By Angela Satterlee
On June 28, the EAA Aviation Museum welcomed back the Mauro Solar Riser aircraft, the world’s first crewed ultralight powered by solar energy. It is on display in the Innovations Gallery of the museum, next to many other aircraft that represent key aviation milestones.
The Solar Riser was designed and flown by Larry Mauro of EAA Chapter 1, and was manufactured by Ultralight Flying Machines. Larry modified it after his Easy Riser hang glider also manufactured by the same company.
Larry made history when he first took flight in the Solar Riser on April 29, 1979. The flight took place at Flabob Airport in Riverside, California, and lasted almost five minutes. Since then, the aircraft has flown about a dozen times.
Larry graciously donated the aircraft to EAA about a month after the convention on August 20, 1979. It was displayed shortly after in the former EAA Air Museum in Franklin, Wisconsin, in the electric flight exhibit.
In 1981, EAA Chapter 306 in Japan reached out to request to have the Solar Riser loaned to Sunrise Country, Inc. for its “Sponsoring Solar Energy Exhibition” in Japan, as a part of their Sunshine Project with the solar energy progress section. The aircraft was disassembled and shipped to Japan in two crates and made it safely for the exhibit, which ran June 16-28, 1981.
The aircraft was shipped back to the U.S. and was on display until the Franklin Air Museum closed. It was brought to Oshkosh to what was formerly known as the Air Adventure Museum for the remainder of the 1980s into the early 1990s.
Sometime in the ‘90s, the Riser was put into storage where it stayed for nearly 30 years, until it was placed in the EAA Aviation Museum right before AirVenture.
The Riser is unrestored, its original patina showcasing exactly how it was retired 45 years ago. It will remain preserved so the next generation can see what early solar aircraft looked like.