Press Releases
Bihrle Applied Research Announces Wright Flyer Simulation
HAMPTON, Va. - February 26, 2003 - Bihrle Applied Research, Inc. today announced it is creating a flight simulator based on the 1903 Wright Flyer. An elite team of pilots will use the software to learn how to navigate an authentic replica of the aircraft for the Centennial of Flight Celebration in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 2003. The flight simulator will also serve as the foundation for a PC game geared toward the flight sim and aviation enthusiast markets, which is scheduled for completion in late spring 2003.
Testing of a reproduction of the Wrights' flying machine in the historic Langley Full Scale Tunnel will enable a few more "firsts." Bihrle Applied Research is working closely with Ken Hyde, founder of the Wright Experience, whose team is constructing the replica aircraft. Bihrle will use the wind tunnel test data to develop a detailed flight simulator complete with replica cockpit, controls and digital environment. The simulator, a true representation of the way the 1903 Flyer handled, will prepare the select group of pilots to conduct flight demonstrations of the historically faithful replica aircraft on the 100-year anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight.
To bring the celebration to a wide audience, Bihrle and the Wright Experience will use the highly accurate flight simulator as a basis for a software game that will offer aviation aficionados and gamers the opportunity to learn to pilot the world's first powered aircraft. Using the same engineering data and flight model structure assembled for the trainer, the flight simulator game will feature the 1903 Flyer and other Wright aircraft models. Operators will learn to master the unique flight controls and tricky flight characteristics of these aircraft in order to explore the turn-of-the-century worlds in which the Wrights themselves conducted flight demonstrations, from the sands of Kitty Hawk to the airfields at Fort Meyer and College Park. The fidelity and authenticity of the flight models will be unprecedented in the flight simulation game world and will offer a challenge as well as a sense of history.
Bihrle enlisted the assistance of Chapel Hill-based video game agency Octagon Entertainment, Inc. to recruit a developer for the game. Octagon identified the required talent at Third Wire Productions of Austin, Texas and contracted the studio to interpret the flight simulation and develop a commercial product that will cater to broader audiences.
"Bihrle Applied Research is very excited to take high fidelity simulations of the Wright airplanes used for pilot training and make them available for enthusiasts, students and consumers," said John Ralston, president of Bihrle Applied Research, Inc. "These models will allow a wide audience to experience the learning process that the Wright Brothers went through as they attempted manned flight. Besides the entertainment value, we hope the simulation and the accompanying historical material will also provide people with a deeper appreciation of this important event."
Bihrle Applied Research, Inc. is an aerospace technology firm located in Hampton, Virginia., specializing in the development and deployment of high fidelity simulation flight models for a global customer base. Integrating an innovative test data approach with the latest software technologies, Bihrle Applied Research, Inc. has supported most major aircraft development programs with testing, simulation development and software products.
