M.Simons The World's Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
Unknown to the Darmstadt group, experiments in England by Jose Weiss had already resulted in some short soaring flights, first by Weiss’ tailless models and later, in 1909, by E. C. Gordon England in a man-carrying version. The Weiss glider gained about 10 metres altitude in the slope lift at Amberley Mount on 27th June, and landed about 800 metres distant from the starting point. This was later recognised as the first true soaring flight by a piloted glider.
The creation of French-born, English domiciled Jose Weiss, the Weiss Glider of 1909 was the product of model flight testing over many years. This glider, that successfully carried Gordon English aloft, embodied swept-back wings, along with a smooth canoe-style, underslung body foreshadowing by many years the designs of Capt., later Prof. G.T.R. Hill in Britain and the efforts of Alexander Lippisch and the Horten Brothers in Germany. Note the turn table-mounted launching ramp topped with weather vane.
A rare photograph of Jose Weiss launching one of his glider models. A much underrated figure, Weiss was a strong advocate of the inherent stability of a birdlike crescent-shaped wing with reflexed tips and a variable camber from inner section to the wingtip.
The Weiss glider of 1909.
