Museum of Science and Industry

A replica triplane – the machine built by Manchester-born Alliott Verdon Roe for the first all-British flight in 1909 - will be on display at MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry) today as part of the launch of a year’s programme of events to mark 100 years since the first flight. The event also marks the start of a new fundraising campaign to redevelop MOSI’s Air & Space Hall.

At the opening event for the Museum’s ‘Year of Aviation’ guests will be able to see the replica Triplane, which has been painstakingly built by a team of MOSI volunteers, who are mostly ex-Avro employees.  The Triplane is due to be test flown this spring.

Museum Director, Steve Davies MBE is hosting the event jointly with Manchester City Council’s Chief Executive, Sir Howard Bernstein and AV Roe’s grandson, Eric Verdon- Roe.

Steve Davies said: “This is an important year in aviation terms, with anniversaries of several historic flights, including the one made by AV Roe. Our guests will be able to learn more about our forthcoming celebrations and the North West’s rich aviation history.

“We will also be using the reception to launch our fundraising campaign for the Air and Space Hall.  Situated in the historic Lower Campfield Market, the hall needs major refurbishment work, including restoration of the glass facades and reinstatement of the full height of the building. This would allow us to raise the exhibits off the ground, creating more space at ground level for visitors and corporate hospitality guests”.

The fragile three-winged Triplane, designed by A.V. Roe, went down in British aviation history when it managed to fly about 30m (100 feet) on 13 July 1909.  Ten days later he made three flights of up to 270m (900 feet) at an altitude of between six and 10 feet off the ground. The original aeroplane, including pilot, weighed about 227kg (500lbs), with a nine horse power petrol engine. The aeroplane was built as lightly as possible, with three sets of wooden wings and a triplane tail, covered in cotton-backed oiled paper, and bicycle wheels for landing. Even so, the engine barely provided enough power to get the contraption off the ground.

MOSI’s team of volunteers, many of whom are former aeronautical engineers, have built the entire replica Triplane, after careful research about the materials and techniques which Roe used. The aeroplane will leave the Museum this Spring when the team will attempt to fly it on a series of test flights to secure air worthiness certification.

Eric Verdon-Roe, said: “AV Roe’s achievement in becoming the first Englishman to fly an all-British aeroplane in 1909 would have been significant enough, but in the same year he founded A.V. Roe and Co in Manchester, with his brother Humphrey, which went on to build all the iconic Avro types that made Manchester such a major hub of British aviation. I am delighted that our guests will be able to learn more about our forthcoming celebrations and the North West’s rich aviation history.”

Sir Howard Bernstein said: “The City Council is delighted to celebrate the centenary of A.V. Roe in Manchester, his place in aviation history and his contribution to the concept of Manchester as the original modern city.  It is fitting that this celebration should take place at MOSI, which not only celebrates the past but looks to the future.

“The redevelopment of the Air & Space Gallery will engage young people in the scientific and technological legacy of the past and provide inspiration for future innovation. The scientific, technological and environmental research that is taking place in the city’s universities and the regional aviation industries is vital to the economic future of Manchester and the North West region.”

He added: “It is important that the industry supports the role that MOSI plays in inspiring schoolchildren today, who will provide the scientists and technologists that will drive the aviation industry tomorrow.”

MOSI has one of the most significant collections of North West-built aeroplanes in Britain, and currently displays six aircraft built by the Avro factories. A.V. Roe himself was from Patricroft, in Salford. The largest aeroplane in the collection is the 1954 Avro Shackleton, which has a wingspan of 36.5m (120 feet) (the same length as the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers), while among the rarest is a 1928 Avro Avian flown by pioneering woman aviator Lady Heath.  On display specially for the opening event is a replica of the AV Roe’s unsuccessful 1908 Biplane.

For more information about MOSI’s Year of Aviation 2009 visit www.mosi.org.uk

ENDS

For media information or photos please contact Diane Inglis on 0161 606 0173 or Sarah Roe on 0161 606 0176 or m: 07847 372647.

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