Dayton-Wright Racer

The Dayton-Wright RB-1 (Rinehart-Bauman model one), also known simply as the Dayton-Wright Racer was a racing aircraft developed in the United States to participate in the 1920 Gordon Bennett Cup air race. Advanced for its day, the aircraft was a high-wing monoplane with a monocoque fuselage and cantilever wing (built of solid balsa wood covered in plywood and linen and that incorporated a Grant designed mechanism to vary its camber in flight by moving the leading edge and trailing edge. The aircraft also featured a retractable undercarriage operated by a hand-crank making it one of the first instances of undercarriage retraction for aerodynamic benefit alone.^[1] The propeller shaft was mounted through a large oval radiator, the pilot had no forward view, but was provided with flexible celluloid side windows. Cockpit access was through a hatch in the top of the fuselage.^[2] A prototype was built using non-retractable gear and strut-braced wings. A shorter tapered "racing wing" was installed afterward with leading and trailing edge flaps interconnected with landing gear deployment. The mechanisms and hinges for the wing flaps was exposed across the top of the solid wing. The racing wing produced directional instability requiring small tail fins to be added.^[3]

Operational history

Dismantled and shipped to France, the RB-1 was flown by Howard Rinehart in the 28 September 1920 race, but was forced to withdraw after a cable failure prevented full retraction of the gear/flap mechanism.^{[4] [5]} It was returned to the United States, where it is preserved at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Many of the aircraft's advanced features were incorporated into a prototype fighter design, the XPS-1. The aircraft was raced in September 1920 in France with Rinehart as the pilot.

Variants

• Dayton-Wright XPS-1 - A 1921 Pursuit aircraft using the RB landing gear design.

Specifications

Data from 1921 Aircraft Yearbook

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Length: 22 ft 8 in (6.91 m)
• Wingspan: 21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
• Wing area: 102.74 ft² ( m²)
• Empty weight: 1400 lb ( kg)
• Gross weight: 1850 lb ( kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hall-Scott L-6a, 250 hp (187 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 190 mph (306 km/h)
• Range: 275 miles (440 km)
• Service ceiling: 15,000 ft ( m)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dayton-Wright Racer.

Notes

Bibliography

• Wegg, John (1990). General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-833-X. 
• O'Leary, Michael (November 2003). "Dayton-Wright RB-1". Air Classics. 
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 305. 
• aerofiles.com