The Reissner Canard: The first all-metal airplane 100 years ago

In 1912 Professor Hans Reissner of the Technical University Aachen built a canard-type aeroplane, the world-wide first completely out of metal: although the Reissner Canard initiated a new technology with the Junkers J1 the first to follow in 1915 and 1000 more until now, little is known about the very first steps way back in Aachen. This paper tries to recapture some details of the developments 100 years ago with the aid of early publications and photographs and shed some light on the first wing fabricated out of a corrugated aluminum sheet mounted at the tail of the braced-steel-pipe fuselage to earn its airworthiness in Berlin Johannisthal in 1912.