Wright Model B

Model B
Burgess Model F replica preserved at Hill Aerospace Museum. The Burgess was a license-built variant of the Model B.
Role Sports plane
Manufacturer Wright Company
First flight 1910
Number built ca. 100
Unit cost
$5,000
Wright Model B reproduction in Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Wright Model B reproduction on display at the Farnborough Airshow 2008
Wright Modified “B” Flyer at the USAF Museum

The Wright Model B was an early pusher biplane designed by the Wright brothers in the United States in 1910. It was the first of their designs to be built in quantity. Unlike the Model A, it featured a true elevator carried at the tail rather than at the front. It was the last Wright model to have an open-frame tail. The Model B was a dedicated two-seater with the pilot and a passenger sitting side-by-side on the leading edge of the lower wing.

Wright Model B Flyer after the first successful firing of a machine gun from an aeroplane in June 1912.

Besides their civil market, the Wrights were able to sell aircraft to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps (S.C. 3, 4, and 5[1]) and to the United States Navy as hydroplanes (AH-4, -5-, and -6), in which services they were used as trainers. Furthermore, the Wrights were able to sell licenses to produce the aircraft domestically (to the Burgess Company and Curtis, which designated it Model F), as well as in Germany. The deal with Burgess was the first license-production of aircraft undertaken in the United States and most of the approximately one hundred Model Bs produced were actually built by Burgess. A modified Model B, redesignated Model EX (for Exhibition) achieved fame as the Vin Fiz Flyer, the first aircraft to cross the United States. Burgess also planned a refined version as the Model G, but this was never built.

Survivors and replicas

At least three original Model Bs were extant in 2007.


Variants

Model B
Two-seat sports biplane, powered by a 35-hp (26-kW) Wright piston engine.
Model B-1
Civil seaplane variant with two steel and aluminum pontoons.
Model B-2
Civil seaplane variant with a single float.
Model EX
This modified Model B was the first aircraft to cross the United States.
Model F
This version was built under license by the Burgess Company.
Model G
Unbuilt version, it was intended to be built by Burgess Company.
Model G Aeroboat
Two aircraft, built for the US Navy in 1913 and 1914, similar to the Model F, and designated AH-19.

Operators

 United States

Specifications

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

References

Notes
  1. ↑ The last was a Burgess-Wright Model F.
  2. ↑ United States Air Force Museum 1975, p.6
  3. ↑ the CNN Wire Staff (July 30, 2011). "Replica of Wright brothers 1910 plane crashes in Ohio, killing 2". CNN. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gokavi, Mark (July 30, 2011). "2 killed in Wright replica plane crash". Dayton Daily News.
Bibliography
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