Pilcher’s first glider, the Bat, in its earliest form, without a tailplane, about May 1895.

Percy Pilcher and his sister Ella demonstrate the Bat’s portability when reduced to its component parts.

Pilcher prepares to fly the Bat with its new tail surfaces, but still retaining marked dihedral, at Auchensail, Scotland, in 1895.

Pilcher displays the five spanwise spars and large wing area of the Beetle at Auchensail in June/July 1895.

The Gull’s great wing area made it unmanageable in anything more than a gentle breeze.