"robert arndt" wrote in message
m...

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb.../APN/312130537

p.s. At least the GW No.21 replicas built by two different historical
societies, in two different nations, at two different times, with two
different pilots (one of which was a Luftwaffe pilot) flew easily.


No faithful replica of a Whitehead craft has ever been built or flown by
anyone anywhere.



That flies (no pun intended) directly in the face of the Wright's
historic claim that the GW No.21 was IMPOSSIBLE to fly just by it's
configuration alone. Two have flown successfully and it is not
important that the exact engines be reproduced to induce flight.


To prove that Whitehead's craft may have flown successfully ABSOLUTELY
requires that the craft be reproduced exactly as the original, including the
engines.



Two
10hp engines were sufficient enough and both machines took off under
their own power, not LAUNCHED into the air.
The Wright replica, OTOH, has been painstakingly replicated with more
historical information available and NASA research. It has crashed
already and no one knows if it will fly on the anniversary date.


You're implying that the Wright Flyer was launched into the air by some
external force. That is not true. The Wright Flyer took off from level
ground solely under it's own power. The Wrights began using their catapult
device in their later experiments at Huffman Prairie, they did not use it at
Kill Devil Hills.