Brunner-Winkle Bird
Bird A of 1929 fitted with Curtiss OX-5 engine preserved at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum near St Louis, Missouri
Role	air-taxi/joyrider Type of aircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Brunner-Winkle
First flight	September 1928
Status	some aircraft still flying and on display in museums
Primary user	private flyers and barnstorming
Number built	ca. 240

The Brunner-Winkle Bird was a three-seat taxi and joy-riding aircraft produced in the US from 1928 to 1931.

Design and operation

The Model A version was powered by the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5, and featured a welded steel-tube truss fuselage with metal and fabric skinning. The wings, constructed of Spruce and plywood were also covered with metal and fabric skinning. The Model A had a reasonable performance for an OX-5 powered aircraft. The Model A's ease of handling led to its entry into the 1929 Guggenheim Safety Airplane contest, where it was awarded the highest ratings for a standard production aircraft.^[1]

The Model A was awarded Group 2 approval no 2-33 in January 1929 for the first nine aircraft serial no. 1000 to 1008. Aircraft serial no. 1009 upwards were manufactured under Air Transport Certificate no. 101.^[2][1]

The Model B followed on from the initial Bird design and was fitted with the uncowled Kinner radial engine. Production aircraft were designated BK.^[1]

Variants

Data from: aerofiles.com^[3]

Model A

original production version with Curtiss OX-5 engine (ca. 80 built)

Model AT

version with Milwaukee Tank engine (2 converted from Model A)

Model B

version with Kinner K-5 engine (1 prototype)

Model BK

production version of Model B (84 built)

Model C

version with Wright J-5 engine (1 built)

Model CC

version with Curtiss R-600 Challenger engine (1 built)

Model CJ

version with Jacobs LA-1 engine (6 built)

Model CK

version with Kinner B-5 engine (50 built)

Model RK

export version of Model CK (1 built)

Model E

4-5 seat version with enclosed cabin and Kinner B-5 engine (1 built)

Model F

version with Packard DR-980 (1 built)

Specifications (Bird Model A)

Data from U.S. civil aircraft series:Vol.2 ^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 2 passengers
• Length: 22 ft 3 in (6.78 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft 00 in (10.36 m)
• Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
• Wing area: 266 sq ft (24.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,315 lb (596 kg)
• Gross weight: 2,150 lb (975 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OX-5 V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 90 hp (67 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
• Cruise speed: 88 mph (142 km/h, 76 kn)
• Range: 450 mi (720 km, 390 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 12,500 ft (3,800 m)
• Rate of climb: 520 ft/min (2.6 m/s)