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weight and performance calculations for the Wright Flyer I
Wright Flyer I
role : experimental/research/flying trials
importance : *****
first flight : 17 December 1903 operational : December 1903
country : United States of America
design : Orville & Wilbur Wright
production : 1 prototype
general information :
After several test flights with unmanned gliders, the Wright brothers built
their first motorized and controllable aircraft. On 17 December 1903, the first test flight was held in the sand dunes of Big Kill Devil Hill, near the Atlantic ocean, 6km from Kitty Hawk village (North Carolina). There was an average wind of 32 km/u (windforce 5 Beaufort) and the Wright brothers pointed there 18m long launching rail against the wind. Orville made the first flight, it lasted only 12 seconds and coming to rest after 37m of flight.
Taking turns, the Wrights made four brief, low-altitude flights that day. The flight paths were all essentially straight; turns were not attempted.
On the last flight, Wilbur flew 260m in 59 seconds, much more than the previous flights (37, 53 and 61m), but the front elevator supports got damaged upon landing and needed repair. Soon after, a heavy gust picked up the Flyer and tumbled it end over end, damaging it beyond any hope of quick repair. It was never flown again.
260m/59 sec = 4.41 m/s ground speed added with a 8.89 m/s (= 32 km/u) head wind gives a True Air Speed (TAS) of 13.3 m/s (= 47.9 m/s), this corresponds well with the published airspeed of the Flyer (48 km/u = 13.3 m/s)
On this photo the Wright Flyer can be seen in the distance just after the fourth and final flight on 17 December. The Flyer covered 260m in 59 seconds as can be seen on the picture in a more or less straight line. After this flight the Flyer was destroyed by a gust of wind and would not fly again.
Wilbur Wright was born on a farm near Melville in 1867 (Indiana) , he was an inventor par excellence. His brother Orville was born in 1871 and had about a broad technical skill.
In December 1892, the brothers opened a small bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. This company provided the brothers enough financial resources for their later
fly-experiments.
From 1894 they started to delve into aviation. Wilbur quickly came to the conclusion that the main problem for a manned flight was controlling the aircraft in the air. They rejected the idea of folding wings. For the controls they designed the system of wing-warping in which the outer wingtips were deformed to deflect the wind up or down. The engine for the Flyer I was developed and built by their assistant, shopkeeper and mechanic Charlie Tayler. The Wright's designed a new air propeller made of layers of three-year-old fir wood with a diameter of 2.60 meters.
Wilbur died of typhoid fever on May 30, 1912. Orville died on 30 January 1948.
The original Flyer I is preserved and seen at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The museum in Kitty Hawk has a replica.
A one-gallon (1 US gallon = 3.785 litre) fuel tank [it actually held just 22 ounces (= 0.62 kg) ] was suspended from a wing strut, and the gasoline fed by gravity down a tube to the engine. The engine ran at 1,025 revolutions per minute, producing a combined thrust between 120 and 130 pounds at with a propeller speed of 330 rpm.
users : Wright brothers
crew : 1
engine : 1 Wright 12 hp liquid-cooled 4 -cylinder inline engine 12 [hp](8.9 KW)
dimensions :
wingspan : 12.29 [m], length : 6.43 [m], height : 2.44[m]
wing area : 47.38 [m^2]
weights :
max.take-off weight : 346 [kg]
empty weight operational : 274 [kg] useful load : 0 [kg]
performance :
speed : 48 [km/u] op 100 [m]
service ceiling : 100 [m]
endurance (theoretical) : 0.429 [hours]
estimated action radius : 10 [km]
description :
4-bay biplane with fixed landing ski
two spar upper and lower wing
engine, landing gear and useful-load in or attached to fuselage, fuel in gravity tank suspended from a wingstrut
airscrew :
two fixed pitch 2 -bladed pusher airscrews with max. efficiency :0.58 [ ]
diameter airscrew 2.59 [m]
angle of attack prop : 22.06 [ ]
reduction : 0.32 [ ]
airscrew revs : 330 [r.p.m.]
pitch at Max speed 2.47 [m]
blade-tip speed at Vmax and max revs. : 47 [m/s]
calculation : *1* (dimensions)
mean wing chord : 1.93 [m]
calculated wing chord (rounded tips): 2.16 [m]
wing aspect ratio : 6.38 []
gap : 1.89 [m]
gap/chord : 0.98 [ ]
seize (span*length*height) : 193 [m^3]
calculation : *2* (fuel consumption)
oil consumption : 0.2 [kg/hr]
fuel consumption(cruise speed) : 6.5 [kg/hr] (8.8 [litre/hr]) at 99 [%] power
distance flown for 1 kg fuel : 7.40 [km/kg] at 100 [m] cruise height, sfc : 735.0 [kg/kwh]
estimated total fuel capacity : 3.79 [litre] (2.78 [kg])
calculation : *3* (weight)
weight engine(s) dry : 82.0 [kg] = 9.16 [kg/KW]
weight transmission & gear (engines in fuselage) : 3.6 [kg]
weight 0.4 litre oil tank : 0.11 [kg]
The Flyer before it’s sheds for shelter at Kitty Hawk.
