Tsehai (airplane)

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Tsehai ( Amharic "sun") is the first airplane built in Ethiopia . It was designed and built in the spring of 1935 by the German pilot Ludwig Weber . The original name was AETHIOPIA I , but the aircraft was renamed by Emperor Haile Selassie after his daughter Princess Tsahai . It is also known as the plane of the negus ( the plane of the negus ).

Ludwig Weber came  to Ethiopia in March 1932 with an order from the Junkers company to repair a Junkers W 33 C. He became the emperor's personal pilot. He designed the aircraft as a monoplane , with a 115 hp, seven-cylinder Walter Venus engine and a Schwarz propeller. The fuselage consisted of a steel frame with a fabric cover, the wings mostly made of wood and the windshield made of plastic. It was painted in the traditional colors of Ethiopia green, yellow and red. A total of three aircraft of this series were planned, but only one could be completed.

The maiden flight took place in December 1935 and was carried out personally by Ludwig Weber. In total, this plane only had thirty hours of flight time as the Italian invasion forced Weber and his crew to leave the country in May 1936. The plane was brought to Italy by the Italians, where it was exhibited in the Caserta Aviation Museum until 1941 . It was then taken to the Italian Aviation Museum near Rome, where it has been exhibited ever since.

Because of its special historical significance, Ethiopia is demanding the Tsehai aircraft back from Italy to display on the roof of Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa .