September 4, 2001

Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company
119 S. Miami St.
West Milton, OH  45383
(937) 698-3619
(937) 698-3651 (fax)
(937) 304-3619 (cell -- use to call in Kitty Hawk)

For Immediate Release

Return to Kitty Hawk

On September 8 and 9, members of the Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company of
Dayton, Ohio will fly a replica of the Wright brothers' 1901 glider just a
few miles from where Wilbur and Orville flew 100 years ago. Flight testing
will begin Saturday morning at Jockeys Ridge State Park in the North
Carolina Outerbanks, just south of Kitty Hawk. The flights are open to the
public, and we extend a special invitation to Buckeyes in the Dayton area
to come help.

This is the second trip to Kitty Hawk for the Wright Brothers Aeroplane
Company. Last year, we flew a replica of the Wright brothers' first
man-carrying flying machine, the 1900 glider, on October 22, 2000. Those
flights commemorated the centennial of the Wilbur and Orville's first
gliding flights - the very first time they took to the air.

This year commemorates the centennial of their second glider and the
machine that almost convinced the Wright brothers to give up their dreams
of flight. The brothers had high hopes for their second glider, but it was
more cantankerous than the first. Instead of solving some of the flying
problems the Wrights had identified the year before, the 1901 glider
actually made them worse. When the brothers left Kitty Hawk in 1901,
Wilbur declared that he still believed man would fly, "but it won't be
within our lifetime; not within a thousand years."

The Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company is conducting an expedition in
aviation archaeology, repeating the flights of the Wright brothers as
closely as possible to gain a better understanding of their innovative
work. This includes duplicating the failed experiments as well as the
successful ones. So although we have little expectation that this replica
will be a good flyer, we have hopes that it will teach us a great deal
about the frustration and disappointment the Wright brothers experienced
at this, the lowest point in their quest for a practical airplane.

The Wright Aeroplane Company will also bring their 1900 and 1902 Wright
gliders, and will fly them on Sunday, September 9. The 1902 glider was the
first controllable aircraft and flew well enough to convince the Wright
brothers to build their 1903 Flyer, the first airplane to make a
successful
powered flight. This is the first time that all three of the Wright
brothers experimental glider have been displayed and flown at Kitty Hawk -
even the Wright brothers just flew one per year. Our 1900 and 1901 Wright
gliders are the only flying replicas of these aircraft in the world.

For more information, visit our web site at www.wright-brothers.org.

Nick Engler, Director
Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company

P.S. If you would be interested in photos or interviews before we go, we
will be doing the final rigging and adjustment on the 1901 Wright Glider
on Thursday, September 6 at 119 S. Miami St., West Milton, OH.