1909 Wright Flyer replica

This replica of the 1909 Wright Flyer is displayed in the Aviodrome museum at Lelystad airport in The Netherlands (EHLE), complete with launching rail and the huge tripod with the heavy weight that was dropped to launch the aircraft. The aircraft was built in 1960 by museum volunteers as a replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer, with which Orville Wright made the first sustained and controlled flight with an aircraft heavier-than-air in the history of mankind. When in 1995 the replica urgently needed an overhaul, it was decided to rebuild it as a 1909 Wright Flyer, the type that French Count de Lambert used for the first motorized flight in the Netherlands on 27 June 1909. The main difference with the 1903 Flyer was that the pilot was now sitting upright on a chair, with an extra chair for a passenger, whereas the first flight in 1903 was made with the pilot lying flat on his stomach. Many other alterations were necessary, as the study of photos and documents from the Deutsches Museum showed. The rebuild was ready in time for the celebration of 100 years of motorized flying in the Netherlands in 2009.

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See more aircraft of the Aviodrome museum

More information:

The website of the Aviodrome museum (Dutch only)

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