Condor (airplane)

Condor
Condor IV on approach for landing
Type:	Glider
Design country:	German Empire , FR Germany
Manufacturer:	RRG , Schmetz, Schleicher
First flight:	1932

Condor IV / 3 in the Schleissheim aircraft yard

The Condor is a wooden glider that was built in the single-seat versions I to III in the 1930s and as a two-seat Condor IV from 1951 to 1954.

history

The Condor was designed by Heini Dittmar at the end of 1931 as a performance glider with recourse to the Fafnir hull drawings and built by him in 2000 working hours using material from the RRG flight technology department. The flight was made by his brother Edgar shortly before the Rhön competition in 1932, in which Heini Dittmar and the Condor won the junior class in the practice competition.

In addition to the single-seat versions Condor II and III, Heini Dittmar developed and built a two-seat version Condor IV with a rear seat in the center of gravity, a wingspan increased to 18 meters and a raised elevator after the Second World War . An acrylic glass hood spanned both seats.

A small series was created by the licensees Ferdinand Schmetz in Herzogenrath (five Condor IV / 2 with DFS brake flaps) and Alexander Schleicher (seven Condor IV / 3 with Schempp - Hirth brake flaps that extend up and down ). Schleicher successfully obtained type certification from the Test Center for Aviation Equipment (PfL). Replicas were made in Argentina as the Condor IV / 4.

However, a few copies of the Condor IV were also used as test vehicles for new developments; for example, flaps were attached to one example and tested by Hanna Reitsch . This copy is in the possession of the Luftsportverein Wipperfürth. A Condor IV is located at the airfield of the Osnabrück Aviation Association in Achmer . More Condor IVs are on display in the Schleissheim Aircraft Shipyard and the German Gliding Museum on the Wasserkuppe. A Condor IV also flies in Anklam, it comes from an Argentine production (Schleicher license).

construction

The Condor is a high-decker made of wood. The wings are supported by struts on the first three versions, but these are missing on the Condor IV. The wings have an upward bend near the fuselage. In all versions, the undercarriage consists of a runner and a throwable wheel for take-off and transport on the ground.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Condor I.	Condor II	Condor III	Condor IV / 3
Year of construction	1932	1935	1938
crew	1			2
length	7.65 m	7.70 m	7.60 m	8.44 m
span	17.26 m	17.24 m		18.0 m
Wing profile		Gö 532		Gö 532 (inside) NACA 0012 (outside)
Wing area	16.20 m²			21.2 m²
Wing extension	18.4		15th
Takeoff mass	310 kg	330 kg	325 kg	358 kg
Max. Takeoff mass				520 kg
Wing loading	19.12 kg / m²	19.75 kg / m²	10.82 kg / m²	24.5 kg / m²
Top speed			180 km / h	170 km / h
Minimum speed			50 km / h	60 km / h
Slightest sinking		0.65 m / s	0.6 m / s	0.7 m / s
Glide ratio	26th		28	31 at 80 km / h

Received aircraft

A Condor IV / 3 is on display in the Schleissheim aircraft yard , and another is in the German Gliding Museum .

See also

• List of aircraft types

Web links

Commons : Schleicher Condor  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Riedel: From slope wind to thermal . Experienced Rhön history 1927–1932. 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-87943-981-8 , p. 178 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Georg Brütting : The most famous gliders . 1st edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1970, p. 58 f., 181 .
3. ^ ^{A b} Peter F. Selinger: Rhön-Adler . Ed .: Alexander Schleicher GmbH. 3rd, corrected and supplemented edition. 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-048851-1 , pp. 53-57 .
4. ↑ Flugwerft Schleißheim : Condor IV, accessed on August 26, 2017
5. ↑ List of the gliders exhibited in the German Glider Museum ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.