Vintage Wings - Pfitzner Flyer - 1909

*** Vintage Wings ***

--- Pfitzner Flyer - 1909

Alexander Pfitzner, a designer of high-class gasoline motors, transmissions, and gears, was working at Glen Curtiss company when he conceived his aircraft, that eventually would become the first monoplane designed, built and flown in the United States.
Although Alexander Pfitzner designed his Flyer as a totally private project, the aircraft was constructed in the Curtiss factory at Hammondsport, NY.
Pfitzner's design incorporated several novel features, the most innovative of which was the method of achieving lateral control by means of reciprocating lateral (telescopic) wing extensions, which the pilot controlled via a steering wheel.
Also unusual for a monoplane was the use of a pusher configuration, the engine also being mounted behind the pilot. This engine was a 4 cylinder Curtiss unit, delivering only 25 Hp ( the engine in the Curtiss Pusher of the same year was a 40 Hp unit)
The pilot controlled the aircraft by a combination a movable column and a wheel mounted on that column. Pitch was controlled by fore and aft movement of the column, yaw control was effected by twisting the column about its vertical axis, and lateral control was achieved by rotating the wheel. Since there was no need for a rudder bar (or pedals), the pilot’s feet were not used for controlling the aircraft. There was a fixed tail-plane at the end of the rear boom to provide longitudinal stability.
Pfitzner himself, although an inexperienced pilot at the time, conducted initial test flights with his Flyer, the first taking place in early January 1910. Despite the presence of a light covering of snow at the time, it was reported that the Flyer had made a large number of short flights and that it required an average run of 100 ft. (30 m) to get airborne.

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