that carried Germany’s first airmail, when pilot Pentz made a flight from Bork
Hans Grade (1879-1946)
was a German aviation pioneer. His first flights were scarcely more
than hops; he successfully conducted the first motor flight over German soil in
a motorized triplane aircraft of his own construction on 28 October
1908. He won the 40.000 Reichsmark "Lanz-Preis der Lufte" on 30
October 1909, as he was the first German to fly a flat "8" in a German
aircraft with German engine around two pylons 1000 meters apart. In 1910, he
established the first aviation school in Germany. It was also a Grade monoplane
that carried Germany’s first airmail, when pilot Pentz made a flight from Bork
to Bruck in February 1912 with a small sack of mail in his lap. Although
successful, Grade’s monoplanes did not become as famous as many contemporary
European designs.