The museum boasts a replica of the triplane - but it doesn't fly. © MSIM

A flying replica of the first successful triplane - also the first successful all-British aeroplane - is being built by a group of volunteer aeronautical engineers based at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

The fragile 1909 Roe triplane, designed by Manchester aviation pioneer Alliot Verdon Roe (A.V.Roe), secured its place in aviation history when it flew 900 feet at an average 20 feet off the ground on July 23 1909.

Now a team of former employees at the BAE systems factory at Woodford, Manchester (formerly the Avro factory built by A.V. Roe) has taken over a workshop at the Museum’s Air and Space Hall to build an airworthy copy of the original flying machine.

The engineering team have years of experience in aeronautical engineering. © MSIM

“We said we would build a replica as close as we can to the original,” explained Mike Taylor, one of the engineers building the triplane replica, “and if the original flew then ours should fly too.”

“We have a 1912 engine produced by JA Prestwich, with whom A.V. Roe had a business arrangement. We don’t know how much power it will deliver but it ought to be enough to get it off the ground. We also have history on our side, so we know what works.”

According to Mike, A.V. Roe had a rather unscientific approach to flying. “He would build the aeroplane, start it up and then figure out how to fly it,” he explained. “It was a fundamentally different approach to the Wright Brothers, who solved each problem in turn and tested everything beforehand.”

The volunteers are former employees at the BAE systems factory at Woodford, Manchester © MSIM

Like the Wright Brothers, Mike and his colleagues will be doing some testing before their replica’s maiden flight to check whether the craft’s wheels will take the impact, vibration testing for the propellers and tension tests on fittings.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester has one of the best collections of aeroplanes in Britain, including several models built by the Manchester Avro factories. The largest aeroplane in the collection is the 1954 Avro Shackleton, whilst a replica of the 1909 Roe Triplane is amongst the smallest and most fragile.

The group of 20 men aim to build the 1909 triplane for around £7000 excluding the engine. The wings are made from a glued wooden frame covered in synthetic fabric, replacing the fragile paper of the original and the propeller from poplar wood.

“As the team building the replica is larger, better qualified and more experienced than that which built the original, I have every confidence that they will be successful,” said Nick Forder, Air and Space curator at the museum.