While going down the rabbit hole of aviation videos on YouTube, I stumbled upon one that was posted more than 10 years ago: It’s actual footage from an original test flight on July 27, 1909, of the Wright Military Flyer.
The Wrights’ initial airplane (Model A) was tested at Fort Myer, Virginia, on Aug. 20, 1908. After a series of successful test flights, the plane crashed on Sept. 17, 1908, severely injuring Orville Wright and killing his passenger, Lt. T. Selfridge.
Despite the disaster, the military was convinced the Wright Brothers had designed a capable airplane and extended their contract for one more year.
The Wrights designed another craft, the Wright Military Flyer. The Military Flyer differed from the Model A in that it had a shorter wingspan, longer propellers, sat higher off the ground, and had a different gear ratio in the power transmission. These changes were made to increase the speed of the aircraft. The motor was identical to the one used the year before, however it produced slightly more horsepower as a result of modification.
The footage is grainy, but well worth the six minutes to see history in action.
Leave a Reply