Vintage Wings - Weiss No 2 - 1910

*** Vintage Wings ***

Weiss No 2 - 1910

During 1909 british constructor Jose Weiss built his first tractor monoplane, nicknamed Elsie after one of his daughters. The aircraft, a tailless design based on previous Weiss glider and powered by a 25 Hp. engine, was unsatisfactory on the first trials.
Weiss redesigned the plane and in 1910 his second tractor monoplane, called Sylvia (after another of his daughters) was performing its first trials at Brooklands.
The main difference between the two machines was that the second was fitted with a normal monoplane type of tail unit, complete with fixed fin and a rudder, and was powered by an eight-cylinder 40 Hp. E.N.V. "D" engine.
The fuselage itself consisted mainly of a bamboo framework which had its joints lashed together with twine, the engine being carried on a steel-tubing structure at the front. A fixed undercarriage was used and comprised two main wheels augmented by a smaller pair carried at the front of the twin skids. The remainder of the landing gear consisted of a curved skid to support the tail.
The aircraft lacked of any kind of rolling control, as wing warping or ailerons, what made difficult to perform controlled turns. However, test pilot Eric Gordon England managed to make many successful flights at Brooklands with the machine, until the breakage of one of the wing bracing struts cause him to crash.
Although Weiss's attempts at powered flight did not meet with notable success, his theories on wing design for inherent stability were recognised and respected in aviation circles of the day.

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