News update: Wright "B" Flyer taxis in Texas

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Volunteers from Wright "B" Flyer Inc. in Dayton have assembled and taxi-tested lookalikes of two Wright Model "B" Flyer in preparation for the Military Flight Centennial on Tuesday, March 2, at Fort Sam Houston. Thirteen volunteers are taking part in the all-volunteer organizations biggest ever deployment.

The event will celebrate the first military solo flight, Lt. Benjamin Foulois' first flight from Fort Sam Houston in Army Signal Corps No. 1, a Wright airplane.

The flyable "Brown Bird," a modern lookalike of the Wright brothers' first production airplane, was taxied Sunday on Stinson Municipal Airport. WBF pilots hoped to make test hops down the runway, but high winds prevented, said WBF Pilot Rich Stepler. The Brown Bird is being housed in the Texas Air Museum's Stinson hangar, and Air Museum volunteers are supporting the Brown Bird crew.

Meanwhile, the crew with the non-flying "Yellow Bird," a close replica of a 1911 Wright Model B flyer, overcame mechnical problems to make a second taxi test on the Fort Sam Houston parade field, where Foulois flew 100 years ago on March 2.

Today's plans include testing the Brown Bird but depend on a break from the rain that began overnight.