The Grade monoplane was a single-seat aircraft constructed by Hans Grade in 1909. It was the first successful heavier-than-air aircraft produced in Germany, and around 80 were eventually built.

Design and development

The aircraft was a high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

, with the pilot sitting below the wing. A pair of inverted V struts formed the fabric-covered cabane structure which carried the upper bracing wires: the front struts were continued below the wing, with the forward struts bearing the mainwheels. An elongated cruciform tail unit was attached to the end of a single boom by a universal joint immediately behind the single tailwheel. Lateral control was effected by

wing-warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft or kite. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposit ...

. It was powered by a 12 kW (18 hp) two-stroke air-cooled V-4 engine, also built by Grade, which drove a two-bladed aluminium bladed propeller.

Operational history

The aircraft was first flown on 17 August 1909 A series of longer flights were made in September, and on October 30 Grade won the Lanz prize of 40,000 marks for the first German-built aeroplane to fly in a figure 8 round two markers a kilometre apart. Grade used the money from winning the Lanz prize to establish an aircraft manufacturing business and flying school at Bork, near Magdeburg. The aircraft were sold for 12,000 marks, the price including a course of flying instruction. Grade competed with some success at the Heliopolis aviation meeting held in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in January 1910, when he won one of the daily speed and distance competitions by flying in 22 m 57 sec.

Charlotte Möhring Charlotte Möhring (born 31 March 1887 - died 19 October 1970 in Berlin) was a German aviator and the second German woman to receive a pilot's license. Life She was born in Pankow in 1887. Möhring was a passenger on a flight from Johannist ...

, from Pankow near Berlin, was the second German woman to obtain pilot's licence (no. 285 issued 7 September 1912) flying a Grade monoplane An example was bought by the Japanese army, and was the first aeroplane to be flown in Japan.

Survivors

*A restored aircraft is on display at the Magdeburg Technikmuseum. *A restored aircraft is on display at the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

in Munich, with the original engine displayed separately. *A replica is displayed at the Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum

Specifications

References

{{reflist 1900s German aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1909