Wright “B” Flyer needs volunteers to load airplane

NEWS
For immediate release
July 9, 2015

Contact: Timothy R. Gaffney
Volunteer media director
Phone (cell): (937) 219-8277
trg@aviationheritagearea.org

Wright “B” Flyer needs volunteers to load airplane for road trip to EAA AirVenture

EDITORS: News media are welcome to cover this event.

MIAMISBURG, Ohio—Wright “B” Flyer Inc. is looking for a dozen men and women to help load its one-of-a-kind airplane into a trailer for its 490-mile road trip to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA’s) AirVenture convention in Oshkosh, Wis.

The all-volunteer nonprofit began disassembling the airplane Thursday. But loading the 3,400-pound machine into its custom semi trailer will be a physical challenge requiring several able-bodied people. Most of Wright “B” Flyer’s regular volunteers are retirees in their 70s and 80s.

Loading is set to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday in Wright “B” Flyer’s hangar on Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport on Springboro Pike in Miami Twp. The loading is expected to take several hours, but volunteers are welcome to come at any time and leave when necessary.

Nicknamed the “Brown Bird,” the large, slow-flying biplane is a familiar sight in the sky at local air shows, parades and other outdoor events. It’s a modern lookalike of the Wright brothers’ first factory-built airplane, the Wright Model B.

EAA has invited the Miamisburg-based nonprofit to display and fly the airplane for the first time at the world’s largest gathering of general aviation enthusiasts. It will put Dayton’s aviation heritage on display to an expected 500,000 people from July 20 through July 26.

The invitation is part of EAA’s support for Wright “B” Flyer’s project to build a new airplane to succeed its “Brown Bird,” a modern lookalike of the Wright brothers’ first factory-built airplane. Wright “B” Flyer is offering EAA’s more than 180,000 members the opportunity to build parts of the new airplane. Most construction and final assembly will take place in the original Wright Company factory in Dayton.

Wright “B” Flyer Inc. is an all-volunteer, membership based, 501c3 nonprofit that displays and flies replicas of the Wright brothers’ first factory-built airplane. Its hangar-museum is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission is free.

What: Wright “B” Flyer loading
When: 9 a.m., Saturday July 11
Where: Wright “B” Flyer hangar, Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, 10550 Springboro Pike, Miami Twp.
More information: Call Bill Simpson, (937) 212-4178 or email wbflyer@dayton.net.

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Wright “B” Flyer needs volunteers to load airplane
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