Two complete sets of replicas of the Wright brothers' earliest airplanes are headed for museums in China.

Wright Brothers USA LLC, which handles the trademark, said that replicated planes and equipment have been sold to the Beijing Hangcheng International Investment Co, according to the Dayton Daily News.

The specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but David Lightle, CEO of Wright Brothers USA, said the transaction could net "close to seven figures each," adding that China's appreciation for the history of aviation served as an impetus for the sale.

The Chinese client is recreating a "birthplace of aviation" exhibit similar to one that appeared in Dayton for the 100th anniversary of the first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, according to Lightle.

The first set of replicas will be transported to China this month, with a tour of major Chinese cities to follow, according to The Associated Press. The second set will arrive in 2017.

Wright Brothers Aeroplane Co, a Dayton, Ohio-based firm, will build the replicas, the report said.

Nick Engler, a member of the Wright Aeroplane Co, told the Daily News that the replicas are real airplanes. "We went to Kitty Hawk and flew them," Engler said.

The museums, which are located in Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Chengdu, Sichuan province, will have the planes and early aviation equipment on permanent display.

"It will place Dayton's history squarely in the heart of China's most populous regions," Lightle said. "They believe in the added value of having these [replicas] originate in Dayton."

The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, began their careers as entrepreneurs who owned a print shop in Dayton. After opening a series of bicycle shops, the Wrights turned their focus to fixed-wing, self-propelled flight and ultimately invented the airplane, according to the Wright Brothers USA webpage.

In December 1903, at Kill Devil Hills on the outer banks of North Carolina, the pair successfully flew their airplane for the first time. Nearly two years later, in Dayton, the brothers debuted a plane that could take off, fly for nearly an hour, and land again.

The 1905 Flyer event "marked the true advent of practical flight," the website says. The Wright brothers received the patent for the first flying machine a year later in May 1906.

jackfreifelder@chindailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 01/12/2016 page3)