Glass wing glider construction

Glasflügel Segelflugzeugbau GmbH
legal form	Company with limited liability
founding	1962
resolution	1982
Reason for dissolution	bankruptcy
Seat	Schlattstall
management	Eugen and Ursula Hänle
Branch	Aircraft manufacturer

The company Glasflügel GmbH was a German manufacturer of gliders based in Schlattstall , south of Kirchheim / Teck .

history

The Glasflügel company was founded in 1962 by the engineer Eugen Hänle and his wife Ursula . On September 21, 1975, the company's founder, Eugen Hänle, was killed in an aircraft accident. As a result, the company ran into financial difficulties and consequently entered into a cooperation with the glider manufacturer Schempp-Hirth . Until 1979 Glasflügel operated under the name Holighaus & Hillenbrand GmbH. Later it was called Deutsch-Brasilianische Flugzeug- und Fahrzeug-GmbH until it was finally wound up in 1982. After Glasflügel went bankrupt, Hansjörg stripseder felt obliged to Eugen Hänle to continue looking after the Glasflügel aircraft and founded Glasfaser-Flugzeug-Service GmbH .

technology

Glasflügel was the second manufacturer in the world to produce gliders with fiber-reinforced plastics. The company, especially the Hänle couple, is responsible for a large number of innovations in glider construction and technology. The automatic rudder connections introduced by Glasflügel were groundbreaking at the time. In the meantime, these have been mandatory for many years when developing new gliders. Also known is the trailing edge rotary brake flap, a type of air brake that allows steep descents to be made without the speed exceeding a specified maximum value.

model series

Glasflügel developed a large number of models , some of which were only test vehicles for future models. However, these had their own type designation. Only the commercially successful models are mentioned here. Details on each individual glass wing model can be found in the individual articles.

In addition, Glasflügel produced a never completed two-seater with seats next to each other and the project name Glasflügel 701. This aircraft was to have a bipod landing gear, a damped T-tail unit and a three-part flap wing with a 19 meter span and an area of 18.76 m².

literature

Dietmar Geistmann: The development of plastic gliders , ISBN 3-87943-483-2
Dietmar Geistmann: Gliders in Germany , ISBN 3-613-01449-1 .

Web links

Commons : Glass Wing Glider Construction - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

The successor to Glasflügel
Glass wing aircraft in the sailplane directory