Ecliptic’s RocketCam imaging system will provide onboard video of the commemorative flight of Utah State University’s full-scale modern replica of the Wright brothers’ historic aircraft, the Wright Flyer.
RocketCam is the popular imaging system that provided the unprecedented onboard video televised live from NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis in October, as well as the real-time images transmitted from the debut of Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5 rocket in August and Boeing’s Delta IV rocket in November.
The USU Wright Flyer was constructed by Logan-based Utah State University’s College of Engineering (Mechanical and Aerospace and Industrial Technology departments), the USU Research Foundation and the Space Dynamics Laboratory as part of the nationwide celebration of the 100th anniversary of powered flight, which kicked off today in Washington, D.C. Formal rollout of the craft occurred at the Logan Airport on August 24 this year. Initial test flights are scheduled to start in late January 2003.
Plans call for employing RocketCam systems during each phase of the airplane’s test program next spring and on the demonstration flight in July at the Centennial of Flight premiere event in the Wright brothers’ hometown, Dayton, Ohio.
Initially, RocketCam video of the plane’s operation from the pilot’s point of view will be recorded onboard for later playback and analysis. As experience with the craft builds, options will be assessed for adding additional RocketCams to provide alternative onboard views and for enabling live video-transmission capability.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of powered flight, Utah State University’s College of Engineering (Mechanical and Aerospace and Industrial Technology Departments), the USU Research Foundation and the Space Dynamics Laboratory have constructed a modern replica of the Wright Flyer using state-of-the-art composite materials in a unique blending of the historic and the present.
Following a community celebration with associated activities and an extensive flight-test program, the USU Wright Flyer will travel along a historic route for display and demonstration flying during the official US Centennial of Flight gatherings and ceremonies. The project has involved students from almost every college at the campus.
A design team composed of senior mechanical and aerospace engineering and industrial technology students built the USU Wright Flyer. Public relations, marketing, education and history students have also been participating in the project.
