Aerial trials with Mercedes engine unsuccessful

Date:
27 September 1901
Description:
The Austrian Wilhelm Kress begins flight testing in his seaplane, the first aircraft equipped with an internal combustion engine – a 35 hp / 26 kW Mercedes four-cylinder unit. However, the trials are unsuccessful and are brought to a halt on 3 October, when the plane capsizes and is destroyed.

Pictures1

The first airplane with a Daimler internal combustion engine from 1901. The seaplane invented by Wilhelm Kress was powered by a 4-cylinder, 35/40-hp engine. The aircraft did not manage to fly as Wilhelm Kress would not even let the engine reach 500 rpm, using a maximum 15 hp of the 35 hp developed by the engine. The seaplane sank on October 3, 1901 in a reservoir near Tullnerbach in Austria before ever making it into the air.