Wright Model EX

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title: "Wright Model EX" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["single-engined-twin-prop-pusher-aircraft", "individual-aircraft-in-the-smithsonian-institution", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1911"] description: "Early biplane built by the Wright Brothers" topic_path: "general/single-engined-twin-prop-pusher-aircraft" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Model_EX" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Early biplane built by the Wright Brothers ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]

Field	Value
name	Model EX
image	"Vin Fiz" Wright Model EX takes off from Sheepshead Bay.jpg
caption	The Vin Fiz Flyer starts its cross-country trip from the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn, N.Y.
type	Biplane
national_origin	United States
manufacturer	Wright Company
first_flight	1911
status	On display
more_users
produced
number_built	2 (also one owned by Howard W. Gill)
program cost
unit cost
developed_from	Wright Model B
::

| name=Model EX | image="Vin Fiz" Wright Model EX takes off from Sheepshead Bay.jpg | caption=The Vin Fiz Flyer starts its cross-country trip from the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn, N.Y. | type=Biplane | national_origin=United States | manufacturer=Wright Company | designer= | first_flight=1911 | introduction= | retired= | status=On display | primary_user= | more_users= | produced= | number_built=2 (also one owned by Howard W. Gill) | program cost= | unit cost= | developed_from=Wright Model B | variants=

The Wright Model EX is an early biplane built by the Wright Brothers. It is a scaled-down, single-seat derivative of the Wright Model B designed specifically for exhibition flying (hence the "EX" designation). Two examples were built. One of them—the Vin Fiz Flyer—in 1911 became the first aircraft to fly coast-to-coast across the U.S., a journey that took almost three months.

Design

The Model EX was a three-bay, unstaggered biplane with equal-span wings. A tail with twin rudders was carried on an open truss. The pilot sat next to the engine on the leading edge of the lower wing, and power was supplied to two two-bladed pusher propellers via chain drives. The undercarriage consisted of long skids that extended far to the front of the aircraft, and which were each fitted with dual mainwheels. A tailskid protruded to the rear of the aircraft.

The Model EX would be the first Wright design manufactured completely at their new factory.

History

The publisher William Randolph Hearst had offered a US$50,000 prize to the first aviator to fly coast to coast, in either direction, in less than 30 days from start to finish.

Calbraith Perry Rodgers, grandnephew of naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry and an avid yachtsman and motorcycle racer, had taken about 90 minutes of instruction from Orville Wright in June 1911 before soloing, and had won an $11,000 air endurance prize in a contest in August. Rodgers became the first private citizen to buy a Wright airplane, a Wright Model B modified and called the Model EX. The plane's 35 horsepower (26 kilowatt) engine allowed a speed of 50 mph at 1000 ft.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Vin_Fiz_first_American_transcontinental_flight_advertisement_poster.jpg" caption="''Vin Fiz'' American transcontinental flight advertisement poster"] ::

Since the airplane would need a considerable support crew, Rodgers persuaded J. Ogden Armour, of meatpacking fame, to sponsor the attempt, and in return named the plane after Armour's new grape soft drink Vin Fiz. The support team rode on a three-car train called the Vin Fiz Special, and included Charlie Taylor, the Wright brothers' bicycle shop and aircraft mechanic, who built their first and later engines and knew every detail of Wright airplane construction; Rodgers' wife Mabel; his mother; reporters; and employees of Armour and Vin Fiz.

The flight began at 4:30 pm, September 17, 1911, when Rodgers took off from the Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Brooklyn, New York. Although the plan called for a large number of stops along the way, in the end there were 75, including 16 crashes, and Rodgers was injured several times. Taylor and the team of mechanics rebuilt the Vin Fiz Flyer when necessary, and only a few pieces of the original plane actually made the entire trip.

On November 5, having missed the prize deadline by 19 days, Rodgers landed in Pasadena, California, in front of a crowd of 20,000. On the 12th he took off for Long Beach, California, but crashed at Compton, with a brain concussion and a spinal twist. He was hospitalized for three weeks. Finally, on December 10 he landed on the beach, and taxied the Flyer into the Pacific Ocean, completing the unprecedented journey of over 4,000 statute miles (6,400 km). Actual flying time totalled under 84 hours. Rodgers was killed in an air crash on the Pacific shore of the US shortly after the flight across the US.

The aircraft was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1934, and eventually joined the collection of the National Air and Space Museum, after being fully restored for display by the Smithsonian in 1960. As of August 2009, the plane was still on display at the NASM but was undergoing further conservation.

In 1961, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first trans-continental flight, aviation historian and Boeing aeronautical engineer Peter M. Bowers built a reproduction of the Vin Fiz. Built to airworthy standards, the plane was flown as a towed glider, and subsequently became a display in the San Diego Air and Space Museum, where it remains (as of 2022).

In 1986 the Vin Fiz Flyer flight was re-enacted in a replica to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the original journey. The pilot was materials scientist Jim Lloyd.

