Puneet Varma (Editor)

AEA White Wing

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Length
  
8 m

Designer
  
Frederick Walker Baldwin

First flight
  
May 18, 1908

Manufacturer
  
Aerial Experiment Association

The White Wing (or Aerodrome #2) was an early US aircraft designed by Frederick W. Baldwin and built by the Aerial Experiment Association in 1908. Unusual for aircraft of its day, it featured a wheeled undercarriage. The wings were equipped with ailerons controlled by a harness worn around the pilot's body; leaning in one direction would cause the aircraft to bank to follow.

First piloted by Baldwin himself on May 18 and the aircraft flew very well. White Wing was then piloted by Lt Thomas Selfridge at Hammondsport, New York, on May 19 (becoming the first US Army officer to fly an airplane) and then Glenn Curtiss made a flight of 1,017 ft (310 m) in it on May 21. On May 23, it crashed during a landing by John McCurdy and was damaged beyond repair.

Specifications (White Wing)

Data from

General characteristics

  • Length: 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m)
  • Wingspan: 43 ft 3 in (13.18 m)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss B-8 V-8 air-cooled piston engine, 40 hp (30 kW)
  • Performance

  • Range: 0 mi (0 nmi; 0 km) 1,000ft
  • References

    AEA White Wing Wikipedia