Wright-Bellanca WB-2

In the Bellanca WB -2 Columbia is a two-seat transport aircraft of the aircraft designer Giuseppe Mario Bellanca of 1926. The abbreviation stands for WB Wright - Bellanca and refers to the Wright Aeronautical Company, for the Bellanca at that time worked.

This aircraft has a wingspan of 14 meters and a top speed of 180 km / h The range of the WB- 2 was enormous 8000 km for that time. The first machines of this type were built in 1924 and had great success in air racing. After Bellanca had decided not to build the WB -2 in large numbers, the plans of the aircraft at Charles A. Levine were sold by the Columbia Aircraft Corporation, which began production of this type. Through this collaboration, the WB -2 got its name suffix " Columbia ".

On June 4, 1927, the WB -2 was launched on a transatlantic flight to Europe with Clarence Chamberlin and Charles A. Levine as a pilot as a passenger. Due to the fact that Levine was not a pilot, he became the first passenger who crossed the Atlantic. The objective of this flight was originally Berlin, however, the expedition was due to lack of fuel even at Eisleben, 160 km south-west of Berlin. This flight over a distance of 6285 km lasted 42 hours and 45 minutes, breaking the record established by Charles Lindbergh at 507 km, 9 hours and 45 minutes.

1928 made ​​the "Columbia" the first nonstop flight between New York and Havana, flown by Wilbur Stultz with Mabel Boll as a passenger.

Renamed to " Maple Leaf" the WB -2 was destroyed on January 25, 1934 by a fire in a hangar on the grounds of the company Bellanca in New Castle, Delaware.

In Berlin, the Columbia dam is named after the machine at Tempelhof Airport.

Specifications

• Civilian aircraft type
• Single Engine aircraft