Wright Model B
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The Wright Model B is an early pusher biplane designed by the
Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
in the United States in 1910. It was the first of their designs to be built in quantity. Unlike the Model A, it featured a true
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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. 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) and to the
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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

; *
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Surviving aircraft and replicas

At least two original Model Bs were extant in 2007. * An original Model B is on display at the
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in
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. This aircraft was used for flight instruction by Mr. Howard Rinehart at
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in 1916. It last flew during the International Air Races at
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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. * An original Model B on display at the
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in
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, 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. * 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. ** 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. *Replicas on display: ** College Park Aviation Museum,
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** United States Army Aviation Museum, Fort Novosel, Alabama **
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** Virginia Aviation Museum,
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** Oakland Aviation Museum,
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Specifications


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * *
Franklin Institute







Wright Experience

Hill Aerospace Museum


External links




Wright B Flyer Inc.
{{Wright aircraft 1910s United States sport aircraft Single-engined twin-prop pusher aircraft Model B Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1910