Designed by Karl Jatho, and completed on the Summer of 1903, this biplane according to some witnesses flew a month before the Wright Brothers. Being German, Jatho took inspiration from the Zanonia seed for the wing configuration. The aircraft was originally conceived as a triplane, but soon got rid of a wing, and was powered by a 10hp Buchet engine. The testimony of the witnesses should be taken with some reserves: they were made thirty years after the event and with the Nazis in power. Two replicas has been built to bolster Jatho’s claim, one back in 1933 and another in 2006. Their flight tests results have proven inconclusive.
One thing’s clear, it was kinda cute.
Aviation Rapture 