Mr. Simplex notes that Professor Culick's paper includes a section about building a replica flyer that reads as follows (bolding by Simplex):
12. BUILDING A FLYABLE (?) 1903 FLYER
...
Given the terrible flying qualities and handling characteristics of the original Flyer implied by the discussion in Section 7.2 and more thoroughly by Culick and Jex (1984) and Jex and Culick (1985), building a flying replica of the airplane should raise questions. There were two serious problems with that machine: it was unstable about two axes and marginally stable directionally; and it was underpowered.
Ha ha. So what. I'd be surprised if any of circa 1903 aircraft wasn't by 2003 standards "unstable" and "underpowered." Wouldn't you?
In his section 12, titled "Building a Flyable (?) 1903 Flyer," Professor Culick isn't questioning whether the 1903 flyer actually flew in 1903, but rather whether it was practical to construct a flyable replica in 2003. You know, without getting hurt. Big difference.
Classic Mr. Simplex. You take a 53 page paper about the "the first successful airplane" (opening paragraph), find one section that can be interpreted negatively if viewed wildly out of context, and then belch it out
to argue that the Wrights' 1903 aeroplane didn't fly at all. It's laughable.
The many other pages in Professor Culick's paper are all about how the Brothers did in fact fly, e.g. by learning to deal with their dynamically unstable plane (p.25):
... the 1903 airplane surely offered more difficult handling qualities, but with only straight flights, the Brothers did not report new dynamical problems. If unexpected dynamics did appear, they were likely not easily identified, being obscured by the Brothers’ vigorous efforts to keep the airplane in the air.
Professor Culick's concluding paragraph must really drive you crazy:
The Wrights did exactly what they had to do, they did it first and they documented what they did. Theirs was the first research and development program carried out in the style of the 20th century. They did it all from conception to flight testing. It’s important to understand the substance of their works—the Wrights’ program forms the roots of the modern aerospace field, especially including flight testing.