EAA South Central Ozarks Chapter 1218

Project History

In late 1999 Bill Ghan, of Mansfield, Missouri, began construction of a full-size replica of a Wright Brothers airplane in recognition of the centennial of aviation which will occur in the year 2003. This particular replica will be a "cross" between the original "Flyer" and the "Vin Fizz" which dates back to 1910. The original "Flyer" was a very unstable aircraft, dangerous to fly. Since Bill would like to make some demonstration straight flights over a paved runway with this replica, he has decided to substitute wheels for skids, and add a rear empennage with rudder.

In 1961, another Mansfield resident, Louis "Andy" Anderson, who was an antique aircraft buff, built a "Vin Fizz" replica to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first transcontinental airplane flight made by Cal Rogers. That replica was certified and licensed by the FAA. Andy had a private airstrip in Mansfield by his home, which was near the Frisco Rail Road pond. He made some "hop and skip" flights along that strip with the "Vin Fizz." Bill says, "That really impressed me!" The Air Force learned of the replica and made arrangements to transport it to California aboard a C-119 to use in their anniversary celebrations. Ultimately, Andy built two Wright replicas, both of which are now in museums.

The new replica is being built with "modernized versions" of the original materials, such as the glue, the covering of Dacron, and steel cable with turnbuckles instead of piano wire, concessions which were made in the interest of longevity and safety. Plans call for using an aero reduction Subaru engine.


	The Specs
Bill Ghan and Fred Kalhoefer with more wing-rib assemblies for the Wright replica, in front of Bill's workshop.	Weight: 1100 lb. Wing Area: 515 sq. ft. Wing Loading: 2 lb. per sq. ft. Wing Chord: 6 ft. 1/2 in. Wing Span: 40 ft. 4 in. Speed (as Listed): 40 mph Aspect Ratio: 6:2 Glide Ratio: 1:6 HP: 24 (Max) HP Absorbed in Flight: 15 (Reserve used for ascent.) Propellers: Two, counter-rotating, at 8 ft. 6 in. diameter with 9 ft. pitch, turning at 425 rpm

More wing-rib assembly work. . .	Considerations
	The flight technique is to maintain a positive angle of attack, increasing power to climb, and decreasing to descend. Pitch is controlled by the canard. Roll is controlled by wing warping. Yaw is controlled by the rudder.

Project Progress
Chapter members were introduced to the project when Bill brought the first wing ribs to the regular meeting in October 1999. In February 2000, the Chapter held its meeting at Bill's workshop. After a chili potluck (great on a winter evening), members had an introduction to the building process by gluing blocks into the ribs in the jig. (See Bill's story of his career as an industrial arts teacher building airplanes with classes in the April 2000 issue of On Top!) At that time, not much excitement had been generated over the approaching centennial of aviation in 2003. Little by little, though, that has changed. In the meantime, Bill and friend Fred Kalhoefer doggedly worked on the wings whenever they had time. Then, in February 2002, the Chapter celebrated Andy Anderson's 88th birthday and a story about him was featured in On Top! At that time, Andy's connection with building Wright replicas was described, and a "scavenger list" of needed tools, supplies, and parts was included. Members responded, and that led to establishing regular Wednesday afternoon workdays from 1 PM to 4 PM each week. Gradually, the "team" of builders has grown, and now includes Doc Openshaw (see On Top! for March 2002), Bob Brantley (On Top! April 2002), Homer Johnston (On Top! March 2000), and Fred (On Top! February 2000) and Sue Kalhoefer as regulars. A very important team member is Margaret Ghan, who contributes cookies to the cause. Other members appear periodically — all are welcome to come whenever they can, be that often or only once in a while. Since the workdays began, work has really speeded up. Now, in September 2002, the framework and rigging are nearly complete (current On Top!). Too big to be completely assembled in the workshop, it has been moved to a hangar at Mountain View Airport, where it will be on display for the September meeting and for Pioneer Days at the end of the month. After that, sections will be returned to Bill's workshop one at a time for fabric covering. Target completion date for all of the various assemblies is late summer 2003. Bill and the project were featured by Jerry Jacobs in the Ozarks Life segment of the evening news on television station KY3 (Springfield, MO) on August 14.