Wright Model F
| Model F | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Military reconnaissance aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Wright Company |
| Designer | Grover Loening |
| First flight | 1914 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Wright Model F was a prototype military aircraft built by the Wright Company for the U.S. Army in 1914. It was the first Wright design to feature a fuselage.[1][2][3][4] The major structural elements of previous Wright designs had been connected by open frameworks.[5] The application of metal armor to the underside of the fuselage, together with its unenviable performance,[6] earned the aircraft the nickname "Tin Cow".
Design
[edit]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.[3] The pilot and observer sat side-by-side in an open cockpit.[3] 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.[3] It was fitted with fixed, tailskid undercarriage.[3]
Development
[edit]The Model F was designed in response to a 1913 U.S. Army Signal Corps specification for a reconnaissance aircraft.[7] 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.[7] Due to a lack of confidence in American-produced aero engines of the time, the specification also called for use of a foreign powerplant.[7] The contract was worth $9,500.[4]
Wright responded with a design by Grover Loening that resembled the contemporary French designs,[4][8] 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.[6] As originally designed, the aircraft was powered by tractor propellers.[7]
A series of revisions followed, which aviation historian Richard P. Hallion describes as "a dark comedy of errors".[6] 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.[6] The tractor propellers were moved to become pushers, and the seating arrangement was changed to be side-by-side.[6]
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.[6]
Operational history
[edit]The Model F was accepted by the Army in March 1915, and given the serial number "39".[5][6] During testing it was described as "a lumbersome mass of rattling material" and given its "Tin Cow" nickname.[6] Test pilot Lt. Herbert Dargue said that it was "uncontrollable on the ground and out of date."[9] Only two months later, the aircraft was withdrawn[9][6] along with all the Army's other pusher designs.<ref name="roach105"> It had only flown seven times.[9]
Operators
[edit]Specifications
[edit]Data from Hallion 2019, p.68
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 32 ft 10 in (10.01 m)
- Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
- Wing area: 485 sq ft (45.1 m2) (estimated)
- Powerplant: 1 × Beardmore-built Austro-Daimler six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 60 mph (97 km/h, 52 kn) (estimated)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Taylor 1992, p.898
- ^ The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft 1985, p.3098
- ^ a b c d e "The New Wright Biplane" 1914, p.1133
- ^ a b c Roach 2016, p.104
- ^ a b Swanborough 1963, p.478
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hallion 2019, p.68
- ^ a b c d Hallion 2019, p.67
- ^ Hallion 2019, p.67–68
- ^ a b c Roach 2015, p.105
Bibliography
[edit]- Hallion, Richard P. (2019). The Wright Flyers 1899–1916. Oxford: Osprey.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
- "The New Wright Biplane". Flight. 6 (47). London: Flight: 1133. November 20, 1914.
- Roach, Edward J. (2014). The Wright Company: From Invention to Industry. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
- Swanborough, Gordon (1963). United States Military Aircraft Since 1909. London: Putnam.
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1993). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.