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weight and performance calculations for the Wright Flyer III
The Flyer III had a 5cm dihedral making it more stable in flight then the Flyer I and II who had anhedral wings.
Wright Flyer III
role : experimental/research/flying trials
importance : *****
first flight : 23 June 1905 operational : June 1905
country : United States of America
design : Orville and Wilbur Wright
production : 1 prototype
general information :
The Flyer III was essentially the same design with the same marginal performance and instability as the Flyers I and II. It had an upgraded engine with slightly larger cylinders. The airplane was tested at Huffman Prairie, 8 miles east of Dayton. The instability problems caused a major crash on 14 July 1905 that all but wrecked the airplane, but from which Orville emerged unscathed.
After the Flyer was rebuilt following the crash on 14 July 1905, the elevator and rudder control surfaces were moved further out from the wings. This made them more effective and lengthened the response time, both of which made the aircraft easier to control. They disconnected the rudder of the rebuilt Flyer III from the wing-warping control, and as in most future aircraft, placed it on a separate control handle. They also installed a larger fuel tank and mounted two radiators on front and back struts for extra coolant to the engine for the anticipated lengthy duration flights.
Now the Wright III was the first true airplane in history. It was good too
manoeuvring and could be in the air for more than 30 minutes continue. On 3, 4, and 5 October 1905, the Wrights made their first public flights since May of 1904, inviting friends, reporters, and upstanding folks they thought would make good witnesses. On 5 October 1905, Wilbur flew for 39 minutes 23 seconds, covering 38.9 kilometres over Huffman Prairie before the gasoline in the new 3-gallon (11.34 litres) tank ran out. This flight was longer than the total duration of all the flights of 1903 and 1904.
Then the Wright brothers stopped flying and disassembled the Wright Flyer III in November 1905. They want to keep there knowledge secret and tried to sell their airplane. After winning contracts in America and French they started flying again in 1908, two and a half years later, with a adapted Flyer III with 35 hp engine capable of taking a passenger.
Chord : 198 [cm] Gap : 183 [cm] camber : 1:20
Two contra-rotating propellers 244 cm diam. turning at 490 rpm
users : Wright brothers
crew : 1
engine : 1 Wright no.3 liquid-cooled 4 -cylinder inline engine 24 [hp](17.9 KW)
dimensions :
wingspan : 12.34 [m], length : 8.54 [m], height : 2.44[m]
wing area : 46.73 [m^2]
weights :
max.take-off weight : 388 [kg]
empty weight operational (estimation): 307.0 [kg]
performance :
maximum speed : 59 [km/u] op 100 [m]
service ceiling : 200 [m]
endurance : 0.66 [hours]
estimated action radius : 19 [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 wing strut
airscrew :
two fixed pitch 2 -bladed pusher airscrews with max. efficiency :0.59 [ ]
diameter airscrew 2.44 [m]
angle of attack prop : 21.21 [ ]
reduction : 0.35 [ ]
airscrew revs : 450 [r.p.m.]
pitch at Max speed 2.23 [m]
blade-tip speed at Vmax and max revs. : 60 [m/s]
calculation : *1* (dimensions)
mean wing chord : 1.89 [m]
calculated wing chord (rounded tips): 2.12 [m]
wing aspect ratio : 6.52 []
gap : 1.89 [m]
gap/chord : 1.00 [ ]
seize (span*length*height) : 257 [m^3]
The original Flyer III was salvaged in 1914, after it was abandoned at Kitty Hawk in 1908. It was restored over several years between 1947 and 1950. Today, the restored Flyer III is on display at Wright Hall in Carillon Park, Dayton, OH
calculation : *2* (fuel consumption)
oil consumption : 0.4 [kg/hr]
fuel consumption(cruise speed) : 12.6 [kg/hr] (17.2 [litre/hr]) at 98 [%] power
distance flown for 1 kg fuel : 4.68 [km/kg] at 100 [m] cruise height, sfc : 715.0 [kg/kwh]
estimated total fuel capacity : 11.34 [litre] (8.31 [kg])
calculation : *3* (weight)
weight engine(s) dry : 111.9 [kg] = 6.25 [kg/KW]
weight transmission & gear (engines in fuselage) : 7.2 [kg]
weight 0.8 litre oil tank : 0.25 [kg]
oil tank filled with 0.1 litre oil : 0.1 [kg]
oil in engine 1.0 litre oil : 0.9 [kg]
fuel in engine 0.1 litre fuel : 0.09 [kg]
weight 7.3 litre gravity patrol tank(s) : 1.1 [kg]
weight radiator : 2.6 [kg]
weight fuel line 0.15 [kg]
weight airscrew(s) (wood) incl. boss & bolts : 8.0 [kg]
total weight propulsion system : 132 [kg](34.0 [%])
***************************************************************
fuselage skeleton (wood gauge : 4.14 [cm]): 38 [kg]
bracing : 2.3 [kg]
weight Richard anemometer : 0.5 [kg]
weight controls : 4.5 [kg]
weight engine mount : 0.8 [kg]
total weight fuselage : 46 [kg](11.8 [%])
***************************************************************
weight wing covering (doped linen fabric) : 30 [kg]
total weight ribs (17 ribs) : 23 [kg]
Just above the anemometer is the gas tank. Wilbur flew for 39.5 minutes, covering 24 miles (38 kilometers) before the gasoline in the new 3-gallon (11.34 liters) tank ran out.
