WB-2 Columbia | |
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Transatlantic flight June 4–6, 1927 from New York to Eisleben in Germany | |
Other name(s) | Miss Columbia, and later Maple Leaf |
Type | Wright-Bellanca WB-2 |
Manufacturer | Wright Aeronautical |
Manufactured | 1926 |
Registration | NX237 |
First flight | 1926 |
Fate | Destroyed in a hangar fire in 1934 |
The Wright-Bellanca WB-2, was a high wing monoplane aircraft designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, initially for Wright Aeronautical then later Columbia Aircraft Corp.
Based on its all-wood forerunner, the Wright-Bellanca WB-1, only one was produced, variously named Columbia, Miss Columbia, and later Maple Leaf. The WB was the second in a series of designs by Bellanca, following his prior fabric-covered all-wood CE biplane.
In 1925, Clarence Duncan Chamberlin was friends with, and worked as chief test pilot for, the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca. A flight instructor in World War I, Chamberlin was an early customer of Bellanca designs, purchasing the only Bellanca CE, built when he was working for the Maryland Pressed Steel Company. Through Chamberlin, Bellanca secured a position as a consultant for the Wright Aeronautical company to produce a 5–6 passenger aircraft to demonstrate their new Wright Whirlwind J-4 engine. Bellanca built an all-wood aircraft, the WB-1 in 1926, which crashed at Curtiss Field in an attempt on the world non-refueled endurance record. The WB-2 follow-on aircraft, made of fabric-covered steel tubing, was already in development to test the updated Wright Whirlwind J-5. [1] The aircraft had some features intended for long-distance overseas flights built in. The landing gear could be dropped off, to prevent flipping in a water landing. Once on the water, the large gas tanks could provide flotation, and a saw was carried to drop the dead engine weight if needed. [2]
The WB-2 Columbia was introduced at the 1926 National Air Races flown by Lieut C.C. Champion, where it won both efficiency records. [3] Wright Aeronautical chose to continue to develop the Whirlwind engine, but discontinue aircraft operations to avoid competition in profitable engine sales with rival aircraft manufacturers. Bellanca left Wright Aeronautical, with the rights to the WB-2, and the WB-2 prototype purchased for $15,500 and formed a new interest, Columbia Aircraft Company, with the investor Charles Levine. [4] Levine became a millionaire at the young age of 28 by reselling surplus armaments to the United States government. When partnering with Bellanca, he had plans to put the WB-2 in production. The plans never came through, and the aircraft would not see production until Bellanca manufactured an updated version later in 1928 with his own company.
Shortly after the record flight, on April 24, 1927, the WB-2 was christened in Prohibition-era ginger ale the Columbia by Levine's 8-year-old daughter. Later that day, Chamberlin safely landed the plane with two children on board with a broken landing gear. [1]
The second meeting in New York was attended by Levine, Bellanca, and Chamberlin. With check in hand, Levine added a stipulation that Columbia Aircraft would select the flight crew, to which Lindbergh objected. Reminding Lindbergh that the WB-2 was the only plane that could make the flight at the time, they made him leave to reconsider and call back the next day. The terms did not change, and Lindbergh returned to St. Louis without an airplane. [5] Lindbergh then approached Travel Air Manufacturing Company, asking for a Travel Air 5000 modified with a Wright Whirlwind motor and was declined. [6] Lindbergh also inquired what it would cost to buy a Fokker for the attempt; he was given a quote of $100,000 for a custom trimotor, and was told that Fokker would not build a single-engine craft for a transatlantic flight. [7] Lindbergh instead purchased a single-place aircraft from Ryan aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis , for $6000. [8]
On December 30, 1927, Bellanca left Columbia aircraft, to form Bellanca Aircraft Company, taking with him again the rights to the WB-2 series of aircraft. [17]
In 1929 Columbia placed second in a race from New York to California piloted by Commander John Iseman, Lieut. J Farnum.
