DFS heron

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DFS heron
Heron III, 1938
Heron III, 1938
Type: Glider
Design country:

German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire

Manufacturer:

DFS

First flight:

1937

Number of pieces:

10

Replica of a Reiher III in 2013 on the glider airfield Bückeburg- Weinberg

The DFS Heron was a glider that was designed by Hans Jacobs in 1937 for the German Research Institute for Gliding (DFS).

history

The heron was designed with a view to the international gliding competition on the Wasserkuppe, which Hanna Reitsch actually won on July 4, 1937 with a heron. The type was flown in various other competitions before the Second World War and developed into versions II and III.

construction

The heron was a single-seat middle-decker with gull wings. The design combined good thermal suitability with the ability to go at high speed and thus quickly change between updraft and thermal areas. Since it is also extremely aerodynamically efficient and has a consequent lightweight construction, the Heron was one of the most powerful gliders of its time.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 1
length 7.27 m
span 19.00 m
Wing area 19.36 m²
Wing profile Gö 549 / Gö 676
Glide ratio 33
Empty mass 230 kg
Takeoff mass 315 kg
Wing loading 16.3 kg / m²
Top speed 200 km / h

Received aircraft

None of the ten herons built survived the war. The Wasserkuppe old-timer glider club built a heron between 1997 and 2000, which is now exhibited in the German Glider Museum. A group of classic car friends built another Reiher III in Achmer, which flies there today.

See also

literature

  • Peter Ocker: Hans Jacobs - pioneering life in aircraft construction . Self-published, Heidenheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-039539-0 .
  • BS Shenstone: The DFS Reiher Sailplane A Technical Description of an Important High-Efficiency German Sporting Glider . In: Aircraft Engineering . tape 18 , no. 4 , 1946, pp. 110-116 , doi : 10.1108 / eb031356 ( abstract online ).

Web links

Commons : DFS Heron  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oldtimer Segelflugclub Wasserkuppe ( Memento from December 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ): DFS Heron, accessed on March 11, 2010