load on front upper spar (clmax) per running metre : 166.4 [N]
load on rear upper spar (vmax) per running metre : 54.9 [N]
total weight 8 spars : 15 [kg]
weight wings : 67 [kg]
weight wing/square meter : 1.44 [kg]
weight 16 interplane struts & cabane : 20.3 [kg]
weight cables (116 [m]) : 2.7 [kg] (= 23 [gram] per metre)
diameter cable : 1.9 [mm]
weight fin & rudder (1.8 [m2]) : 2.8 [kg]
weight stabilizer & elevator (5.3 [m2]): 7.9 [kg]
total weight wing surfaces & bracing : 101 [kg] (26.1 [%])
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Close up of the propeller , it was contra rotating with the other prop to cancel centrifugal forces
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calculated empty weight : 305 [kg](78.7 [%])
weight oil for 0.8 hours flying : 0.4 [kg]
weight cooling fluids : 3.9 [kg]
calculated operational weight empty : 310 [kg] (79.8 [%])
estimated operational weight empty : 307 [kg] (79.1 [%])
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weight crew : 68 [kg]
weight fuel for 0.5 hours flying : 6 [kg]
********************************************************************
operational weight : 384 [kg](98.9 [%])
fuel reserve : 2 [kg] enough for 0.16 [hours] flying
possible additional useful load : 2 [kg]
operational weight fully loaded : 388 [kg] with fuel tank filled for 100 [%]
published maximum take-off weight : 388 [kg] (100.0 [%])
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calculation : * 4 * (engine power)
power loading (operational without bombload) : 21.45 [kg/kW]
total power : 17.9 [kW] at 1300 [r.p.m]
Near the top of the centre strut is the reservoir for the radiator. There is no radiator cap; the steam is allowed to escape without building up pressure.
calculation : *5* (loads)
manoeuvre load : 1.4 [g] at 1000 [m]
limit load : 3.0 [g] ultimate load : 4.5 [g] load factor : 2.3 [g]
design flight time : 0.53 [hours]
design cycles : 1345 sorties, design hours : 710 [hours]
operational wing loading : 81 [N/m^2]
wing stress (3 g) during operation : 167 [N/kg] at 3g emergency manoeuvre
calculation : *6* (angles of attack)
angle of attack zero lift : -1.23 ["]
max. angle of attack (stalling angle) : 12.83 ["]
angle of attack at max. speed : 4.62 ["]
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 : 0.47 [ ]
induced drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0196 [ ]
drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0706 [ ]
drag coefficient (zero lift) : 0.0510 [ ]
calculation : *8* (speeds
stalling speed at sea-level (OW): 39 [km/u]
landing speed at sea-level: 46 [km/hr]
min. drag speed (max endurance) : 47 [km/hr] at 100 [m](power :72 [%])
min. power speed (max range) : 53 [km/hr] at 100 [m] (power:80 [%])
max. rate of climb speed : 43.0 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruising speed : 59 [km/hr] op 100 [m] (power:95 [%])
design speed prop : 60 [km/hr]
maximum speed : 60 [km/hr] op 100 [m] (power:98 [%])
climbing speed at sea-level : 43 [m/min]
calculation : *9* (regarding various performances)
static prop wash : 8 [m/s]
take-off distance at sea-level : 21 [m]
Beneath the wings, the skids rest on a wheeled carriage or "truck." This truck carries the aircraft as it rolls down the launch rail, but is left behind when the Flyer takes off..
lift/drag ratio : 7.51 [ ]
climbing speed at 500m : 30.95 [m/min]
time to 500m : 14.30 [min]
max attainable height is limited by amount of fuel carried
published ceiling (200 [m]
ceiling (operational weight) : 1283 [m] with flying weight :375 [kg] line 3385
Theoretically the Wright’s could have taken the Flyer III up to 1200m, but they never attempted to try to fly high, they were just experimenting to keep the aircraft aloft and they probably never have taken the Flyer III above 200m height.
max. dive speed (theoretical) : 174.0 [km/hr] at 663 [m] height
turning speed at CLmax : 44.5 [km/u] at 50 [m] height
turn radius at 50m: 18 [m]
time needed for 360* turn 9.2 [seconds] at 50m
load factor at max. angle turn 1.32 ["g"]
calculation *10* (action radius & endurance)
operational endurance : 0.66 [hours] with 1 crew and 2.2 [kg] useful load and 100.0 [%] fuel
published endurance : 0.66 [hours] with 1 crew and possible useful load : 2.2 [kg] and 100.0 [%] fuel
maximum action radius : 25 [km] with 1 crew and 0 [kg] useful load ( 14.3 [litre] additional fuel needed)
max range theoretically with additional fuel tanks for total 14.3 [litre] fuel : 49.1 [km]
useful load with action-radius 250km : 0 [kg]
production (500 km) : 0 [tonkm/hour]
The Richard Anemometer attached to the front centre strut serves as a flight recorder, recording the time aloft and distance flown through the air.
At the pilot's right is a horizontal lever that controls the rudder and yaws the Flyer right and left. To his left is a vertical lever that controls the elevator, pitching the nose up and down.
The pilot's hips rest in a hip cradle. This is the roll control. As the pilot moves his hips right and left, the cradle pulls on wires that warp the wings.
literature :
Praktisch handboek vliegtuigen deel 1 page 39
Historische vliegtuigen page 22,173
Famous aircraft of all time page 74
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/
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(c) B van der Zalm 23 January 2019 contact : info.aircraftinvestigation@gmail.com python 3.7.4