Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Single-seat light aircraft

Power Plant:

One 8.95 kw (12 hp) at 1,020 rpm Wright four-cylinder, in-line [201 cub in displacement] liquid-cooled engine (bore 10.16 by 10.16 cm – 4 in by 4 in]; weight 77 kg (170 lb) driving two chain-driven counter-rotating 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in) diameter two-blade propellers

Specifications:

History:

On 17 December 1903 the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, achieved the first successful, powered, sustained and more-or-less controlled flight in a heavier than air machine in the midst of a gusty, wintry, gale on the Kitty Hawk promontory in North Carolina between the Albermarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.  Since then man has been fascinated by flight, and has been interested in the brothers and their aircraft.

The airframe in which the first flights were made was an equal-span, un-staggered, biplane with front biplane-elevator and aft twin-rudders, a half-gallon fuel tank and a cradle for a single, prone pilot on the lower wing.  The brothers had experimented with a number of designs since their first kite design completed in August 1899.  They built the aircraft and the engine in their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.

The engine was a 3.3 litre (201 cub in) four-cylinder, in-line, horizontal, liquid-cooled four-stroke, with low-tension magneto ignition running on gasoline. It was capable of 7.46 kw (13 bhp) at 1,750 rpm and achieved 59.9 kg (132 lb) of static thrust to drive two 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in) diameter opposite-rotating pusher propellers mounted on shafts between the mainplanes, driving through cycle chains at a gearing of 23 to 8.  Flight was sustained at 1,030 rpm which yielded 7.46 kw (10 hp) to the shafts.

The story of the Wright brothers and their subsequent design and development of aircraft is well known and well documented. Records indicate seven Wright Flyer Model As, the “production model”, were built in the United States and four were licence-built in France by Lazare Weiller.  The brothers set up their company in 1909, Wright Company of Dayton, Ohio.

In December 1907 the US Army Signal Corps sought a military aeroplane capable of carrying a pilot and observer.  Some 41 designs were lodged. All but the Wright design were rejected.  An aircraft was built and demonstrations were held in France and at Fort Myer in Virginia.

It was in a Wright Flyer that the world’s first fatal aviation accident occurred, when Lt Thomas Selfridge, whilst flying with Orville Wright, was killed when the starboard propeller fractured, control was lost, and the machine crashed, Orville receiving a broken hip.  The following year a further machine was submitted to the US Signal Corps, which was extensively trialled, becoming the first aeroplane to be accepted into military service.

One was imported to this region, this being a French licence-built example.  Mr L A Adamson, headmaster of Wesley College, Melbourne, VIC imported a Wright Biplane, the first powered aircraft to be imported, this arriving on 15 November 1909.  Named The Stella, on arrival it was taken to Sydney Town Hall, NSW where a team of mechanics assembled it under the supervision of its pilot, an Englishman, Colin Defries, between 18 and 20 November 1909 in front of the public.

On completion it was conveyed to the Victoria Park Racecourse and placed in a tent, where it was fitted with a wheeled undercarriage in lieu of the skid as used by the Wright Bros.  Promoters of an event known as ‘The Flying Fortnight’, J & N Tait, advertised that the machine would be flown by Defries, and that he had already flown this machine at Juvisy aerodrome in France during the International Aviation Tournament at Reims.  The company had plans to fly the aircraft at all of Australia’s capital cities.

Due to strong winds the aircraft was not flown on Saturday, 8 December, but during a fast taxi in front of the crowd the undercarriage was damaged when it hit some sleepers in the ground.  Repairs were effected and on 9 December Defries made “a successful sustained controlled flight” which was witnessed by a small crowd, flying 105 m (345 ft).  A further successful flight was made on 18 December, a distance of 274 m (900 ft) being covered, but on this occasion, whilst in the air, Defries lost his hat and in an attempt to retrieve it lost control and crashed.

The machine was taken to Diggers Rest near Melbourne, where it was to be flown by Ralph C Banks, a motor mechanic.  Some reports say he was an American; others indicate he was British.  He was involved in the assembly of the aircraft in Sydney, and in repairs made to the machine.  An attempt was made on 1 March 1910 by Banks to fly the aircraft at Diggers Rest and a distance of 274 m (900 feet) was covered with a height of approximately 4.58 m (15 ft) attained.  However, it crashed on landing and was extensively damaged.  After repair to static display standard it was taken to Melbourne, and later Adelaide, SA and exhibited.  Later it, and a Bleriot, which had been imported later in January 1910, had their engines removed and were dumped at sea.

A number of replicas of the Wright Flyer, and subsequent designs by the Wright Brothers, have been built around the world.  One replica built in the United States was tested at the Ames Research Centre at Mountain View, California in the facility’s wind tunnel and attempts were made to fly it in 2003 to celebrate the centennial of the world’s first powered flight but without success due to weather problems.

In about 1996 replicas of the Wright Flyer and Charles Lindbergh’s Ryan Spirit of St Louis were built in Toronto, NSW, using the original techniques, but were later shipped overseas.  In 2000 the University of Sydney Department of Aeronautical Engineering commenced construction of a Wright B, this being a replica of the aircraft built in 1909.  Other replicas have been built in Australia and New Zealand.  One was built by a retired aircraft engineer, John Delaney, and made a flight of 85 m (279 ft) at an altitude of 2.5 m (8 ft) at Calvin Grove airstrip north of Adelaide.

A Wright Flyer Model A replica was built by Eric and Keith Hayden and flown at Narromine, NSW on 27 September 2005.  This machine had a converted liquid-cooled 48 kw (65 hp) Hillman Imp motor vehicle engine installed, having made its first flight on Tuesday, 27 September 2005, with well-known Scone, NSW pilot, Colin Pay, at the controls.  It was allotted the registration VH-SOF (c/n WBA01).  The long-term plan for this aircraft was to demonstrate it at aviation events around Australia and the United Kingdom, and perhaps fly it across the English Channel.  Owned and operated by Wright Bros Aircraft Project Inc, the aircraft was cancelled from the Australian Civil Aircraft Register on 14 November 2017.  Another replica (N3635N) was flown at Huffman Prairie, Dayton, Ohio on 5 October 2005, being a Wright Flyer III.