Bünzli Glider
![]() Built by the “Société de Construction d’Appareils Aériens” in Levallois, based on the design of M. Bünzli during 1908-09. The firm’s specialty, the production of wooden parts, destined the framework to be made entirely of wood. The glider consisted of a pair of V-shaped wings set at an angle of 14 degrees, held into place by elastic cords attached to the top and the bottom of the frame. The underside of the frame had an ingenious slide construction that made it possible to move the pilot seat forwards and backwards. Cords were fixed at levers mounted on the elevator, which were then fastened to the moveable pilot chair, which in turn controlled the elevator at the back of the glider. When the pilot slid forward in his seat, the elevator turned down, lowering the nose of the glider. When sliding backwards the opposite happened as the elevator went up assisted by a spring device. Its wing area, the surfaces covered with balloon fabric, totalled 20 square meters; and weighing only about 36 kg, the length of the machine was 5.60 meters, its span 7 meters. It is said that better flights were made with this glider than with the machine of Chanute.
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