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weight and performance calculations for the Wright Type A
The Flyer Type A had a bigger fuel tank on top of the engine
Wright Type A
role : experimental/research/flying trials
importance : *****
first flight : 06 May 1908 operational : May 1908
country : United States of America
design : Orville & Wilbur Wright
production : 7 aircraft built by the Wright brothers 1906-1907
(ca. 60 type A built in license)
general information :
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.
Wilbur Wright returned to Kitty Hawk early April 1908 to restore the campsite and hangar which was in shambles.
On 6 may 1908 the rebuilt and improved Flyer was taken in the air for the first time at Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills,
By mid-May, the Wrights had developed enough confidence in the improved Flyer III to take up a passenger. They bestowed that honour upon Charley. On 14 May 1908, Wilbur took Charles Furnas for a flight of about 600 feet. During 29 seconds. That same day, Orville flew Charley a distance of two miles.
Days later Wilbur left for France to demonstrate the Flyer in Europe and Orville left for Dayton to demonstrate the aircraft to the Army signal corps.
At 08 August 1908 Wilbur demonstrated the Flyer at the Hunaudieres – horse track, near Le Mans. It was a complete success turning the sceptic onlookers into great enthusiasm by flying with easy around the track and making a controlled soft landing. Later Wilbur started to operate from the military Camp d’Auvours flying with passengers and setting endurance and distance records.
In the United States, on September 17, 1908, Orville took young Army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as a passenger during a demonstration flight for the Signal Corps at Fort Myer , Virginia. During their fourth lap, an engine malfunctioned, and the flight ended in a dramatic crash landing. Orville received severe injuries, including a broken leg but Selfridge was even less lucky by receiving a fractured skull. He died the same evening from his injuries. He was the world’s first powered-aviation fatality.
Fatal crash in which Lt.Selfridge died, 17 September 1908
Despite this setback, Wilbur set a distance record at 21 September 1908 by flying 66.6 km above Camp d’Auvours. At 18 December 1908 he set a record for height with 110m. On 19 December 1908 Wilbur flew 99.8 km and on 31 December 1908 124.7 km at Auvours in 2 hrs 20 mins 23 sec. which was also a duration record. Average speed was 53.3 km/hr. Wilbur made more then 160 flights in France.
License to built the Flyer 1907-1909 type were now sold to England, France and Germany. About 60 Flyer aircraft were built under license.
The designation Type A was a retrospective indication, given by the military after the appearance of the Wright type B and C.
In 1909 the Flyer type A was also flown by other pilots. On 20 May 1909 Paul Tissandier set an official record for speed of 54.8 km/u at Pau, France.
Eugene Lefebvre in a Wright Flyer, note the big patrol tank beside him.
Eugene Lefebvre flew 30km in 30 mins. 29 sec. at Reims in August 1909, an average speed of 59 km/hr. Unfortunately Lefebvre died in a crash with the Flyer type A, two weeks later on 07 September 1909 at Juvisy , at the south of Paris. He was the first pilot to die flying in a powered flight.
In September 1909 Orville Wright demonstrated the Wright type A at Tempelhof, Germany. This specific airplane is preserved and is now on display in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Comte Charles de Lambert was the first person in France to be taught to fly by Wilbur Wright . The first lesson took place at Le Mans on 28 October 1908. On 18 October 1909 de Lambert "left the Juvisy Aerodrome at 4:36 o'clock in a Wright machine, flew across Paris to the Eiffel Tower , circled it, and returned to his starting point, arriving safely at 5:25”. De Lambert claimed that he flew 300 feet above the 1,000 foot Eiffel Tower, which was nearly equal to Orville Wright's height record set in Berlin.
19 October 1909 Charles de Lambert reached a record height of 300m at Paris.
In 1910 more height records were set in the USA. On 14 June 1910 Walter R.Brookins (1889 – 1953) reached 1335m in Indianapolis and on 10 July 1910 he got to 1900m at Atlantic City. This was beaten with 2960m on 31 October 1910 by Ralph Johnstone at Belmont Park (NY) flying a Wright Roadstar with shortened wings. The Roadstar was a civil single-seat version with 30 hp engine. Johnston was part of the Wright demo-team . He became known as a dare devil pilot. In his demonstrations he would dive to the ground from 300m and pull out at the last moment. On 17 November 1910 his luck ran out when he went in a spiralling dive flying a Wright biplane during a demonstration at Denver. He could not regain control and crashed with high speed killing him instantly. He was the first American pilot to die in an airplane crash.
