Scintillating Science Acquires 3D Animation of Wright Brothers' 1903 Flight

With every detail of the Wright Flyer matched almost exactly to the one photograph taken at the time, this 640 x 480 pixel movie chronicles the famous 10-second Kitty Hawk First Flight.

[ClickPress, Sat Mar 10 2007] Animator John Burch of Lizardfire Studios is allowing Scintillating Science (www.ScintillatingScience.com) to display the movie, and the public can view it free of charge.

Mr. Burch recreated the flight with the structural detail of the plane almost perfect, down to its nuts and bolts. Orville is lying prone in the plane and Wilbur runs after it as it flies. There's even a tripod with a camera in the background - the one that took the famous picture. Look closely and you'll see it.

"It was a matter of personal fascination," says Mr. Burch. In his search for plans and drawings on which to base his animation, he discovered that very little was left of the original plans. He had to base his animation on the one photograph, and on extensive research. Mr. Burch's animation depicts the first of the four flights that occurred that day. He has even recreated the motor in minute detail.

After the history-making Kitty Hawk event, the Wright brothers boxed up their flyer and shipped it to their home in Ohio. There is sat for nearly a decade, in a shed behind the bicycle shop. When a flood hit Dayton in 1913, the crate containing the flyer was submerged in water and mud for more than a week.

The Wright Brothers were bicycle builders by trade. They built the motor themselves, with the help of a machinist. Fascinated by flight, they built gliders for many years, before coming up with the airplane design. Each summer they went out to Kitty Hawk and tested the new gliders they had built during the winter. Many theorize that it was their expertise in flying, from so much previous testing, that helped get the 1903 bird in the air.

You are invited to watch the photorealistic First Flight at Scintillating Science (www.scintillatingscience.com) under the menu item Animations.

John Burch, M.S., is an engineer and 3D animator, and the president of Lizard Fire Studios (www.lizardfire.com) which creates technical animations for product promotion and manufacturers' demonstrations. His animations are (c)2003 and 2006.

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