Engineers tried twice to launch a replica of the Wright Flyer today as part of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of flight. Coincidentally, many of the same problems faced by Wilbur and Orville in 1903 came back to haunt today's pilot.

A heavy downpour in Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina delayed the flight for nearly two hours. It was supposed to take off at 10:35 a.m. ET -- the same time in 1903 that Orville first left the ground in the Flyer, which lasted just 12 seconds.

The replica plane, piloted by N.Y. engineering professor Kevin Kochersberger, began to move at around 12:30 p.m. ET. It moved for a few seconds and then slipped into a puddle.

The team tried once more to get airborne, starting the engines shortly before 4:00 p.m. only to back off soon after and declare their efforts to fly the replica over.

There were a total of four flights made on Dec. 17, 1903. Orville was at the controls for the first flight, which was more of a hop at 12 seconds. The last and longest was made by Wilbur, at 59 seconds and 260 metres.

Wilbur and Orville, bicycle shop owners from Dayton, Ohio, were unlikely inventors of one of the most important inventions of the last 100 years. They used their rudimentary understanding of aerodynamics to create the first powered, heavier-than-air flight.

U.S. President George Bush, on hand for the celebration, told the crowd near Kitty Hawk that the brothers persevered despite their own doubts and many critics.

"Not only did the machine perform its function, that little wood and canvas aircraft had brought together all the essentials that still give flight to every modern aircraft, from a single prop-plane, to Air Force One."

"We would not know their names today if these men had been pessimists."

Also on hand were actor and pilot John Travolta and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Special aircraft exhibits and dozens of fly-overs will also mark the day.

Two members of the Wing Moose Jaw's Snowbirds from Saskatchewan will join pilots from around the world in a special fly-over at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

In other news, Winnipeg has confirmed it is the only Canadian city to land an exhibit detailing the first flight.

The exhibit, Orville and Wilbur: The Wright Brothers' Legacy will come to the city Feb. 7, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. It includes photos and lithographs from 1904 to 1912.