REVISED: 7/27/08

Dayton-Wright

1916: Wright Field Co (fdrs: Edward R Deeds, Charles F Kettering (Dayton Engr Laboratory Co/DELCO), H E Talbot, H E Talbot Jr (Dayton Metal Products Co), Orville Wright), Dayton OH. Apr 1917: Incorporation as Dayton-Wright Airplane Co, contract to build DH-4, XB-1, and Standard J-1. 1919: acquired by General Motors Corp as a division. 1923: ended operations; company dissolved and specific rights sold to Consolidated, Rinehart-Whelan, and Thomas-Morse companies.

  Dayton-Wright B-1A (USAAC)

B-1 aka USXB-1A 1920 = 2pOB; 330hp Wright-Hisso H; span: 39'4" length: 25'5" load: 1636# v: 121/101/x range: 495. British WW1 Bristol Fighter F.2b redesigned with lighter, all-wood monocoque fuselage. Contracted by USAAS' Engineering Division (McCook Field), where [AS64300] was refitted with 350hp Packard 1A-1327. POP: 40 as XB-1A [AS64156/64193, AS64300, AS94107/94108], of which 2 to USN [A5974/5975], and 1 refitted with 350hp Packard 1A-1237 in 1921. [AS64115] appears in some inventories as a conflicting number. SEE Curtiss USAO-1.

  Dayton-Wright Bull Head

Bull Head 19?? = D-W's Hisso-powered mystery plane, about which no data were found, only a submitted photo.
  Dayton-Wright Bug (Peter Bowers coll)

Bug 1917 = 1pOB; 37hp Kettering Bug; span: 15'0" length: 12'0" load: 160#. Fred Nash, Orville Wright; ff: 4/x/17 (p: Howard Rinehart) . POP: 1, as a factory test-bed for the Kettering motor to be used on pilotless aerial torpedos, of which c.20 went to USN for field tests at Pensacola. Plans for additional modification as a single-place Army scout as T-4 were canceled at the Armistice, and a decision was made to convert this lightweight for the civil market, but the project was never implemented. Motor design by Kettering and Harold E Morehouse was basis for the post-war Chevrolet 4 auto engine.
  Dayton-Wright Chummy (1922 Aircraft Year Book)

Chummy 1922 = 2pOB; 80hp LeRhône rotary; span: 31'0" length: 21'11" load: 604# v: 84 range: 210. Virginius Clark. POP: 2, of which one had 120hp Clerget [C41, x], plus 3 in 1922-23 as TA-3, -5, and TW-3, for military evaluation as replacement for Curtiss JN-4D, which led to the Consolidated PT-1 Husky series. Side-by-side cockpit. Converted from landplane to seaplane by three men in two hours. Design rights acquired by Rinehart-Whelan in 1923.
  Dayton-Wright DH-4 Amb (USN)
  Dayton-Wright DH-4B-4 USPO "day plane"
  Dayton-Wright DH-4B-5 "Honeymoon Express" (USAAC)

DH-4 1918 = License production of British DH-4, some of which only involved engine installation; 400hp Liberty 12. POP: 3,106 civil and military prototypes and test-beds. DH-4B-5 (or -4K; conflicting references to both suffixes were found), with supercharged Liberty, was nicknamed "Honeymoon Express" for its cozy cabin for two. SEE de Havilland DH-4 for the complete run of suffixes.
DT-2, SDW-1 1922 = 2pOBF, Douglas DT-2 built under contract. POP: 11 [A6085/6095]. Another 3, built by L-W-F, were modified in 1923 with a deeper fuselage and larger tanks. SDW-1 was factory designation, not USN.
DWH-4 Blue Bird c.1920 = 2pOB trainer based on DH-4 with enlarged fuel tank, produced "in small numbers" for the Army.
  Dayton-Wright FP-2 [N-CAED] (1922 Aircraft Year Book)
  Dayton-Wright FP-2 3-view (1922 Aircraft Year Book)

FP-2 1921 = 4pCBF; two 400hp Hall-Scott L-6; span: 51'5" length: 36'10" load: 1862# v: 120/x/63 range: 325. Designed for forestry patrol in Canada, hence the "FP" designation. Triple-tail; interchangeable upper and lower wings. POP: 1 [NCAED], refitted with 420hp Liberty 12 pushers.
FS-1, -2 1917 = 2pOB; 100hp Hall-Scott A-7; v: 68/x/38. Dubbed "First Shot" as a new venture in training civilian flight students. POP: 1 each. FS-2 apparently was a near-twin of FS-1, sold in 1918 and refitted with 220hp geared Hisso.
J-1 1918 = Wartime production of Standard J-1.
  Dayton-Wright KT (Vincent J Berinati coll)
  Dayton-Wright Limousine (National Archives)

KT Cabin Cruiser (Limousine) 1921 = 4pCB; 400hp Liberty 12; span: 43'8" length: 30'2" load: 1442# v: 120/100/55 range: 700. Ivan Driggs, Orville Wright (from an earlier design). Another DH-4 modification with canopied cockpits. $5,500, included starter, generator, and batteries; POP: 4. Appears in 1923 as Rinehart-Whelan KAT after they acquired KT (Kettering & Talbott), along with Chummy and OW-1, when General Motors suspended their Dayton-Wright operation.
M-1 1919 = 1pOB; 50hp DePalma V-4; span: 19'3" length: 17'6". POP: 1 for motor testing.
O-3 SEE XO-3 (below).
  Dayton-Wright OW-1 (Drina Welch Abel coll)