oil tank filled with 0.1 litre oil : 0.1 [kg]
oil in engine 0.5 litre oil : 0.4 [kg]
fuel in engine 0.1 litre fuel : 0.04 [kg]
weight 3.8 litre gravity patrol tank(s) : 0.6 [kg]
weight radiator : 1.3 [kg]
weight fuel line 0.15 [kg]
weight airscrew(s) (wood) incl. boss & bolts : 5.8 [kg]
total weight propulsion system : 94 [kg](27.1 [%])
***************************************************************
fuselage skeleton (wood gauge : 4.79 [cm]): 38 [kg]
bracing : 1.7 [kg]
weight controls : 4.4 [kg]
weight engine mount : 0.4 [kg]
total weight fuselage : 44 [kg](12.8 [%])
***************************************************************
weight wing covering (doped linen fabric) : 30 [kg]
total weight ribs (15 ribs) : 21 [kg]
load on front upper spar (clmax) per running metre : 198.1 [N]
total weight 8 spars : 17 [kg]
weight wings : 68 [kg]
weight wing/square meter : 1.44 [kg]
weight 16 interplane struts & cabane : 22.1 [kg]
weight cables (116 [m]) : 3.1 [kg] (= 27 [gram] per metre)
diameter cable : 2.1 [mm]
weight fin & rudder (1.8 [m2]) : 2.8 [kg]
weight stabilizer & elevator (5.3 [m2]): 8.0 [kg]
total weight wing surfaces & bracing : 104 [kg] (30.1 [%])
*******************************************************************
Looks like this picture is taken shortly after the 4th flight, note the damaged front elevator
********************************************************************
calculated empty weight : 273 [kg](78.9 [%])
weight oil for 0.5 hours flying : 0.1 [kg]
weight cooling fluids : 1.9 [kg]
calculated operational weight empty : 275 [kg] (79.5 [%])
published operational weight empty : 274 [kg] (79.2 [%])
_____________
| | | |o| | | |
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weight crew : 68 [kg]
weight fuel for 0.2 hours flying : 1 [kg]
********************************************************************
operational weight : 344 [kg](99.5 [%])
fuel reserve : 1 [kg] enough for 0.23 [hours] flying
possible additional useful load : 0 [kg]
operational weight fully loaded : 346 [kg] with fuel tank filled for 100 [%]
published maximum take-off weight : 346 [kg] (100.0 [%])
calculation : * 4 * (engine power)
power loading (operational without bombload) : 38.48 [kg/kW]
total power : 8.9 [kW] at 1025 [r.p.m]
calculation : *5* (loads)
manoeuvre load : 1.0 [g] at 1000 [m]
limit load : 3.0 [g] ultimate load : 4.5 [g] load factor : 3.4 [g]
design flight time : 0.34 [hours]
design cycles : 125 sorties, design hours : 26 [hours]
operational wing loading : 71 [N/m^2]
wing stress (3 g) during operation : 149 [N/kg] at 3g emergency manoeuvre
calculation : *6* (angles of attack)
angle of attack zero lift : -1.24 ["]
max. angle of attack (stalling angle) : 12.89 ["]
angle of attack at max. speed : 6.64 ["]
calculation : *7* (lift & drag ratios
lift coefficient at angle of attack 0° :0.10 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. angle of attack : 1.14 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. speed : 0.63 [ ]
induced drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0357 [ ]
drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0638 [ ]
drag coefficient (zero lift) : 0.0281 [ ]
calculation : *8* (speeds
stalling speed at sea-level (OW): 36 [km/u]
landing speed at sea-level: 44 [km/hr]
min. drag speed (max endurance) : 43 [km/hr] at 100 [m](power :93 [%])
max. rate of climb speed : 42.4 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruising speed : 48 [km/hr] op 100 [m] (power:97 [%])
design speed prop : 48 [km/hr]
maximum speed : 49 [km/hr] op 100 [m] (power:99 [%])
climbing speed at sea-level : 6 [m/min]
calculation : *9* (regarding various performances)
static prop wash : 6 [m/s]
take-off distance at sea-level : 29 [m]
lift/drag ratio : 10.01 [ ]
climbing speed at 50m : 5.00 [m/min]
tijd naar 100m : 20.00 [min]
published ceiling (100 [m]
practical ceiling (operational weight) : 108 [m] with flying weight :344 [kg] line 3385
turning speed at CLmax : 36.7 [km/u] at 50 [m] height
turn radius at 50m: 66 [m]
time needed for 360* turn 40.6 [seconds] at 50m
load factor at max. angle turn 1.01 ["g"]
calculation *10* (action radius & endurance)
operational endurance : 0.43 [hours] with 1 crew and 0.2 [kg] useful load and 100.0 [%] fuel
published endurance : 0.43 [hours] with 1 crew and possible useful load : 0.2 [kg] and 100.0 [%] fuel
maximum action radius : 11 [km] with 1 crew and 0 [kg] useful load ( 4.1 [liter] additional fuel neeeded)
max range theoretically with additional fuel tanks for total 4.1 [litre] fuel : 22.2 [km]
useful load with action-radius 250km : 0 [kg]
production (500 km) : 0 [tonkm/hour]
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literature :
praktisch handboek vliegtuigen deel I page 36,37
geschiedenis van de luchtvaart page 38 - 44
beroemde luchtvaart-pioniers page 16 – 20
DISCLAIMER Above calculations are based on published data, they must be
regarded as indication not as facts.
Calculated performance and weight may not correspond with actual weights
and performances and are assumptions for which no responsibility can be taken.
Calculations are as accurate as possible, they can be fine-tuned when more data
is available, you are welcome to give suggestions and additional information
so we can improve our program. For copyright on drawings/photographs/
content please mail to below mail address
(c) B van der Zalm 19 July 2020 contact : info.aircraftinvestigation@gmail.com python 3.7.4