Technical Papers and Publications

Based on our three wind tunnel test programs (two sub-scale and one full-scale) and our static loads analysis and tests, our written materials covering the structural properties, the aerodynamics, and the stability and control of the Wrights’ 1903 Flyer are unlikely ever to be surpassed.

Where technology and copyright law permit, we have provided links to download the referenced papers. All downloads are in Adobe Acrobat(tm) format and should be easily accessible to any person on any computing platform (i.e. Windows, Macintosh, Linux, UNIX, etc).

  • Jansen, Maj. Michael, and Jorris, Capt. Timothy, In-Flight Simulation of the AIAA 2003 Wright Flyer, 47th Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Los Angeles, September, 2003.

  • Culick, F.E.C., Wright Brothers: The First Aeronautical Engineers and Test Pilots, 45th Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots , Los Angeles, September, 2001. (2.3Mb)

  • Culick, F.E.C., What the Wright Brothers Did and Did Not Understand About Flight Mechanics – In Modern Terms, 37th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA Paper No. 2001-3385, July, 2001. (4.2Mb)

  • Culick, F.E.C., The AIAA Wright Flyer Project, 1978-2014, AIAA Wright Flyer Project White Paper, 2014.

  • Colebank, J.E., Jansen, M.M., Haug, R.L., Johansen, K.H., Jorris, K.H.and Casado, J.L., A Limited Handling Qualities Evaluation of an In-Flight Simulation of the 2003 Wright Flyer, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Report AFFIC-TIM-01-07, 2001.

  • Marx, H., Unlocking the Secrets of the First Airplane to Fly: The Wright Flyer Project Story, Technology in Society, Vol. 23, pp. 1-9, 2001.

  • Trelease, R., Enabling Technologies Beginning with Kitty Hawk 1900, AIAA Space 2000 Conference and Exposition, AIAA Paper No. 2000-5232, 2000.

  • Jex, H.R., Magdaleno, R.E. and Lee, D., Virtual Reality Simulation of the ’03 Wright Flyer Using Full-Scale Test Data, AIAA Modeling and Simulation Technologies Conference, Denver, CO, AIAA Paper 2000-4088, 2000.

  • Jex, H, Grimm, R., Latz, J.P., and Hange, C., Full-Scale 1903 Wright Flyer Wind Tunnel Test Results From the NASA Ames Research Center AIAA 38th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, AIAA Paper No. 2000-0512, 2000. (2.1Mb)

  • Cherne, J., Culick, F.E.C., and Zell, P., The AIAA 1903 Wright ‘Flyer’ Project Prior to Full-Scale Tests at NASA Ames Research Center AIAA 38th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, AIAA Paper No. 2000-0511, 2000. (1.7Mb)