Mon, Sep 01, 2014
The Project To Build A New Wright Model B Flyer To Replace The Venerable ‘Brown Bird’ Gets Started With A $50,000 Anonymous Donation
Only last week we reported that Wright ‘B’ Flyer Inc., an all-volunteer organization that flies a look-a-like of the Wright Brothers’ first production airplane, has launched a project to replace its Brown Bird flying machine with a new look-a-like replica. Now, they have some good news.
According to a report in the Dayton Dailey News, an anonymous donor has contributed $50,000 to get the project started. The existing look-alike replica was built in 1982, and while it is still being used as a flying memorial to the genius of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Jay Jabour of Wright ‘B’ Flyer Inc. realized that a new plane was needed to carry on their activities.
Like the existing airplane, the new Wright Model B Flyer replica will be built to closely resemble the original airplane but its design will meet modern airworthiness standards, and be built from modern parts and materials. However, the new Wright Model B will be designed so that it can be disassembled and shipped more easily than the existing airplane. This feature will allow the aircraft to be flown and displayed in a greater geographical area.
Needless to say, the Wright Model B is hardly a good cross-country airplane, but history tells a slightly different story. In 1911, a daredevil pilot named Calbraith Perry Rogers flew a modified Wright Model B from coast to coast in an attempt to win a $50,000 prize for being the first aviator to do so in under 30 days. His airplane was named after a sponsor’s grape drink called Vin Fiz.
Rogers’ flight was accompanied by a special train carrying spare parts and a crackerjack mechanic by the name of Charlie Taylor. Rogers missed the deadline by 19 days but his story of the cross-country flight in a modified Wright Model B Flyer is a testament to the daring aviators of those days.
(Image of the Wright Model B (EX) ‘Vin Fiz’ at the National Air and Space Museum)
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