By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford

Once the “fastest man alive” Scott Crossfield continues to make a contribution to aviation with his involvement with the Wright Brothers Centennial Celebration.

“The Countdown to Kittyhawk” named two “prime pilots” on Tuesday, a decision made, in part, by Crossfield, along with the EAA and sponsors of the program.

“The Wrights left no legacy of data, or an account of all the difficulties they had” said Crossfield, sitting along side the pilots and Wright Flyer builder Ken Hyde, from Warrenton, Virginia.
“I’ve taken 10 flights, none of which ended well, trying to find the flight envelope for this aircraft…the problem with wing warping is that it gives you yaw in the opposite direction you’re trying to turn.”

The aviation legend continues “It’s quite an amazing aircraft…it’s hard to fly, and unstable.” And he adds, “I have new respect for the Wright Brothers…they were true geniuses, they met every problem and solved it. This is not a case of them being a couple of lucky bicycle makers.” Ken Hyde chimed in, saying “I’d love to have about 3 and a half hours of dual instruction time… the same as Hap Arnold got from Orville, and that time represented a total of 28 flights!”

Hyde continued, “Having Scott Crossfield brings a complete element to this project… with his experience, a really great engineer and test pilot.” Crossfield summed up the project, which will wrap up a little more than four months from now “This has not been a piece of cake, and it won’t be a cake walk on December 17th, but these pilots, (Terry Queijo and Dr. Kevin Kochersberger) will be as well trained as we can make them.”

FMI: www.countdowntokittyhawk.org