Mikael Carlson Flying Machines
By James Grahame
Swedish 737 pilot Mikael Carlson grew up building aircraft. He started by crafting model planes and moved on to build his first full-sized machine - a replica of a Swedish 1919 Tummelisa military biplane - at the age of 23. It took seven years. Instead of taking advantage of advances in technology, he used the original engine and authentic materials.
His most remarkable machines are his two genuine Bleriot XI monoplanes. Louis Bleriot made the XI famous by flying it across the English channel. Carlson reminds us that is was also the first airplane to cross the Alps and fly a loop. The little Bleriot was quite popular and was used as a flight trainer in Sweden between 1913 and 1919. Carlson found his first Bleriot in the late 1980s - disassembled in a barn. He restored it to original flying condition and it flew again in 1991. Both aircraft are equipped with original 1908 Gnôme-Omega 50 hp rotary engines, which develop a then-massive 50 HP. They cruise at a sedate 42 knots (78 kph).
