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Wallbro Monoplane G-BFIP
The original Wallbro Monoplane was built between 1908 and 1910 by Horace and Percival Wallis in Cambridge.
The brothers had already successfully built and raced motorcycles by the time they became interested in winning the £2000 prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first cross-channel flight. Unfortunately, Bleriot beat them to it in July 1909. Their aircraft was successfully flown on several occasions until it was destroyed in late 1910 when a storm blew down the shed in which it was kept in Fulbourn. The brothers went back to building cycles and motorcycles.
Their design was revolutionary for the time. Steel tube was employed for the primary structure, with wood for the ribs and leading and trailing edges; the wings had modern style ailerons whereas most early aircraft builders used wing warping. The wings were covered with 'Pegamoid' waterproof aero cloth, a J.A.P. engine powered it, and the tractor (propeller) and tyres were supplied by A.V. Roe of London.
This aircraft on display at Flixton Aviation Museum, Suffolk is a replica built by Wing Commander Ken Wallis MBE and his cousin Geoffrey Wallis, the sons of the original builders. Ken Wallis first flew the aircraft in 1978 at Swanton Morley, Norfolk.
Wallbro Monoplane G-BFIP
The original Wallbro Monoplane was built between 1908 and 1910 by Horace and Percival Wallis in Cambridge.
The brothers had already successfully built and raced motorcycles by the time they became interested in winning the £2000 prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first cross-channel flight. Unfortunately, Bleriot beat them to it in July 1909. Their aircraft was successfully flown on several occasions until it was destroyed in late 1910 when a storm blew down the shed in which it was kept in Fulbourn. The brothers went back to building cycles and motorcycles.
Their design was revolutionary for the time. Steel tube was employed for the primary structure, with wood for the ribs and leading and trailing edges; the wings had modern style ailerons whereas most early aircraft builders used wing warping. The wings were covered with 'Pegamoid' waterproof aero cloth, a J.A.P. engine powered it, and the tractor (propeller) and tyres were supplied by A.V. Roe of London.
This aircraft on display at Flixton Aviation Museum, Suffolk is a replica built by Wing Commander Ken Wallis MBE and his cousin Geoffrey Wallis, the sons of the original builders. Ken Wallis first flew the aircraft in 1978 at Swanton Morley, Norfolk.