Issue 2, 2007 Dayton, Ohio Spring 2007

WRIGHT LANDINGS

WRIGHT

2007 Wright "8" FlyerSchedule

June 15 - 17 MuncieSummer HeatFestival

June 29th-AFMCTattoo-NMUSAF

July 21sL25th

AnniversaryCelebration

July 27 -30-VectrenDayton Air Show

Aug 25-26- "CapitolCity Ford IndianapolisAir Show" Mt ComfortIN

Sep 3-CincinnatiRiverfest

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Although the existing Wright"B" Flyer has served theorganization well and willcontinue to do well into thefuture it has become toodifficult to disassemble,transport, and assemble.There are numerous eventscoming up in the near fu-ture (2008) for which a newFlyer is needed. We haveoireouy flCH.i tu L;arH..:t:isorrreappearances we wouldhave loved to have made.We hope to begin construc-tion on a new Flyer earlythis year. To make this newFlyer a reality we will needboth volunteers and spon-sors. No offer will be re-fused! Come visit us forour 25th Anniversary cele-bration and find out howyou can become a part of

FLY E R

NEW WRIGHT "B" FLYERcontinuing our proud leg-acy.The Board has authorized

the expenditure of up to$lOOK for the building ofLi ie IIt:W piaile. 6ecau::.t:the anniversaries arequiCkly approaching wehave embarked on a veryaggressive schedule with agoal of having the plane inflight test by November 1st,2007. Walt Hoy has volun-teered to lead the effort tobuild the plane. We thinkthat new volunteers willshow up when there is anew plane to work on. Thenew plane will be made to

which was then viewed ona TVscreen. It appearedthe aircraft had success-fully survived another sea-son of flying without toomuch wear and tear. Acracked chain guideneeded to be welded as didcracks in the undercar-riage. It wasn't determinedwhether some of the dam-

INC

the maximum extend possi-ble on machines that willautomatically cut all theparts. We want to use ourvolunteers for assembly notcutting brackets and wingribs. The engine already isin the hanger and DaytonWire Wheel & DiamondChain have already prom-ised support. We expectmore contributions and areCH':l.tpt;,'15 ~oiiatj0n.s.The new plane represents anew chapter in our history.If a sponsor steps forwardto support our ambitiousplans we will have an up-date as soon as it happens.A model of the planeshould be available in thelate spring and on displayfor the July 21st Anniver-sary party.

Winter Work Continues on Iron Birdage was due to the un-scheduled landing twoyears ago or from abuse bythe new pilots! In anyevent, the original aircraftcomponents and structurewill be sound and ready forflight when the weatherimproves.

Continued on page 2 ...

The past few months havebeen a busy time as HaroldEdinger and the volunteershave been performing theannual inspection of theIron Bird. Thanks to Frank,the inspection was madeeasier and more hi-techthis year through the use ofa mini-camera routed intothe wing access areas

INSIDE THISISS U E:

Winter Work Continueson Iron Bird

The Strategic Plan

New Trustees

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Winter Work Continues on Iron Bird (continued tram page 1)

Lightweight Tail considerably reduce theweight in the rear of theaircraft. Hopefully, afterreducing ballast from thefront skids and crossbarthe resulting weight losswill improve the perform-ance, particularly hot-weather performance, ofthe aircraft.

Wright "B" Flyer Begins Work on Strategic PlanThe Trustees and volunteers of the Wright "B" Flyer have been spending Saturday's at the hangar developinga strategic plan. The board decided last Fall to develop a strategic plan to guide the Wright "B" Flyer organi-zation beyond its first 25 years.

Volunteers and trustees have gathered at the hangar on Saturday mornings to define the "as is" state of theorganization as well as the desired "to be" state. The "future" was defined as being 2010 - 2012, essen-tially, the next 5 years.

Numerous areas were addressed: organization, finanCial, programs/services, operations, community impact,membership, and business development.Trustees Tony Portfolio and Ed Mechenbier led each of the sessions, facilitating the work of the team of trus-tees and volunteers. The sessions have been very productive.

Among the many topics discussed are the need for a more transportable aircraft, the need for increased lev-els of sponsorship, membership, and volunteers, and increased levels of support to the community and amore visible role in promoting Dayton's aviation heritage.

Right: Board Members and Volunteers share ideas.

