The Wright Seaplane Base / Wright Model G "Aeroboat"

After Wilbur Wright died in 1912, Orville Wright continued to develop and fly airplanes for the Wright Company and flew seaplanes along this part of the Great Miami River from 1913 to 1914. The area offered deep water formed by a hydraulic dam, freedom from man-made obstructions, and a 90 degree bend in the river that allowed takeoffs and landings either north-south or east-west depending on prevailing winds. In June and July 1913, Orville made more than 100 flights, often with passengers, in the Wright Model C-H "hydroplane." In 1913 and 1914, Orville and Wright Company chief engineer Grover Loening developed the Wright Model C "aeroboat." The Wright Model G "Aeroboat" had a solid hull or fuselage with an enclosed cockpit, was 28 feet long, had a wingspan of 38 feet, weighed about 1250 pounds, and was powered by two rear-mounted engines with twin pusher propellers, giving it a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour. Orville's last flight in the Model G is believed to have been on August 20, 1914, when he and student pilot and Navy Lieutenant Kenneth Whiting narrowly escaped drowning after a wing broke and the aircraft fell into the Miami River from an altitude of 30 feet.

West Carrollton, Ohio · United States