The Waterbird team, consisting of ‘Gerry’ Cooper (direction and construction), Michael Sales (wood work), David Seath (metal work) and Jennifer Cooper (fabric) have recreated the ‘Waterbird’, a floatplane designed by Captain Edward Wakefield who patented the stepped float and its means of attachment. On 25 November 1911, at Lake Windermere, England, Waterbird became the first hydroaeroplane to successfully take off from and alight on water outside of France (Henri Fabre) and the USA (Glenn Curtiss). It was the first successful flight in the world to use a ‘stepped’ float, which is universally used today on all aircraft.
The team has recreated this historic machine, using a modern Rotec R2800 radial engine instead of the original 50hp Gnôme rotary, and on 21 May 2018 the Waterbird made her first flight as a landplane.