Model of Weiss Glider

Model of Weiss Glider as patented in 1908

The artist José Weiss made a long study of bird forms and created some two hundred experimental model gliders which he flew near his home in Sussex. In 1905 he won the Bronze Medal for the longest glide at a meeting of the Aero Club in Paris, the first competition for model aircraft. In 1908 he patented his wing in Britain. Its form was said to be modelled on the albatross and featured a swept-back wing with a pronounced twist which raised the trailing edge at the tips. This provided inherent stability. In January 1910 the test-pilot and racing driver Eric Gordon England flew a full-size Weiss glider at Amberley Mount in Sussex for about fifty-eight seconds, then a noteworthy achievement. Weiss had a strong influence on Frederick Handley Page, who later became an important British manufacturer.