The Zanonia, one of the oldest aerial exhibits in the museum, is a tailless glider, built and flight-tested around 1905 in the Upper Old Town of Trutnov. It is the work of ground-breaking aircraft designer Igo Etrich, who followed in the footsteps of Otto Lilienthal.

Igo Etrich conducted intensive studies of various types of flight from examples in both the animal and plant kingdoms. His attention was quickly captured by gliding seeds of a certain gourd (Macrozanonia macrocarpa), found from the Malaysian island through New Guinea. These seeds are ideal representatives of gliding flight, and under proper conditions, due to their slightly arched shell, are capable of stable gliding flight of several hundred kilometers. The shape of these seeds became the model for his first gliders, which carried the name Zanonia.

After intensive experimenting, Etrich presented his first glider in 1906, with great success. It was constructed of wood, bamboo and fabric, with a wingspan of 10 meters and a surface area of 38 square meters. It was intended to be powered by a Laurin-Klement motorcycle engine of 2.5 kW, with two counter-rotating propellers. Etrich's partner Franz Wels managed gliding flights of up to 250 meters in the craft, but they never succeeded in making it take off.

The glider's frame has been completely preserved, and after a renovation in the early 1980s, has been placed in the transportation exhibit.

Technical parameters:
Manufacturer: Igo Etrich – Franz Wels, cca. 1905
Wingspan: 6 meters
Length: 2.9 meters
Weight: 20 kg