| Model K | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Military floatplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Wright Company |
| Designer | |
| Primary user | U.S. Navy |
| History | |
| First flight | 1915 |
TheWright Model K was a prototype floatplane built by theWright Company in 1914 and sold to theU.S. Navy.[1][2][3] Its layout was generally similar to theWright Model F:[4] a typical Wright-style wing cellule and powerplant installation combined with a more modern fuselage design.
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 fromFlyer I onwards, and the last sale by the company to the U.S. military.[3][5]
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.
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]
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]
Data from Hallion 2019, p.71
General characteristics
Performance