OW-1 Aerial Coupe 1919 = 4pCB; 150hp Wright-Hisso A or Packard 8; span: 48'0" length: 29'9" load: 1042# v: 95/x/40 range: 500. Ivan Driggs, Orville Wright (the last plane design of Orville Wright, and so memorialized with his initials). $3,000. Substantially modified, with an enclosed cabin from a surplus de Havilland DH-4, and refitted with 150hp Packard 8, and 180hp Wright-Hisso E (v: 102). Set an altitude record of 19,710' in 1920 while carrying three passengers (p: B L Whelan). Acquired by Rinehart-Whelan Co in 1923, sold to John Montijo in 1924 and was rebuilt under his name.
  Dayton-Wright XPS-1 (Aerofiles coll)
  Dayton-Wright XPS-1 [AS68535] (clip: Aero Digest)

PS 1922 = 1pOhwM rg; 200hp Lawrance-Wright J-1; span: 30'0" length: 19'2" v: 145. Similar to RB-1 racer. This fighter, designated as Pursuit-Special Alert, sported the military's first retracting gear. $30,000; POP: 3 as XPS-1 [AS68534/68536], the last 2 with 200hp Wright E-4. Flight tests were unsatisfactory.
  Dayton-Wright RB-1 (USAAC)

RB-1 aka Dayton-Wright Racer 1920 = 1pChwM rg; 250hp Hall-Scott L-6; span: 21'2" length: 22'8" load: 450# v: 190/178/64 range: 275. Orville Wright, Milton Bauman, Charles Grant. POP: 1 Gordon Bennett racer (p: Howard Rinehart). Plywood-clad monocoque fuselage with variable-camber, cantilever wing; first practical retracting gear. Design evolved into military XPS-1.
SDW-1 SEE DT-2.
Sedan 19?? = No data; possibly a misplaced DH-4.
  Dayton-Wright T-4 (Peter Bowers coll)

T-4 Messenger 1918 = Army ultralight scout/recon, enlarged from the 1917 Bug. 1pOB; 37hp two-cycle DePalma V-4; span: 19'3" length: 17'6" load: 236# v: 85/x/35 range: 200. All-wood construction. Oliver Thomas. POP: 1. Plans to market as a civil lightplane never came to pass.
  Dayton-Wright TA-3 [64390] (Peter Bowers coll)
  Dayton-Wright TA-3 3-view (1922 Aircraft Year Book)

TA-3 1923 = Trainer based on Chummy. 2p0B; 80hp LeRhône (later 100hp); span: 30'11" length: 22'7" v: 83. Side-by-side cockpit. POP: 13, of which 3 to Army [AS64390/64392].
TA-5 1923 = Slightly larger TA-3 with 220hp Lawrance J-1; span: 34'9" length: 25'8" v: 104. POP: 1 for McCook Field tests of a single-wheel landing gear [AS68583].
  Dayton-Wright TW-3 [22-401] (USAAC)

TW-3 (Consolidated) 1923 = 2pOB; 180hp Wright-Hisso 1; span: 34'9" length: 26'9" load: 707# v: 103 range: 370. Side-by-side cockpit, based on Chummy, became Consolidated TW-3/PT-3 after rights were acquired from GMC in 1923. POP: 3 prototypes by D-W, 20 by Consolidated, built at the Gallaudet factory (Rhode Island), of which 1 to USN for testing on floats, and 1 thought to be the tandem-cockpit Huff-Daland TW-3 (aka TW-8) prototype for PT-1.
  USD-9A (Warren Bodie coll)

USD-9A SEE Engineering Division USD-9.
USXB-1A SEE B-1.
WA, WD, WS - USN scout.
WA-1 1922 = 2pOBF; 200hp Wright E-4; span: 40'9" length: 34'5" v: 110. POP: 1 [A6082].

WD-1 - Scheduled, but project cancelled.

WS-1 1922 = Single-float; 325hp Wright H-3. POP: 1 [A6083].

  Dayton-Wright XO-3 [23-1254] (Drina Welch Abel coll)

XO-3 1924 = 2pOB. Unknown D-W with a strange militarylike designation, perhaps assigned by the factory, but it does show military interest by having a Wright Field number, P-376, on its tail. Still, O-3 as a service type does not appear as Dayton-Wright, but as an unbuilt Wright.

Fahey's US Army Aircraft 1908-1946 lists XO-3 as a cancelled Wright aircraft. Andrade's US Military Aircraft Designations and Serials has XO-3 as a Dayton-Wright [23-1254], cancelled. Wegg's General Dynamics and their Predecessors lists XO-3 as a cancelled Dayton-Wright aircraft. So, what aircraft was the P-376 shown here? If, indeed, it is Dayton-Wright XO-3, all the reference sources are wrong (and that would not surprise me). Does anybody have a list of Wright numbers that shows P-376? On the list I maintain P-376 fits neatly, including the [23-1254] connection, giving me some confidence that P-376 is the XO-3. (— Jos Heyman 1/13/01)

Jos Heyman, since that post, has amassed and organized the Wright Field numbers, which substantiates that this truly is the Dayton-Wright XO-3, albeit listed as Wright OX-3. (— K O Eckland 9/14/02)

After the demise of D-W, this aircraft was built by Wright Aeronautical, who retained a kind of "Skunk Works" for airframe R&D, racing, etc. In fact, the XO-3 followed the USN racers in 1923 and went to McCook for a design competition as [23-221], fared poorly, and was returned to the maker for further development. It was rejected a second time and sent back to Wright, where it proved useful as an engine test-bed for the R-1750 Cyclone and was known officially as the "Mohawk" and unofficially as the "Iron Horse," civil registered [X-1087]. Damaged beyond repair in a non-fatal accident in 1929 (p: Leon Allen). (— John W Underwood 10/17/07)

Getting closer, now the only thing still hanging is that [23-1254], which is shown on regs as a Douglas XO-2—one number off target. Could there be an old clerical typo involved in this enigma? (— K O)