The Kirby Kite was a development of the Schneider Grunau Baby 2 with a gull wing and a streamlined fuselage. Slingsby had already built a number of Grunau Babies under license and in the contruction of the Kite used some of the same components and metal fittings. During World War II several kites were used…
The Gull 1, which first flew in 1938, was intended for pilots who had outgrown their Kirby Kite or Grunau Baby sailplanes. Spoilers were fitted to all Gulls after the first production example. In 1939, a Gull flown by Geoffrey Stephenson was the first sailplane ever to cross the English Channel in true soaring flight.
The Kirby Cadet, which first flew in 1936, was designed as an intermediate performance glider. Early examples had a rubber shock absorbed skid for takeoff and landing, but later versions had a modified nos, a less tall rudder and a fixed main wheel. It has no approach control aids. During World War II, the type…
The 17 m. Kestrel features camber-changing flaps that operate in conjunction with the ailerons, airbrakes, drogue chute, water ballast and retractable gear. The fuselage is a fiberglass monocoque (not sandwich) for greater resilience and pilot protection. The cockpit has room enough for a 198 cm / 6 ft pilot and features a control stick that…
The two-place sel-launching glider, a development of the HOAC HK 36 Super Dimona, is produced in four varieties, the HK 36TC with an 60 kW/ 81 bhp engine and tailwheel landing gear, the HK 36TC with the same engine and tricycle gear, the 86 kW/ 115 bhp HK 36TTS with tailwheel gear, and the HK…
A Standard Class sailplane which first flew in 1964, the Utu has a fixed landing wheel and a trailing-edge split spoiler/terminal-velocity brake. One surface rotates up like a spoiler and the other splits down like a flap and the resultant air deflection from the upper spoiler drives the wing down in a strong negative lift…
The tandem two place metal framed sailplane was designed as a basic training glider and first flew in 1985. It has an oleo pneumatic sprung fixed main wheel, a tail wheel and a rubber sprung nose skid. Approach control is by top and bottom surface Schempp-Hirth type airbrakes. ATC
Th LAK-12 is a single-seat FAI Open-class mid- wing sailplane with a one-piece forward-hinged canopy. The retractable main wheel rides on an oil/nitrogen shock absorber and uses a mechanical brake. A skid is used at the tail. The wings are glass-foam-glass construction and taper from a Wortmann FX67-K-170 airfoil inboard to an FX67- K-150 at…