The three Schädler brothers in Landstuhl in Pfaltz had already in 1912 had begun the construction of a human powered aircraft. With the assistance of a teacher living locally, they began work began in their father’s carpentry workshop. The resulting machine was a light monoplane of 12.50m span and 5.50m length. The fuselage had a big nose, and a large propeller of approx. 1.8m, made of alder wood, driven by pedals connected to a gearbox. In the autumn of 1912, the first rolling tests, in order to test the traction of the propeller, were carried out. Since these proved satisfactory, they moved on to actual flight testing. The youngest of three brothers, Eugen Schädler, succeeded in making a flight at a height of approximately 1 – 1.50m above the ground, and flying for a distance of 70m. On landing, the right wheel of the undercarriage broke. According to reports by Anton Schädler, further tests were to be carried out, but the advent of the war meant those plans had to be cancelled. The first pilot of a human powered aircraft died as a soldier in France on 28.6.1916.
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