Gehle said, “I wondered why so random of a thing was in the library.”
Sixteen feet up hangs a replica of the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer. The wingspan is over 40 feet and it has a length of 21 feet from the nose to the tip of the tail.
Students who do notice the giant flyer realize its significance in history. Michael Gustafson, an engineering student said, “I look at it every time I come up the steps, I like the symbolism of man taking to the sky.”
The project to build the replica was lead by Howard DuFour who retired from WSU as a master machinist and model builder.
DuFour authored a book about the Wright’s mechanic, “Charles Taylor the Wright Brothers Mechanician.”
DuFour sought volunteers with various skills. Josephine Elliott Lucas had sewing skills and answered the call. She also had a personal connection. Her great-grandfather Robinson Elliott worked for the Wrights, “I remember playing with his old tools,” says Lucas.
DuFour strived for accuracy. To match the cloth for the wings they used a piece of the original cloth from the wing and counted the threads per inch to find cloth the same or close to it,” said Arehart.
Straight grain wood was needed for bending. “It was a real turkey to find straight grain wood,” said Jack Ohmart a woodworker who bent wood to make the curves in the flyer.
Peter Unitt author of, “A Dream Fulfilled: The Replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer at Wright State University” and co-author of “Charles Taylor the Wright Brothers Mechanician” explains how they got the Flyer in the library.
“Wright State was repairing the roof and part of the access for the people doing the work was made by taking the windows out, at which DuFour seized the moment,” he said. “Then with a scissors lift we brought the sub-assemblies up and through the window.”
After the flyer was in the library there were many hours of work assembling and putting on the final pieces.
Before passing away December 15, 2009 at the age of 94 DuFour lead his team in building the WSU Flyer and three gliders to hang in various places in the Dayton area.
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