Wright Model F to be rebuilt - Curt Lewis

Aviation buffs hoping to rebuild a Wright Brothers plane

WASHINGTON (AP) - Back in the days when such things were allowed, aviation pioneer Harry Atwood landed his plane on the White House lawn, the finale of the first flight from Boston to Washington. 

 Atwood went on to other feats, but the plane, a Burgess-Wright Model F, which he landed on the South Lawn that July day in 1911, did not fare so well. Four years later, another pilot crashed it into a Massachusetts swamp. Parts of it were sold for scrap.

Now, more than a century later, a group of aviation buffs has launched a campaign to restore the plane, which it says is the last remaining authentic Wright Brothers aircraft. Its goal is to raise $4 million to rebuild the plane, which would then be displayed in Terminal A at Reagan National Airport.