Perhaps the most ambitious wooden aircraft project anywhere at present: The Arbalète flying wing.

 The Arbalète was developed as an aerodynamic testbed for the four engined ‘Aiguillon’ jet fighter. Arbalète was unique in the fact that it combined a flying wing design with an all wooden construction and four jet-engines.

In contrast to many flying wing designs of the era that were notorious ‘pilot-killers’, Arbalète proved to be a safe and nice handling aeroplane with remarkable agility. It was also fast at 387 knots or almost 717 kilometers per hour. After three years of testing, Arbalète was retired.

Stefan Weber, former Airline captain, Arbalète enthousiast and craftsman extraordinaire, has taken it upon himself to recreate this one of a kind machine in all of its glory. Not as a static display but as a living, flying homage to Swiss ingenuity.

This is a monumental task, not only because of the complexity of the wooden structure, but also because of its many intricate technical parts. You can enjoy the details of this spectacular project at: www.projekt-arbalete.ch.