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"EX" stood for "exhibition." This was a small, fast,
single-seat airplane the Wright built for exhibition flying. Although it's
often said the Model EX was a single-seat Model B, this is not true. The
airframe was patterned after the 1910 Model R, but the wings were
lengthened and it used a standard Wright motor with either 4 or 6 cylinders.
The EX had a 32-foot span; 5-foot chord; 21.5-foot length;
and weighed about 903 lb. With the 4-cylinder motor, it could fly 55 mph;
with a 6-cylinder motor, the EX could exceed 60 mph.The Wrights built a special Model EX, called the Vin Fiz, for Cal Rodgers. This was the first airplane to fly across the U.S. Sponsored by a grape-flavored soft drink called Vin Fiz, Cal Rodgers started on 17 Sep 1911 at Sheepshead Bay on Long Island, NY, landed in Pasadena, CA on 5 Nov 1911. Later Rogers flew on to Long Beach. The Vin Fiz was flown in exhibition flights until 1914, then was destroyed in 1916. In 1927, the Carnegie Institute built a clone from odds and ends of Wright airplanes, including a few remaining pieces of the original Vin Fiz. This was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1933, where it was completely rebuilt using Wright construction procedures. References:
[Submitted by Joe W. McDaniel] |
 Cal Rodgers with his Wright Model EX, the Vin Fiz, in 1911.
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