There were 9 flyers in the Wright demo team, after 5 of them had died in crashes with Wright airplanes, the Wright brothers dissolved the exhibition team in November 1911.
On 12 July 1910, at the age of 32, Charles Rolls was killed in an air crash at Hengistbury Airfield, [13] Southbourne , Bournemouth when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft, and the eleventh person internationally. His was also the first powered aviation fatality in the United Kingdom.
users : various
crew : 1 passengers : 1
engine : 1 Wright no.4 liquid-cooled 4 -cylinder inline engine 35 [hp](26.1 KW)
This aircraft serving with the Signal corps for a short time is preserved and can be seen in the US National Air & Space Museum.
dimensions :
wingspan : 11.13 [m], length : 8.81 [m], height : 2.46[m]
wing area : 38.55 [m^2]
weights :
max.take-off weight : 544 [kg]
empty weight operational : 336 [kg] useful load : 80 [kg]
performance :
maximum speed :68 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruise speed :61 [km/u] op 50 [m]
service ceiling : 1800 [m]
range : 125 [km]
estimated endurance : 2.04 [hours]
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
airscrew :
two fixed pitch 2 -bladed pusher airscrews with max. efficiency :0.60 [ ]
diameter airscrew 2.64 [m]
angle of attack prop : 20.61 [ ]
reduction : 0.35 [ ]
airscrew revs : 484 [r.p.m.]
pitch at Max speed 2.34 [m]
blade-tip speed at Vmax and max revs. : 70 [m/s]
calculation : *1* (dimensions)
measured wing chord : 1.80 [m]
mean wing chord : 1.73 [m]
wing aspect ratio : 6.43 []
estimated gap : 1.57 [m]
gap/chord : 0.91 [ ]
seize (span*length*height) : 241 [m^3]
calculation : *2* (fuel consumption)
oil consumption : 0.6 [kg/hr]
fuel consumption(cruise speed) : 12.8 [kg/hr] (17.4 [litre/hr]) at 99 [%] power
distance flown for 1 kg fuel : 4.79 [km/kg] at 55 [m] cruise height, sfc : 494.2 [kg/kwh]
estimated total fuel capacity : 35.63 [litre] (26.12 [kg])
calculation : *3* (weight)
weight engine(s) dry : 82.0 [kg] = 3.14 [kg/KW]
weight transmission & gear (engines in fuselage) : 10.4 [kg]
weight 2.4 litre oil tank : 0.20 [kg]
oil tank filled with 0.2 litre oil : 0.2 [kg]
oil in engine 1.5 litre oil : 1.3 [kg]
fuel in engine 0.2 litre fuel : 0.13 [kg]
weight 35.6 litre gravity patrol tank(s) : 5.3 [kg]
weight radiator : 3.7 [kg]
weight exhaust pipes & fuel lines 3.1 [kg]
weight cowling 1.0 [kg]
weight airscrew(s) (wood) incl. boss & bolts : 12.1 [kg]
total weight propulsion system : 119 [kg](21.9 [%])
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fuselage skeleton (wood gauge : 4.64 [cm]): 49 [kg]
bracing : 3.0 [kg]
weight instruments. : 1.1 [kg]
weight controls : 4.8 [kg]
weight seats : 3.0 [kg]
weight engine mount : 1.3 [kg]
total weight fuselage : 62 [kg](11.4 [%])
***************************************************************
weight wing covering (doped linen fabric) : 35 [kg]
total weight ribs (26 ribs) : 32 [kg]
total weight 8 spars : 23 [kg]
weight wings : 90 [kg]
weight wing/square meter : 2.34 [kg]
weight 16 interplane struts & cabane : 15.4 [kg]
weight cables (100 [m]) : 3.6 [kg] (= 36 [gram] per metre)
diameter cable : 2.4 [mm]
weight fin & rudder (1.4 [m2]) : 3.6 [kg]
weight stabilizer & elevator (4.3 [m2]): 10.4 [kg]
total weight wing surfaces & bracing : 123 [kg] (22.7 [%])
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calculated empty weight : 335 [kg](61.6 [%])
weight oil for 2.5 hours flying : 1.5 [kg]
weight cooling fluids : 5.6 [kg]
calculated operational weight empty : 342 [kg] (62.9 [%])
