Wright "Flyers," Replicas, and Reproductions : A Reign of Dangerous and Deadly
Fort Meyer, 1908. Orville trying to regain control of the Wright "Flyer" as it plummets to the earth. Lt. Thomas Selfridge, his passenger, was the first fatality from a powered flyer . Moment of impact--Ohio, 2009. The crash of a Wright Flyer replica that critically injured pilot Mark Dusenberry. Looking at the Wright "Flyers," T hen and Now "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" --attributed to Albert Einstein Even up to the present day, Wright "Flyers" have proven both dangerous and deadly.* As recently as 2011, the crash of a Wright "Flyer" replica tragically killed two pilots, Don Gum and Mitchell Carey. This incident is a continuation of Wright "Flyer" accidents that began years before the Wrights went public with the "flyers" they built in 1908. Trying to fly a "replica" of a Wright "Flyer" has proven hazardous--and som