A Full-Flight Simulator of the 1903 Wright Flyer

In recognition of the centennial of powered flight, a project has been launched to build a simulation replica of the Wright 1903 Flyer and demonstrate to a wider public the achievements of the Wright brothers. This paper describes the simulation and modelling of the flight control system and flight dynamics of the 1903 Flyer, and the incorporation of these properties into a specially-built “virtual replica” of the same airplane. From analysis of simulations this aircraft has been shown to possess significant instabilities in its lateral directional axes, and severe instabilities in the longitudinal axis. Meanwhile, control over the dynamics was limited by the effectiveness of the input devices: The canard’s pitch angle was controlled by a flexible chain-driven mechanism, and the lateral controls (with inter-connected wing warping and rudder) were actuated through a hip cradle. The simulation of this airplane remains a major challenge due to two main aspects: The availability of accurate data is limited, and the dynamics of the vehicle necessitate good motion cueing. These aspects will be discussed in detail in the paper. The paper concludes with a description of the design requirements for the full-flight simulator. With the aim of demonstrating the stability and control challenges, the simulator incorporates the same control environment as the original airplane, and provides motion, visual and control force feedback to the candidate pilot.