Tour the Demoiselle
Bamboo Frame
One of the significant structures of the Demoiselle is the triangular
fuselage made of three bamboo poles. You can see the use of the bamboo, and
also the concept of incorporating some steel into the structure to give it some
strength, the steel tubes that form the triangular fuselage. You had a
structure much like a bridge, a very, very strong, lightweight, resilient
structure. And it was very, very successful for this particular airplane. A
little detail note that you'll notice in between what are known as nodes, the
little bumps on the bamboo poles, you'll see some brass wire wrapped. This
wasn't for decoration. This was used to keep the bamboo from splitting along
its length.