Wright Military Flyer Model F
Though the Wright Brothers had successfully flown the world's first heavier-than-air aircraft, both the initial Flyer and Flyer II suffered stability problems; in the case of the Flyer II, it led to a number of crashes. The Flyer III was to improve on the Flyer basic design by enlarging the size of the rudders and elevators, as well as add a larger fuel tank and radiators for longer endurance flights; finally, it was also designed to carry a single passenger. The Wrights successfully tested the Flyer III between 1905 and 1908, and found it to be a much better aircraft that the earlier Flyers.
Not long after completing their 1908 test flights, the Wrights wrote to then-Secretary of War William H. Taft, offering to not only sell the US government Flyer IIIs, but to place it in production. The US Army was indeed interested, and accepted the Military Flyer in 1908. A crash that severely injured Orville Wright and killed Thomas Selfridge led to changes in the second Military Flyer, accepted in 1909 and referred to by the US Army as the Model A. The Model A was a technology demonstrator and differed from the Flyer III in that the wings were shorter for better speed.
The Model A achieved a number of firsts: besides carrying the first passenger into the air in 1905, it was also the first aircraft to go into production and the first to be license-built: the Wrights only produced seven Model As, but other companies built as many as 60 more. Such was the quick progression of aviation that the Model A was obsolete by 1911.
The Model B used the same wing design as the Model A, but was more of a conventional aircraft in that the elevator was moved to the rear rather than carried in front of the pilot. Unlike the Model A, which was modified ad hoc to carry passengers, the B was meant from the beginning to carry two people. This made the Model B the first truly purpose built training aircraft, and six were purchased by the US military for service--three by the Army and three by the Navy. The Model B would also have the distinction of being the first aircraft to be turned into a warplane, when a machine gun was fired from a Model B in June 1912.
By this time, demand for Wright aircraft was such that the brothers could not keep up with orders, so the Wrights sold a license to Starling Burgess, a yacht builder who had also designed and built a few airplanes of his own. Burgess built the Model B as the Model F, and about 100 were produced--marking the first production run of an aircraft in the United States, and the first time an aircraft was license-produced.
Three original Model As and two Model Bs are known to exist, along with about a dozen replicas, flyable and display only. This replica is meant to represent a Burgess-built Model F, and is on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah.
A whole gamut of aerospace history can be seen in the background: the top of a B-17G Flying Fortress, a JN-4 Jenny, and a F-86.
Wright Military Flyer Model F
Though the Wright Brothers had successfully flown the world's first heavier-than-air aircraft, both the initial Flyer and Flyer II suffered stability problems; in the case of the Flyer II, it led to a number of crashes. The Flyer III was to improve on the Flyer basic design by enlarging the size of the rudders and elevators, as well as add a larger fuel tank and radiators for longer endurance flights; finally, it was also designed to carry a single passenger. The Wrights successfully tested the Flyer III between 1905 and 1908, and found it to be a much better aircraft that the earlier Flyers.
Not long after completing their 1908 test flights, the Wrights wrote to then-Secretary of War William H. Taft, offering to not only sell the US government Flyer IIIs, but to place it in production. The US Army was indeed interested, and accepted the Military Flyer in 1908. A crash that severely injured Orville Wright and killed Thomas Selfridge led to changes in the second Military Flyer, accepted in 1909 and referred to by the US Army as the Model A. The Model A was a technology demonstrator and differed from the Flyer III in that the wings were shorter for better speed.
The Model A achieved a number of firsts: besides carrying the first passenger into the air in 1905, it was also the first aircraft to go into production and the first to be license-built: the Wrights only produced seven Model As, but other companies built as many as 60 more. Such was the quick progression of aviation that the Model A was obsolete by 1911.
The Model B used the same wing design as the Model A, but was more of a conventional aircraft in that the elevator was moved to the rear rather than carried in front of the pilot. Unlike the Model A, which was modified ad hoc to carry passengers, the B was meant from the beginning to carry two people. This made the Model B the first truly purpose built training aircraft, and six were purchased by the US military for service--three by the Army and three by the Navy. The Model B would also have the distinction of being the first aircraft to be turned into a warplane, when a machine gun was fired from a Model B in June 1912.
By this time, demand for Wright aircraft was such that the brothers could not keep up with orders, so the Wrights sold a license to Starling Burgess, a yacht builder who had also designed and built a few airplanes of his own. Burgess built the Model B as the Model F, and about 100 were produced--marking the first production run of an aircraft in the United States, and the first time an aircraft was license-produced.
Three original Model As and two Model Bs are known to exist, along with about a dozen replicas, flyable and display only. This replica is meant to represent a Burgess-built Model F, and is on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah.
A whole gamut of aerospace history can be seen in the background: the top of a B-17G Flying Fortress, a JN-4 Jenny, and a F-86.