 he
U.S. Army purchased this, its first airplane, for $25,000 plus $5,000
bonus after Orville exceeded the 40 mph speed requirement with Lt. Lahm as
passenger. Similar to the Model A, the Wrights built this aircraft with
smaller wings to pass the Army's speed test. This biplane had 36.5-foot
span; 5.8-foot chord; 5-foot separation; 415 square-foot area; 80 sq-foot
double horizontal front rudder ; 16 square-foot twin movable vertical rear
rudders; 28.9-foot overall length; and weighed 735 lb. Wilbur flew it to
train the first Army pilots, Lahm and Humphries at College Park, MD in Oct
1909. During this training, Wilbur experimented with a horizontal surface
in the rear of the aircraft to increase pitch stability, as Orville was
doing in Germany. These experiments would eventually lead to the Model B.
In 1910, Lt. Benjamin Foulois took it to Ft Sam Houston, San Antonio, TX, and learned to fly it by correspondence with the Wrights. In the summer of 1910, Foulois installed the first wheels on a Wright airplane. In Aug 1910, the Wrights built a better wheel system that they then used on all their airplanes. The Wrights restored the airplane in May 1911 for permanent display at the Smithsonian on 20 Oct 1911. References:
[Submitted by Joe W. McDaniel] |
 Orville and Wilbur ready the 1909 Military Flyer for a flight at Fort Myer. |