Brunner-Winkle Bird

Brunner-Winkle Bird
Bird A of 1929 fitted with Curtiss OX-5 engine preserved at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum near St Louis, Missouri.
Role air-taxi/joyrider
National origin United States
Manufacturer Brunner-Winkle
Designer Michael Gregor
First flight September 1928
Status some aircraft still flying and on display in museums
Primary user private flyers and barnstorming
Number built ca. 240


The Brunner-Winkle Bird was a three-seat taxi and joy-riding aircraft produced in the USA from 1928 to 1931.

Design and operation

The Model A version was powered by the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5, and featured a welded steel-tube truss fuselage with metal and fabric skinning. The wings, constructed of Spruce and plywood were also covered with metal and fabric skinning. The Model A had a reasonable performance for an OX-5 powered aircraft. The Model A's ease of handling led to its entry into the 1929 Guggenheim Safety Airplane contest, where it was awarded the highest ratings for a standard production aircraft.

The Model A was awarded Group 2 approval no 2-33 in January 1929 for the first nine aircraft serial no. 1000 to 1008. Aircraft serial no. 1009 upwards were manufactured under Air Transport Certificate no. 101.

The Model B followed on from the initial Bird design and was fitted with the uncowled Kinner radial engine. Production aircraft were designated BK.

Variants

Data from: aerofiles.com

Bird BK of 1930 with Kinner K-5 engine preserved at the Yanks Air Museum at Chino, California


Specifications (Bird Model A)

General characteristics

Performance


Notes

    References

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