Maple Leaf was destroyed January 25, 1934, in a hangar fire at the Bellanca factory in Newcastle, Delaware. [15]
Data from Avistar, The Lindbergh of Canada: the Erroll Boyd story
General characteristics
Performance
The Orteig Prize was a reward offered to the first Allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis. However, a number of people died who were competing to win the prize. Six men died in three separate crashes, and another three were injured in a fourth crash. The Prize occasioned considerable investment in aviation, sometimes many times the value of the prize itself, and advancing public interest and the level of aviation technology.
The Spirit of St. Louis is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France, for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1927:
Lituanica was a Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane flown from the United States across the Atlantic Ocean by Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas in 1933. After successfully flying 6,411 km, it crashed, due to undetermined circumstances, 650 km from its destination, Kaunas, Lithuania.
Bertrand Blanchard Acosta was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Spanish Civil War in the Yankee Squadron. He was known as the "bad boy of the air". He received numerous fines and suspensions for flying stunts such as flying under bridges or flying too close to buildings.
Wilmer Lower Stultz was an aviator who made the first non-stop flight between New York City and Havana, Cuba. He died in a crash in 1929.
The America was a Fokker C-2 trimotor monoplane that was flown in 1927 by Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen, George Otto Noville, and Bert Acosta on their transatlantic flight.
Clarence Duncan Chamberlin was an American pioneer of aviation, being the second man to pilot a fixed-wing aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to the European mainland, while carrying the first transatlantic passenger.
Giuseppe Mario Bellanca was an Italian-American aviation pioneer, airplane designer and builder, who is credited with many design firsts and whose aircraft broke many aviation records. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. The Bellanca C.F., one of the world's first enclosed-cabin monoplanes, is on display at the National Air and Space Museum. Bellanca was known mostly for his long range aircraft which led the way for the advancement of international and commercial air transportation.
Charles Albert Levine was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed Charles Lindbergh to leave first.
The Aviation Hall Of Fame & Museum of New Jersey was founded in 1972 and preserves New Jersey's aviation and space heritage. The museum displays historic aircraft, space equipment, artifacts, photographs, art and an aircraft model collection. The library has more than 4,000 volumes and a collection of aviation video. It is located at Teterboro Airport, the oldest operating airport in the Tri-State Region, at 400 Fred Wehran Drive, Teterboro, New Jersey.
The Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker was a six-seat utility aircraft, built primarily in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a development of the Bellanca CH-200, fitted with a more powerful engine and, like the CH-200, soon became renowned for its long-distance endurance.
The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about 790 cubic inches (12.9 L) and around 200 horsepower (150 kW). These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwind engine family.
The Bellanca Airfield was an airfield, aircraft plant, and service hangar built in 1928 by Giuseppe Bellanca and Henry B. DuPont in New Castle, Delaware. Located off Route 273 near the Delaware River, the plant produced approximately 3000 aircraft before closing in 1954.
George Otto Noville, also known as "Noville" and "Rex," was a pioneer in polar and trans-Atlantic aviation in the 1920s, and winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross. He served with Commander Richard E. Byrd on the historic 1926 flight to the North Pole, as third in command. He was flight engineer on the America, and was executive officer of Byrd's Second Antarctic Exploration 1933-35. Mount Noville and Noville Peninsula in Antarctica are named after him.
The Bellanca CE was the first aircraft designed for the Maryland Pressed Steel Company, by the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca. The aircraft was also called the Bellanca C.E. or the "CE Tractor Biplane".
The Wright-Bellanca WB-1 was designed by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca for the Wright Aeronautical corporation for use in record-breaking flights.
Mabel Boll, known as the "Queen of Diamonds", was an American socialite involved in the early days of record-setting airplane flights in the 1920s. She garnered nicknames from the press, including "Broadway’s most beautiful blonde" and the "$250,000-a-day bride".
Lloyd Wilson Bertaud was an American aviator. Bertaud was selected to be the copilot in the WB-2 Columbia attempting the transatlantic crossing for the Orteig Prize in 1927. Aircraft owner Charles Albert Levine wanted to fly in his place, and an injunction by Bertaud against Levine prevented the flight. The prize was won by the aviator Charles Lindbergh.
James DeWitt Hill was an early US air mail pilot, who died while attempting one of the first transatlantic flights, with Lloyd Wilson Bertaud in a Fokker F.VIIA monoplane named Old Glory.
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