The Wright Model D was built to sell to the United States Army for an observation aircraft. It was similar in design to the

Wright Model R The Wright Model R was a single-seat biplane built by the Wright Company in Dayton, Ohio, in 1910. Also known as the Roadster or the Baby Wright, it was designed for speed and altitude competitions. Design The Wright Model R was derived from the ...

with a 6-60 motor. The Model D could fly 66.9 mph and climb 525 feet per minute, but its excessive landing speed discouraged the Army from ordering more.

Development

The aircraft was built to fulfill a request by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

for a speed scout.

Design

The single seat aircraft was made from ash and spruce wood coated with aluminum powder. It used forward mounted finlets ("blinkers" in Wright terminology) to stabilize the aircraft. It was powered by the last six cylinder engine built by the Wright Brothers with a rubber band drive on the flywheel. The 406 cubic inch engine ran at 1,400 to 1560rpm powering two counterrotating propellers via chains.

Operational history

Orville Wright considered the Model D “the easiest to control of any we have ever built” with the exception of the high landing speed. The United States Army acquired two aircraft in August 1912. One of the two was wrecked and rebuilt during trials. On May 3, 1913 the "speed scout" S.C. no 19 was accepted, and on June 6, 1913 the second aircraft was accepted. Both were not flown regularly and were retired in 1914. The 1913 engine is on display at the Smithsonian

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

Specifications (Wright Model D)

References

;Notes {{Wright aircraft Single-engined twin-prop pusher aircraft 1910s United States military reconnaissance aircraft Model D Aircraft first flown in 1912