# Wright Model F > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wright_Model_F > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wright_Model_F.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Model_F > Source revision: 1321146446 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Prototype American military aircraft of 1914 }} {{About |a prototype military aircraft built by the Wright Company in 1914 |the Wright aircraft design built under licence by the [Burgess Company](/source/Burgess_Company) as the Model F |Wright Model B}} {{Use mdy dates |date=April 2025 }} {{Use American English|date=April 2025 }} {{Infobox aircraft | name = Model F | logo = | logo_size = | image = File:Wright Model F.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Military reconnaissance aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United States | manufacturer = [Wright Company](/source/Wright_Company) | design_group = | designer = [Grover Loening](/source/Grover_Loening) | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1914 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Wright Model F''' was a prototype military aircraft built by the [Wright Company](/source/Wright_Company) for the [U.S. Army](/source/U.S._Army) in 1914. It was the first Wright design to feature a fuselage.Taylor 1992, p.898''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'' 1985, p.3098"The New Wright Biplane" 1914, p.1133Roach 2016, p.104 The major structural elements of previous Wright designs had been connected by open frameworks.Swanborough 1963, p.478 The application of metal armor to the underside of the fuselage, together with its unenviable performance,Hallion 2019, p.68 earned the aircraft the nickname "'''Tin Cow'''". ==Design== The Model F was a three-bay, unstaggered biplane with equal-span wings. Its overall configuration was conventional, with a conventional tail carried at the rear of the fuselage. The pilot and observer sat side-by-side in an open cockpit. Power was supplied by a piston engine mounted in the nose, which drove two two-bladed pusher propellers mounted on the interplane struts and linked by chain drives. It was fitted with fixed, tailskid undercarriage. ==Development== The Model F was designed in response to a 1913 [U.S. Army Signal Corps](/source/U.S._Army_Signal_Corps) specification for a reconnaissance aircraft.Hallion 2019, p.67 The specification called for the underside of the aircraft to carry a crew of two with a four-hour endurance, be protected by chrome-steel armor, and to be capable of carrying a machine gun. Due to a lack of confidence in American-produced aero engines of the time, the specification also called for use of a foreign powerplant. The contract was worth $9,500. Wright responded with a design by [Grover Loening](/source/Grover_Loening) that resembled the contemporary French designs,Hallion 2019, p.67–68 with a fuselage, and tail unit that consisted of a fin and horizontal stabilizer. Loenig also adopted the current "Deperdussin-style" controls that combined the aircraft's controls into a central control stick. As originally designed, the aircraft was powered by tractor propellers. A series of revisions followed, which aviation historian Richard P. Hallion describes as "a dark comedy of errors". At one stage of development, the aircraft was equipped both with "Deperdussin-style" controls, as well as the system of control wheels fitted to previous Wright designs, before the "Deperdussin-style" controls were removed completely. The tractor propellers were moved to become pushers, and the seating arrangement was changed to be side-by-side. By the time the Model F was finally delivered, it was already a year late, Wright was delivering it at a financial loss, and Loening had quit the company in frustration. ==Operational history== The Model F was accepted by the Army in March 1915, and given the serial number "39". During testing it was described as "a lumbersome mass of rattling material" and given its "Tin Cow" nickname. Test pilot Lt. [Herbert Dargue](/source/Herbert_Dargue) said that it was "uncontrollable on the ground and out of date."Roach 2015, p.105 Only two months later, the aircraft was withdrawn along with all the Army's other pusher designs. It had only flown seven times. ==Operators== * [United States Army Signal Corps](/source/United_States_Army_Signal_Corps) ==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Hallion 2019, p.68 |prime units?=imp |genhide= |crew=2 |capacity= |length m= |length ft=32 |length in=10 |length note= |span m= |span ft=42 |span in=0 |span note= |upper span m= |upper span ft= |upper span in= |upper span note= |mid span m= |mid span ft= |mid span in= |mid span note= |lower span m= |lower span ft= |lower span in= |lower span note= |swept m= |swept ft= |swept in= |swept note= |dia m= |dia ft= |dia in= |dia note= |width m= |width ft= |width in= |width note= |height m= |height ft= |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft=485 |wing area note=(estimated) |swept area sqm= |swept area sqft= |swept area note= |volume m3= |volume ft3= |volume note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb= |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |lift kg= |lift lb= |lift note= |more general= |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=[Beardmore](/source/William_Beardmore_and_Company)-built [Austro-Daimler](/source/Austro-Daimler) |eng1 type=six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline piston engine |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=90 |eng1 shp= |eng1 kn= |eng1 lbf= |eng1 note= |power original= |thrust original= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab= |eng2 number= |eng2 name= |eng2 type= |eng2 kw= |eng2 hp= |eng2 shp= |eng2 kn= |eng2 lbf= |eng2 note= |eng2 kn-ab= |eng2 lbf-ab= |eng3 number= |eng3 name= |eng3 type= |eng3 kw= |eng3 hp= |eng3 shp= |eng3 kn= |eng3 lbf= |eng3 note= |eng3 kn-ab= |eng3 lbf-ab= |more power= |prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note= |rot number= |rot dia m= |rot dia ft= |rot dia in= |rot area sqm= |rot area sqft= |rot area note= |perfhide= |max speed kmh= |max speed mph=60 |max speed kts= |max speed note=(estimated) |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km= |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading kg/m2= |disk loading lb/sqft= |disk loading note= |fuel consumption kg/km= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass= |thrust/weight= |more performance= |armament= |guns= |bombs= |rockets= |missiles= |hardpoints= |hardpoint capacity= |hardpoint rockets= |hardpoint missiles= |hardpoint bombs= |hardpoint other= |avionics= }} {{aircontent |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |lists= }} ==Notes== {{Commons category}} ===References=== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |last=Hallion |first=Richard P. |title=The Wright Flyers 1899–1916 |publisher=Osprey |location=Oxford |year=2019 }} * {{cite book |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft |publisher=Aerospace Publishing|location=London }} * {{cite journal |title=The New Wright Biplane |journal=[Flight](/source/Flight_International) |publisher=Flight |location=London |volume=6 |number=47 |date=November 20, 1914 |page=1133 }} * {{cite book |last=Roach |first=Edward J. |title=The Wright Company: From Invention to Industry |publisher=Ohio University Press |location=Athens, OH |year=2014 }} * {{cite book |last=Swanborough |first=Gordon |title=United States Military Aircraft Since 1909 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |year=1963 }} * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1993 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London }} {{Wright aircraft}} Category:1910s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Category:Wright aircraft Category:Biplanes Category:Conventional-tail aircraft Category:Single-engined twin-prop pusher aircraft Category:Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Category:Aircraft first flown in 1914 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wright Model F](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Model_F) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Model_F?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.