Work is nearing comple-tion on the replacementof the existing empen-nage, horizontal stabi-lizer, rudder assembly,and elevator with new,composite components.The volunteers havespent the last year ormore building a new tailassembly that should

Zot and crew working onthe new tail. (right)

Left: Tony Perfillo leads strategic planning session.

P AGE 3 ..WRIGHT "8"

WELCOMES NEWFLY E RTRUSTEES

Tim Gaffney Jay Jabour

Tim Gaffney joined the board af-ter retiring from a 33-year news-paper career. For the last 21years he was the aviation writerfor the Dayton Daily News, wherehis first aviation assignment, inJuly 1985, was a media ride onthe Wright "B" Flyer. Tim is a trus-tee with the United States Air andTrade Show Inc. and a member ofthe Aviation Heritage Founda-tion's marketing council. He con-tinues to write and is an author ofchildren's books, including thepicture book Wee and the WrightBrothers. He lives in Miamisburg.

New Board Members Picturedbelow:

Amanda Right Lane, top leftJay Jabour, second from top

leftTim Gaffney, top right

Jay Jabour manages the North-rop Grumman office in DaytonOhio. Prior to working withNorthrop Grumman, Jay com-pleted over 30 years in theUnited States Air Force, retiringas a Brigadier General in 2003from Wright-Patterson Air ForceBase. He was then Vice Com-mander of The Aeronautical Sys-tems Center. Prior to that Jaywas a Fighter Pilot and Test Pilotin the Air Force, flying over 67different types of aircraft includ-ing the A-10, F-16, B-2 and YF-22. He had a long career atWright Patterson as an acquisi-tion official on the B-2 Spirit andF-22 Raptor airplanes. Jay alsohad two tours in the Pentagonwhere he managed not to screwup too badly. His operationalassignments include Command-ing the F-22 Test Squadron atEdwards AFB California. Jayentered military service as agraduate of the U.S.Air ForceAcademy in 1973. He hasBachelor and Masters Degreesin Mechanical Engineering.

Amanda Wright Lane

Amanda Wright Lane didn'treally know that her Uncle Orvand Uncle Will were the WrightBrothers till the light bulb wenton during a fourth grade historylesson ...true confession. Afterall, the men she knew from con-versations around the diningroom table on Sunday nightswere babysitters, pranksters,and candy chefs. There wasnever any mention of a flyingmachine, let alone changing thecourse of history forever. But, asan adult, Amanda has made astudy of the engineering sciencethat her great grand uncles in-troduced, and has worked topreserve the story their earlyaviation history that was born inDayton, Ohio, at the turn of the20th century. Today, Anlanda is aco-trustee of the Wright FamilyFoundation, and serves a boardmember of the Aviation HeritageFoundation, the Wright ImageGroup, Dayton History, WrightDunbar Inc., and the Engineers'Club of Dayton. She is an honor-ary co-chair for both the LeMansSarthe Wright Centennial Com-mittee and Pau Wright Aviation,the French organizations desig-nated to plan the European cen-tennial celebration of flight. As aWright Family spokesperson,along with her brother StephenWright, Amanda has spoken togroups about her Uncle Orv andUncle Will (the Wright Brothers!)around the nation, and theworld.

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We need volunteers!

If you are able to overhaul an aircraft engine or can overhaul a Mi-crosoft Word document, we can use your help. Volunteers keep theWright "8" Flyer alive. We need your talents whatever they may be.We plan to begin construction on a new Wright "8" Flyer soon andwill need skills we can not even yet identify. Visit the Wright "8"Flyer and talk with our dedicated volunteers. Let us know you arewilling to help. We are open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from9:00 AM until 2:30 PM. We have and need volunteers of all ages tokeep the Wright "8" Flyer flying and Dayton history alive.

Mitch Cary

PS. Please purchase our "Leader in Flight" license plates!

http://bmv.ohio.gov/vehicleJegistration/leader_in_flight.htm.... \ .• o;:. .... ~,i .', .~:~. ~ .'..

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Wright "B" Flyer, IncI0550 Springboro Pike

Dayton Wright Bros. AirportMiamisburg, Ohio 45342Phone: 937-885-2327Fax: 937-885-3310

E-mail: wbflyer@dayton.net

Wright "8" Flyer

Free"Honorary Aviator"

Memberships

The lucky winners of the free"Honorary Aviator" Memberships

this quarter are

Gary Drummer, CedarvilleGayle Gorman, Mansfield

Purchase your plates todayand see your name here

in our next issue!

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