Wright Model K

The Wright Model K was a prototype floatplane built by the Wright Company in 1914 and sold to the U.S. Navy.^[1][2][3] Its layout was generally similar to the Wright Model F:^[4] a typical Wright-style wing cellule and powerplant installation combined with a more modern fuselage design.

Model K
Role	Military floatplane
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Wright Company
Designer	Grover Loening
First flight	1915
Primary user	U.S. Navy

The Model K was the first Wright design to use ailerons instead of wing warping,^[2][3] and the first to feature tractor propellers.^[2][3] It was also the last Wright design to feature the wing and engine configuration that had been used on every Wright aircraft from Flyer I onwards, and the last sale by the company to the U.S. military.^[3][5]

Design

The Model K was a three-bay unstaggered biplane with equal-span wings.The pilot and observer sat in tandem in open cockpits. A piston engine was mounted in the nose, which powered two two-bladed propellers via chain drives.^[1] Unlike previous Wright designs, these propellers were mounted tractor-fashion, and higher in the interplane gap.^[2] The empennage was arranged as a conventional tail, with an almost circular fin and rudder.^[2] The Model K was equipped with two long, pontoon-style floats.

Development

In March 1915, the U.S. Navy invited submissions from fourteen aircraft manufacturers, including Wright, for nine seaplanes.^[3] The specifications required by the Navy included that propellers be mounted tractor-wise, and that ailerons be used for directional control.^[3] Both of these were a departure from the way Wright had been building aircraft, but the Model K incorporated these features.^[3]

Operational history

The U.S. Navy purchased the prototype Model K^[1][3] and assigned it the serial AH-23 (later, A51).^[5][6] No order for further production resulted, and this, the only Model K ever built, was removed from service in February 1917.^[6]

Operators

• United States Navy

Specifications

Data from Hallion 2019, p.71

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
• Wingspan: 38 ft 7 in (11.76 m)
• Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
• Wing area: 450 sq ft (42 m²) (estimated)
• Empty weight: 850 lb (386 kg)
• Gross weight: 1,150 lb (522 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright 6-60 six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine, 60 hp (45 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 80 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn) (estimated)