Meckler-Allen 1912 Biplane

The Meckler-Allen airplane was an early biplane built by Allen Canton and John J. Meckler in 1912, for an attempt to make a transatlantic flight. At the time of its first flight it was the largest airplane in the world.

History
In 1912, Allen Canton and John J. Meckler, two young Bronx electricians, built a 76 ft span hydro-biplane. The financing for the construction came from profits of their company Mechelectric, which held forty-five patents for new electrical devices. The partners planned to make the first transatlantic flight to Europe.

Christened the New York, it carried twenty-two tanks of gasoline and had five engines, was 104 ft long, had a 76 ft span, and contained 2400 sqft of canvas, with an estimated lifting capacity of 20000 lb when only two of the five engines were running.