Model for Prehistoric Reptile to Take Flight

The construction of a flying replica of a huge prehistoric reptile, which will be featured in a film by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, has been completed and will begin its first full-flight testing next week in the Mojave Desert in California.

The life-like model of a pterodactyl, which has an 18-foot wingspan, is complete with flapping wings and a movable head, said Dr. Paul MacCready, chairman of the $500,000 project.

“You expect difficulties in flight test programs in some new thing like this,” MacCready said. “It will crash a few times and get modified and repaired and so on.”