Ohio History
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| 1911 Flyer |
Although I'm not for certain, I believe this is the second plane which the U.S. Army purchased, a Curtiss Model D. It was one of the five planes ordered by the military in 1911. Several of its highlights were easy disassembly for transportation, speed up to 50 mph, and flying time up to 2 1/2 hours. The propellers were mounted in the back rather than the front, a deviation from the Wright design, and the control system was also different. The museum built the replica above in 1987, based on early photographs of the actual plane, which was scrapped.
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| Piece from a Wreck |
This broken airplane piece reminded us of the many dangers involved with early air travel. It came from the first fatal airplane crash, in the Wrights' 1908 Flyer. One of the propellers malfunctioned, and the plane crashed hard to the ground. Orville Wright, the pilot, was hurt seriously, while his passenger was fatally injured in the wreck.
2 comments:
Very interesting story.
I can see the front stabilizer is shaped differently on that model. It only has one "wing" instead of two.
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