Tuesday, July 04, 2023

Flying in a Plane Designed in 1910



Tom Scott stopped at the Wright “B” Flyer Hangar/Museum in Dayton, Ohio, to see where Orville and Wilbur Wright built planes to sell beginning in 1910. The first commercial airplane was the Wright Model B, of which there are only two surviving examples. But they have been built recently, using the Wright Brothers' design and new and safer materials. This biplane has two propellers driven with a bicycle chain! It's somehow both illuminating and reassuring that the plane designed in 1910 is still a valid design, although anyone in it is exposed to the wild blue yonder, which is an incredible experience. No, they didn't let him fly the plane, but he got to ride in it. They don't even let pilots fly this plane, with one exception you might be able to guess.

1 comment:

  1. The max speed is 45 and it cruises at 40. That can get chilly very fast, Brr

    ReplyDelete