Wright Bros.' flight replicated in Chicago

CHICAGO, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Kitty Hawk, N.C., and Dayton, Ohio, eat your hearts out: the birth of flight will be re-created Saturday at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

That's when -- weather permitting -- a replica of the Wright brothers' 1903 airplane will be flown over the museum's front lawn.

The Chicago Sun-Times said the Glen Ellyn, Ill.-based, Wright Redux Association will fly the 40-foot biplane to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Wilbur and Orville's first flight near Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903.

The association says it will attempt to fly multiple times during a two-hour morning period "or until we break something."

The Spirit of Glen Ellyn, made of wood, metal and cotton fabric, will fly about 200 feet on each flight, at a height of six to 10 feet. The Wright brothers' flight actually went 120 feet in 12 seconds.

After Saturday's demonstration, the replica will go on display in the museum's rotunda.

Wright Redux is one of several groups building replicas of the 1903 Wright Flyer. Another team plans to fly a replica Dec. 17 on the same spot as the original flight.