Wright Flyer Project Movies!

The Radio Controlled Model Flight Tests

The objective for flight tests with the R/C model was to investigate the effects of c.g. location and an automatic pitch rate feedback on the flying qualities of the airplane. As the model was not dynamically scaled, qualitative rather than quantitative data was obtained; but these flights did lend insight to the direction we should drive our full-scale flyable replica.

In the years since these flight tests, the builders of the replica have passed on. Having been a scratch built effort, this plane relied on the same blueprints from the National Air & Space Museum we used to build both our full-scale replicas. Thus, we do not have any plans specific to a 1/8th scale R/C model that we can release to the public. You may read about the specifications of the model and the subsystems here, or you may explore the various options to obtain your own plans for a Wright Flyer replica here.

Wing warping being checked out prior to flight (30 sec)

Please choose your format:

Suitable for 56k dialup
WindowsMedia 0.6Mb
RealMedia 0.5Mb

Suitable for cable/DSL
WindowsMedia 1.3Mb
Quicktime Movie 1.3Mb
RealMedia1 2.2Mb
RealMedia2 2.4Mb

Suitable for T1/T3
MPEG 5.2Mb
AVI 6.9Mb

More pre-flight preparations. Good detail views (30 sec)

Quicktime Movie 1.4Mb
AVI file 3.9Mb

Starting up the model & final adjustments (25 sec)

Quicktime Movie 1.2Mb
AVI file 3.2Mb

Taxi (30 sec)

Quicktime Movie 840kb
AVI file 3.9Mb

Takeoff (23 sec)

Quicktime Movie 547kb
AVI file 2.9Mb

Flight! (1:24 min)

Quicktime Movie 1.9Mb
AVI file 10.0Mb
Yes, this one is kind of long, but it shows two important things. First, that with wing warp for roll control, it is possible to fly a coordinated banked turn, the breakthrough that was the key to the Wrights' success. Second, a safe (albeit bumpy) landing.

The Radio Controlled Model Flight Tests

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