The 15-meter Ventus (not to be confused with the later completely redesigned Ventus 2) has all- carbon fiber wings. The strength of this material permitted use of a very thin airfoil developed by F.X. Wortmann, Dieter Althaus and Ventus designer Klaus Holighaus. The stiffness of carbon fiber prevents wing twist at high speeds such as…
The Ventus 2, despite its names, is substantially changed from its similarly named predecessor. It has a complely new Discus planform wing and comes in a number of different configurations. The unpowered sailplane comes in three different varieties, the short fuselage 15 m. Ventus 2a, the larger fuselage 15 m. –2b, and the convertible tip…
The Wolf was named after Wolf Hirth, partner with Martin Schempp in the then new firm of Sportflugzeugbau Goppingen (now Schempp-Hirth). It was produced in 1935 as a rival to the Schneider Grunau Baby as a utility (rather than a high performance) sailplane. It lacks any approach control devices but has a built-in- wheel, an…
Although the Standard Cirrus was a follow-on to the original Open Class Cirrus design, it is completely different aircraft, with a 15 m. wing with airbrakes on the top surface only, an all-moving T-tail and a steel tube skeleton in the wing-fuselage center section. A Cirrus won the U.S. Standard Class Nationals in 1969. Despite a claimed L/D ratio of 38,…
The Standard Austria was developed in 1959 by the Austrian Aero Club and won the 1960 OSTIV prize for the best Standard Class design entered in the World Championships at Koln-Butzwelerhof in Germany. 14 were built in Austria before production was licensed and transferred to Schempp-Hirth in Germany. Schempp-Hirth produced 30 Austrias and 5 improved…
The SHK 17 m. Open Class sailplane was developed in 1965 from the 15 m. Standard Austria/ SH-1, with V-tail surfaces 50 % larger and other improvements. It has a mass balanced all moving tailplane with aerodynamic trim tabs. An SHK finished in 3rd place in the Open Class of the 1965 World Championships at…
The increased span replacement of the single place Open Class Nimbus 3 first flew in 1990. The six piece wing has a multi-stage Discus style leading edge sweepback. When the double panel top surface airbrakes are opened, the flaps lower automatically to the landing position (approximately 40 degrees). There is a fin mounted trim ballast…
The Nimbus 4D is the successor to the earlier 24.6 m. Nimbus 3D. The six piece Discus planform wing has full span camber changing flaperons. Approach control is by double segment top surface Schempp-Hirth airbrakes which are interconnected with the inboard sections of the flaps. There is an optional fin ballast tank for trimming purposes.…
First flown in 1935, the Minimoa established a number of records, including the world altitude record in 1938 (using lift in cumulo nimbus cloud) of 6,687 m./ 21,939 ft. The name was an abbreviation of its original nickname, Mini- Moazagotl, as it was a smaller successor of Hirth’s earlier 20 m. Moazagotl. Distinctive in many…
The Nimbus 2 (developed from the 1969 22 m. Nimbus which George Moffat won the Open Class World Championships at Marfa, Texas in 1970) first flew in 1971. The four piece wing has flaps interconnected with the ailerons with settings which range from +6 to –8 degrees, with 20 degrees for landing. Later –2B and…