No one has kept the Flyer aloft for more than a minute, not even the Wright brothers. So the crowd clapped politely after watching this latest crash. “C’mon, it’s all ones and zeroes. You can’t do any harm,” teased Microsoft executive Bruce Williams as he invited all comers, including the ample security force, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to drop to their bellies and swivel their hips on the Flyer simulator. The life-size cradle is wired to Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight, in a setup to visit EAA events and airshows beginning last month.
Nearby, Ken Hyde of The Wright Experience juggled reporters, as did EAA president Tom Poberezny. An all-black Lincoln Aviator Kitty Hawk Edition had towed Hyde’s 605-pound Flyer from behind a curtain where an hour before weather personality Willard Scott did standup for the airplane that represents 100 years of powered flight. Then came the honking. As media pressed Hyde and Poberezny, the Lincoln suddenly lapsed to honking and flashing, as though to remind guests of its role. The Aviator is the official vehicle of the “EAA Countdown to Kitty Hawk.”
