among them to be adventurous, independent thinkers.