published operational weight empty : 336 [kg] (61.8 [%])
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weight crew : 81 [kg]
weight fuel for 1.0 hours flying : 13 [kg]
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operational weight : 436 [kg](80.1 [%])
fuel reserve : 13.3 [kg] enough for 1.04 [hours] flying
possible additional useful load : 95 [kg]
operational weight fully loaded : 544 [kg] with fuel tank filled for 100 [%]
published maximum take-off weight : 544 [kg] (100.0 [%])
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calculation : * 4 * (engine power)
power loading (Take-off) : 20.84 [kg/kW]
power loading (operational without useful load) : 16.70 [kg/kW]
total power : 26.1 [kW] at 1400 [r.p.m]
calculation : *5* (loads)
manoeuvre load : 1.3 [g] at 1000 [m]
limit load : 3.0 [g] ultimate load : 4.5 [g] load factor : 2.0 [g]
design flight time : 1.63 [hours]
design cycles : 204 sorties, design hours : 100 [hours]
operational wing loading : 111 [N/m^2]
wing stress (3 g) during operation : 142 [N/kg] at 3g emergency manoeuvre
calculation : *6* (angles of attack)
angle of attack zero lift : -1.24 ["]
max. angle of attack (stalling angle) : 12.87 ["]
angle of attack at max. speed : 5.08 ["]
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 : 0.51 [ ]
induced drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0229 [ ]
drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0883 [ ]
drag coefficient (zero lift) : 0.0654 [ ]
calculation : *8* (speeds
stalling speed at sea-level (OW): 45 [km/u]
landing speed at sea-level: 54 [km/hr]
min. drag speed (max endurance) : 52 [km/hr] at 55 [m](power :69 [%])
min. power speed (max range) : 52 [km/hr] at 55 [m] (power:69 [%])
max. rate of climb speed : 47.6 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruising speed : 61 [km/hr] op 55 [m] (power:82 [%])
design speed prop : 65 [km/hr]
maximum speed : 68 [km/hr] op 50 [m] (power:99 [%])
climbing speed at sea-level : 62 [m/min]
calculation : *9* (regarding various performances)
take-off speed : 60.8 [km/u]
Wilbur makes adjustments, while Orville watching.
static prop wash : 33 [km/u]
take-off distance at sea-level : 40 [m]
lift/drag ratio : 6.59 [ ]
climbing speed at 1000m : 31.35 [m/min]
time to 1000m : 25.56 [min]
published ceiling : 1800 [m]
practical ceiling (operational weight) : 1908 [m] with flying weight :436 [kg]
practical ceiling fully loaded (mtow- 30 min.fuel) : 593 [m] with flying weight :538 [kg]
turning speed at CLmax : 53.2 [km/u] at 50 [m] height
turn radius at 50m: 24 [m]
time needed for 360* turn 10.2 [seconds] at 50m
load factor at max. angle turn 1.36 ["g"]
calculation *10* (action radius & endurance)
operational endurance : 2.04 [hours] with 1 crew and 94.7 [kg] useful load and 100.0 [%] fuel
published endurance : 2.04 [hours] with 1 crew and possible useful load : 94.7 [kg] and 100.0 [%] fuel
published range : 125 [km] with 1 crew and 94.7 [kg] useful load and 100.0 [%] fuel
max range theoretically with additional fuel tanks for total 164.9 [litre] fuel : 578.3 [km]
useful load with action-radius 250km : 16 [kg]
production : 1.00 [tonkm/hour]
oil and fuel consumption per tonkm : 13.40 [kg]
_
Literature:
Wikipedia
Jane’s record breaking aircraft page 11
Praktisch handbook vliegtuigen deel 1 page 48,49
Historische vliegtuigen page 23
https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/above-beyond-180962399/
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 07 October 2020 contact : info.aircraftinvestigation@gmail.com python 3.7.4