Light-weight Construction — a Prerequisite for Flight

All flight pioneers at the end of the 19th century had the common desire to imitate the gliding of the large longdistance flyers as storks or swans. So what was initially closer than to look for constructions that would spread-out the wing area and not consider wing profiles? Lilienthal’s wing construction of the fiber material wood with a fabric covering and wire bracing was the attempt to realize in light-weight construction the necessary wing area and to give the wing the shape of a cambered plate with a rounded nose.