Wed, Apr 09, 2003
AOPA has filed a waiver petition on behalf of Ken Hyde to let
him flight test two replicas of Wright Flyers, including the
official replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer, which will take part in
the Centennial of Flight commemoration in Kitty Hawk in December
2003.
Hyde contacted AOPA President Phil Boyer directly, after
discovering that the small airstrip where he's attempting to
duplicate the Wright brothers' accomplishment falls just within the
Washington, D.C., air defense identification zone (ADIZ). (Aircraft
without radios and transponders are prohibited from flying in the
25,000-square-mile security zone surrounding the
Washington-Baltimore area.)
"We are very hopeful that the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) will recognize both the historical
significance and lack of a threat these aircraft, like other small
general aviation aircraft, represent and will quickly approve a
waiver," said Boyer. Hyde is ready to flight test both the 1903
replica and a 1911 Wright Model "B" Flyer reproduction as part of a
documentary on his remarkable job of reverse engineering. While the
1903 Flyer is the showcase, Hyde's project spans the evolution of
the Wrights' aircraft, from their early gliders through the Model
"B," which was their first production aircraft.
"In talking to the TSA, AOPA has stressed the extremely unusual
nature of these aircraft and their inability to comply with the
ADIZ regulations," said AOPA Vice President of Air Traffic Policy
Melissa Bailey. "They have no electrical system to support a
transponder. And they're so inherently unstable that it would be
both unrealistic and unsafe for the pilot to let go of the controls
and use a handheld radio to talk to air traffic control."
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