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Engineer Eduard Slavoljub Penkala constructed the first Croatian aircraft in a hangar in Zagreb in 1909-1910 assisted by mechanic Dragutin Karlo Novak.
It was the first Croatian aircraft with a Czech 25 hp (18.6 kW) Laurin-Klement engine was completed. The wings were covered with canvas and varnished, the upper one was rectangular in shape, and the lower one, which carried the engine, pilot and fuselage, was in the shape of an isosceles triangle whose longer tip joined the fan-shaped tail.
Initially, a domestically produced propeller, made from a single piece of wood, was selected, and since the aircraft failed to take off, the propeller was replaced by a French Chauvière with a slightly larger diameter (2.1 m).
Penkala was the first to test the aeroplane at the Zagreb military training ground at Kajzerica where he achieved several hops at a height of 1.5 m and a length of 50-60 m, and then he started training his mechanic Dragutin Novak to fly.
The talented Penkala also developed a mechanical pencil, washing products and retractable pen designs.
Source:
Development and potentials of sports-recreational aviation and aviotourism in Croatia
by Goran Kos, Davor Krasic, Petar Feletar & Predrag Brlek
tehnika.lzmk.hr
It was the first Croatian aircraft with a Czech 25 hp (18.6 kW) Laurin-Klement engine was completed. The wings were covered with canvas and varnished, the upper one was rectangular in shape, and the lower one, which carried the engine, pilot and fuselage, was in the shape of an isosceles triangle whose longer tip joined the fan-shaped tail.
Initially, a domestically produced propeller, made from a single piece of wood, was selected, and since the aircraft failed to take off, the propeller was replaced by a French Chauvière with a slightly larger diameter (2.1 m).
Penkala was the first to test the aeroplane at the Zagreb military training ground at Kajzerica where he achieved several hops at a height of 1.5 m and a length of 50-60 m, and then he started training his mechanic Dragutin Novak to fly.
The talented Penkala also developed a mechanical pencil, washing products and retractable pen designs.
Source:
Development and potentials of sports-recreational aviation and aviotourism in Croatia
by Goran Kos, Davor Krasic, Petar Feletar & Predrag Brlek
Penkala, Slavoljub Eduard | Hrvatska tehnička enciklopedija
Hrvatska Tehnička Enciklopedija | povijest i razvoj tehnike u Hrvatskoj - hrvatska tehnička baština – Leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža
tehnika.lzmk.hr