Mail

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Wright_EX_Vin_Fizz_02_-Smithsonian_Air_and_Space_Museum-_2012-05-15.jpg" caption="The ''Vin Fiz Flyer'' on display in the Smithsonian [[National Air and Space Museum]] in 2012"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Vin_Fiz_Flyer_stamp_1911.jpg" caption="''Vin Fiz Flyer'' stamp (upper left) on an envelope postmarked 1911"] ::

In addition to the Vin Fiz endorsement, Mabel Rodgers used the flight to promote an airmail service, and sold special 25-cent postage stamps for items to be carried on the airplane. They were semi-official - the Post Office tolerated them, but insisted that mail carry regular stamps as well. The stamps were large, inscribed "RODGERS AERIAL POST" and "VIN FIZ FLYER", with a picture of the airplane in the center. It is believed that they were ordered by Cal's brother, Robert S. Rodgers, from a printer in Kansas City, Missouri, and they were probably first available around October 14.

Twelve Vin Fiz Flyer stamps are known to exist today - seven on postcards, one on a cover, and four individuals. One of the cards sold in 1999 for $88,000. Another one of the cards was only recently discovered; it was bought at an Internet auction for several hundred dollars, then auctioned by Siegel in December 2001 for $44,000.

Shreves Philatelic Galleries, Inc. held a specialized auction "The Pioneers Of Flight Collection" on Nov. 29, 2006 selling four stamps: the only one on cover for $70,000 and three on postcards (for $60,000, $60,000 and $47,500).

Specifications (''Vin Fiz Flyer'')

|ref=NASA |prime units?=kts General characteristics

|genhide=

|crew=1 |capacity= |length m= |length ft=21 |length in= |length note= |span m= |span ft=32 |span in= |span note= |upper span m= |upper span ft= |upper span in= |upper span note= |mid span m= |mid span ft= |mid span in= |mid span note= |lower span m= |lower span ft= |lower span in= |lower span note= |swept m= |swept ft= |swept in= |swept note= |dia m= |dia ft= |dia in= |dia note= |width m= |width ft= |width in= |width note= |height m= |height ft=7 |height in= |height note= |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |swept area sqm= |swept area sqft= |swept area note= |volume m3= |volume ft3= |volume note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb= |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb=903 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |lift kg= |lift lb= |lift note= |more general= Powerplant

|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Wright Aero |eng1 type=Four cylinder four cycle |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=35 |eng1 kn= |eng1 lbf= |eng1 note= |power original= |thrust original= |eng1 kn-ab= |eng1 lbf-ab=

|eng2 number= |eng2 name= |eng2 type= |eng2 kw= |eng2 hp= |eng2 kn= |eng2 lbf= |eng2 note= |eng2 kn-ab= |eng2 lbf-ab=

|eng3 number= |eng3 name= |eng3 type= |eng3 kw= |eng3 hp= |eng3 kn= |eng3 lbf= |eng3 note= |eng3 kn-ab= |eng3 lbf-ab= |more power=

|prop blade number=2 |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note=

|rot number= |rot dia m= |rot dia ft= |rot dia in= |rot area sqm= |rot area sqft= |rot area note= Performance

|perfhide=

|max speed kmh= |max speed mph= |max speed kts= |max speed note= |max speed mach= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph=51 |cruise speed kts= |cruise speed note=average groundspeed |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km= |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance= |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading kg/m2= |disk loading lb/sqft= |disk loading note=

|power/mass= |thrust/weight=

|more performance=

|avionics=

Notes

References

• Eileen F. Lebow, Cal Rodgers and the Vin Fiz: the First Transcontinental Flight. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989)
• E.P. Stein, Flight of the Vin Fiz (New York: Arbor House, 1985)
• Richard L Taylor, The First Flight Across the United States: the Story of Calbraith Perry Rodgers and His Airplane, the Vin Fiz (New York: F. Watts, 1993)
• "New 'Vin Fiz Flyer' card found and auctioned", Linn's Stamp News January 14, 2002, p. 14

References

1. Hallion, Richard P.. (2019). "The Wright Flyers 1899–1916". Osprey.
2. Roach, Edward J.. (2014). "The Wright Company: From Invention to Industry". Ohio University Press.
3. "Vin Fiz".
4. Hallion, Richard P.. (2019). "The Wright Flyers 1899–1916". Osprey.
5. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EOhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3wEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5455,5413877&dq=vin-fiz-flyer&hl=en]"First flight across nation little noted. 84-day trip ended 60 years ago after 16 wrecks along the way. Toledo Blade, Section A, page 43, Associated Press story, December 12, 1971. Retrieved January 7, 2011
6. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1C8xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G3ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=3671,628244&dq=vin-fiz+perry+rogers&hl=en] Airfield named for aviation pioneer'" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 3, 2001. Retrieved January 7, 2011
7. [https://sandiegoairandspace.org/newsletters/article/vin-fiz-flies-in-the-museums-rotunda "Vin Fiz Flies in the Museum’s Rotunda,"] [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]], retrieved July 10, 2022
8. [http://terrellmuseum.info/vinfiz/index_002.htm The Flight of the Vin Fiz] Terrell County, Texas, Memorial Museum. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
9. [http://www.shreves.com Shreves Philatelic Galleries]

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