The first attempt to build a glider had been the brainchild of Frigyes Hefty Sr. - then a grammar school student, later a noted WWI military pilot, and one of the founders of gliding ion Hungary - and one of his buddies, Dedek, a carpenter. In 1909 they designed a biplane glider applying ideas learned by examining the construction details of four biplanes, namely a Voisin, a Farman, a Curtiss and an Otto. An airlined gondola around the pilot's seat was a special feature of the design. They built the glider using bamboo-cane rods and houshold fabric. Dedek made the first attempt to fly it running down on a hillside. However just after the take-off the glider turned sideways and crashed immediately lightly injuring the pilot.

Hefty then built another glider, now a monoplane, with another friend of his, József Kiss. The building materials were similar to the ones used previously. Hefty was the pilot and he jumped from a 10 m high rock on a hillside. He hed flown cca. 30 m but the wing main bamboo spars were broken and he crashed from 2-3 m height. Hefty was unhurt, but his attempts were finished.

A couple of years later, in 1914, József Kiss built another glider. A photograph of this glider survived.

Gábor FEKECS E-mail: fekecs.gabor@t-online.hu