Like the example in the National Air and Space Museum collection, most were monoplanes with stabilizing tail surfaces mounted at the rear. After performing some "planements" meaning gliding flights, a term used in that era , in Werder and in Steglitz, Lilienthal had a special, artificial conic hill built in Lichterfelde, in the Berlin suburbs. Otto Lilienthal gale. My instinct told me to stretch my legs to try to reach the ground. With this scooter, Felix powered and controlled my flights over and up to m distance. We used the same fabric that was used by the museum, which was shirting woven on an authentic machine, based on the instructions found during a careful analysis of the original material. Lilienthal did most of his gliding from a man made hill he had constructed near his home at Gross Lichterfelde, and from the hills surrounding the small village of Rhinow, about fifty miles from Berlin.
During these winch flights, in contrast to the tethered flights, I had to be able to control the roll angle and, therefore, also yaw reliably. He and his brother became members of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain in , and Lilienthal gave his first public lecture about the theory of bird flight that same year. After having found the suitable pitch trim, the glider reacted nicely and sensitively to my pilot input and could easily be directed against the wind. He gave some of his planes as gifts to clients and sold others. This display of control was a clear indication that he was not just falling from the air but actually guiding the movement of the aircraft. Most were monoplanes with stabilizing tail surfaces mounted at the rear. Harry Bodine, a New Jersey athlete, made most of the flights, although Journal reporters and other spectators were also allowed to test their skill.
