Wright Model B

{{Short description|American biplane}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}  {{Infobox aircraft |name=Model B |image=File:Wright Model B Dahlgren Hall MD1.jpg |caption=Replica of Wright Model B in Dahlgren Hall, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis |type=Sports plane |manufacturer=Wright Company |designer= |first_flight=1910 |introduction= |retired= |status= |primary_user= United States Army |more_users= United States Navy |produced= |number_built=ca. 100 |variants= |developed_into=Model EX }} [[File:NASM - Wright Model B - reproduction.jpg|right|thumb|Wright Model B reproduction in Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.]] [[File:WrightModelB-Far08.jpg|right|thumb|Wright Model B reproduction on display at the Farnborough Airshow 2008]] [[File:17 14 068 model B flyer.jpg|thumb|Wright Modified “B” Flyer at the USAF Museum]]

The '''Wright Model B''' is an early pusher biplane designed by the Wright brothers in the United States in 1910. It was the first, and only, of their designs to be built in two-digit quantity. Unlike the Model A, of which 60 were licensed built in Germany, 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.

thumb|Wright Model B Flyer after the first successful firing of a machine gun from an airplane 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<ref>The last was a Burgess-Wright Model F.</ref>) 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'''; not to be confused with the Wright Model F, an unrelated Wright design), 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.

Development continued as the Model EX. Burgess also planned a refined version as the '''Model G''' (not to be confused with the Wright Model G, an unrelated Wright flying boat), but this was never built.

==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. ;Burgess-Wright Model F :This version was built under license by the Burgess Company. ;Burgess-Wright Model G :Unbuilt version, it was intended to be built by Burgess Company.

==Operators== ;{{USA}} * United States Army * United States Navy

==Surviving aircraft and replicas== At least two original Model Bs were extant in 2007. * An original Model B is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. This aircraft was used for flight instruction by Mr. Howard Rinehart at Mineola, New York in 1916. It last flew during the International Air Races at Dayton in October 1924. It was placed on exhibit in the Museum in October 1962 by Eugene W. Kettering, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Air Force Museum Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wright Modified "B" Flyer |url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195881/wright-modified-b-flyer/ |website=National Museum of the United States Air Force |access-date=14 January 2020 |date=28 June 2016}}</ref> * An original Model B on display at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was purchased by Grover Cleveland Bergdoll in 1912 from Orville Wright. * A replica of the Burgess-Wright Model F is displayed at Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah.<ref>{{cite web |title=Burgess-Wright Flyer |url=http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5641 |website=Hill Air Force Base |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624045438/http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5641 |archive-date=24 June 2016 |date=27 September 2007}}</ref> * Wright B Flyers Inc., a non-profit organization based at a museum-hangar at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport in Dayton, Ohio, owns one replica and one look-alike Wright "B" Flyer. A third look-alike was lost in a crash in 2011. ** Wright "B" Flyer No. 001 (FAA registration number N3786B) is a flying look-alike nicknamed "Brown Bird". It was built in the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Brown Bird |url=http://www.wright-b-flyer.org/aircraft/brown-bird |website=Wright "B" Flyer Inc. |access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref> ** Wright "B" Flyer A "Valentine Flyer" (also called the "Yellow Bird") is a non-flying near-replica originally constructed by Tom and Nancy Valentine as a flying model for the TV-movie ''The Winds of Kitty Hawk'' in 1978. The aircraft has not flown since being damaged during filming. The "Yellow Bird" is a more accurate replica of the Model B than either 001 or 002.<ref>{{cite web |title=Valentine Flyer |url=http://www.wright-b-flyer.org/aircraft/valentine-flyer |website=Wright "B" Flyer Inc. |access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref> *Replicas on display: ** College Park Aviation Museum, College Park, Maryland<ref>{{cite web |title=1910 Wright Model B Reproduction |url=http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com/1634/1910-Wright-Model-B-Reproduction |website=College Park Aviation Museum |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114043609/http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com/1634/1910-Wright-Model-B-Reproduction |url-status=dead }}</ref> ** United States Army Aviation Museum, Fort Novosel, Alabama ** United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland<ref>{{cite web |title=Object 38: Replica of Wright Brothers Model B Airplane |url=http://www.usna.edu/100Objects/Objects/object-38.php |website=United States Naval Academy |access-date=14 January 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114045610/https://www.usna.edu/100Objects/Objects/object-38.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> ** Virginia Aviation Museum, Richmond, Virginia ** EAA Aviation Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin<ref>[https://www.eaa.org/eaa-museum/museum-collection/aircraft-collection-folder/1911-wright-flyer-model-b-replica---n1911l 1911 Wright Flyer Model B Replica - N1911L]</ref> ** Oakland Aviation Museum, Oakland, California<ref>{{cite web |title=Wright EX "Vin Fiz" Replica |url=https://www.oaklandaviationmuseum.org/aircraft-on-display#:~:text=Wright%20EX%20Vin%20Fiz%20(replica) |website=Oakland Aviation Museum}}</ref>

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |prime units? = imp |crew=One pilot |capacity=one passenger |length m=7.93 |length ft=26 |length in=0 |span m=11.89 |span ft=39 |span in=0 |height m=2.67 |height ft=8 |height in=9 |wing area sqm=44.6 |wing area sqft=480 |empty weight kg=363 |empty weight lb=800 |gross weight kg=567 |gross weight lb=1,250 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Wright Vertical 4 |eng1 kw=26 |eng1 hp=35 |max speed kmh=72 |max speed mph=45 |cruise speed kmh=64 |cruise speed mph=40 |range km=177 |range miles=110 }}

==See also== {{Portal|Aviation}} {{Aircontent| |related= * Wright 1902 Glider * ''Wright Flyer'' * Wright Flyer II * Wright Flyer III * Wright Model A }}

==References== ;Notes {{reflist}} ;Bibliography * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |pages=898 }} * {{cite book |title=United States Air Force Museum |year=1975 |publisher=Air Force Museum Foundation |location=Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio}} * {{cite book |title=World Aircraft Information Files |publisher=Bright Star Publishing|location=London |pages=File 911 Sheet 03 }} * [http://www.fi.edu/wright/takedown/ Franklin Institute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926233617/http://www.fi.edu/wright/takedown/ |date=2007-09-26 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081211193803/http://www.wright-b-flyer.org/index.html Home of the Wright B Flyer] * [http://www.armyavnmuseum.org/museum/exhibits/wright.html U.S. Army Aviation Museum] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081020074440/http://pgparks.com/places/historic/cpam/inside.html College Park Aviation Museum] * [http://www.wrightexperience.com/ Wright Experience] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090116110321/http://www.hill.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=5641 Hill Aerospace Museum] *[http://www.wright-brothers.org/Information_Desk/Just_the_Facts/Airplanes/Model_B.htm ''Just The Facts'' 1910–1914 Wright Model B]

==External links== {{commons category|Wright Model B}} * [http://www.fi.edu/wright/1911/flight/index.html Footage of Wright Model B in flight in 1934] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095434/http://www.fi.edu/wright/1911/flight/index.html |date=2007-09-29 }} * [http://www.wright-b-flyer.org/ Wright B Flyer Inc.]

Category:1910s United States sport aircraft Category:Single-engined twin-prop pusher aircraft Model B Category:Biplanes Category:Aircraft first flown in 1910