Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) made approx 2,500 successful glides in 1893-96, mostly in monoplane 'hang-gliders' of the type shown with this model, During this time, incredibily, he flew distances of up to 985 ft . Prior to this, Lilienthal had built two biplane gliders in 1891 and 1892.
His philosophy was well summarized in his own words: 'To design a flying machine is nothing; to build it is not much; to test it is everything'.

This is an important model in the "Pioneer Flying Machine" series because of the direct influence it had on the Wright Brothers. It's also unique with a larger sized (10" span) version included in the folder. This can be flown as a little kite in a gentle breeze. You might want to fly from a light string with a thin ribbon tail that's about 15" long

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