Hercules III

Hercules III

Hercules IV

The winds Herkules III (short H3 ) is a device for Start of gliders . It was built by Moravan Otrokovice from 1957 to 1961 with a number of 522 winches , can drive itself and is about the size of a Wartburg . In the 1960s and 1970s it was part of the inventory of almost every glider airfield in the GDR and many other countries. In the 1980s it began to be replaced by the more powerful successor, Hercules IV .

engine

The engine is a V8 direct injection diesel engine, which was also used in the Tatra 128 truck. It has the following parameters:

Winch motor
Type	Tatra 108-4
power	99 kW (134 PS) at 2000 rpm
Torque	Max. 500 Nm at 1200 rpm
drilling	110 mm
Hub	130 mm
Displacement	9883 cc
Compression ratio	16.5: 1
Firing order	1-6-3-5-4-7-2-8
spec. Fuel consumption	190 g / PSh

The engine is cooled by air and the large engine oil supply. However, every winch driver will remember the indescribable sound from the (barely existing) exhaust.

transmission

The power is transmitted from the engine via the flywheel to a hydraulic clutch with a capacity of 8 l. From there it goes on over a Hardy disc to a spur gear. From here, the motor power either goes to the cable drums or to the driven axle. Switching takes place via a manual gearshift wheel in the driver's cab.

Drums and winder

Drums and winder

The steel cable is wound onto the cable drums. There is a winding device so that it is not only wound on one side. This moves back and forth in front of the drum. Unfortunately, the spooling device is designed to carry the entire load of the rope in case the glider does not hold up; H. creates a lateral pull.

Winch operation

The winch is an old construction and designed for the needs of gliding in the 1950s. Accordingly, it is only designed for aircraft of the time. It pulls single-seat aircraft like Grunau Baby , LOM-Meise, K8 or Astir and LS4 without any problems . Even with older two-seaters such as the Lommatzsch FES-530 , Ka 4 or K 7 , the winch has few problems, and it can also be used excellently for towing the SG 38 . However, it is unsuitable for the demands of modern two-seaters due to its low performance. From the early 1990s, many air sports clubs therefore converted to the more powerful engine of the Tatra 148 , which now produces 212 hp due to the higher displacement of 12.6 liters and also meets the requirements of the heavy two-seater such as PZL Bielsko SZD-50 , Schleicher ASK 21 , SZD-9 Bocian , Grob G 103 , DG types etc. This engine is still used in the Herkules-III winches today.

Existing copies

The following glider clubs still have type H3 winches (condition in brackets):

E-143: Anklam Aviation Club

E-169: LSV Mühlhausen

E-276: Aviation Club Bronkow

E-284: Aeroclub Zwickau

E-286: Neustadt-Glewe

E-287: Aviation Association "Otto Lilienthal" eV in Finsterwalde

E-288: Ballenstedter Aeroclub eV (operational; original condition; drive gear defective)

E-310: Aeroklub Hoyerswerda // formerly (1997) Fliegerklub Pirna, converted to TATRA T 2-928-2 (212 PS, 800 Nm, 12,600 cm³)

E-403: Aeroclub Bad Frankenhausen

E-408: Aeroklub Hoyerswerda, converted to TATRA T 2-928-2 (212 HP) in 1991

E-410: Vilniaus aeroklubas

E-405: Pasewalker Luftsportclub “Die Ueckerfalken” eV

E - ???: Landessegelflugschule Thüringen eV

E - ???: Leipzig-Taucha

E - ???: Sportfliegerclub Greifswald eV (engine overhauled and body repainted)

E - ???: Fliegerklub Müncheberg Eggersdorf

E - ???: Segelflugclub Erfurt eV (regular maintenance / care, condition "2", no longer in use)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Description and maintenance instructions for the Herkules 3 cable winch
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kew4k2ISTqs
3. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/a.html
4. ↑ flight operations. In: akaflieg-dresden.de. Academic Aviation Group of the TU Dresden eV, accessed on July 5, 2013 . 
5. ↑ black technique. (No longer available online.) In: lsv-muehlhausen.net. Luftsportverein Mühlhausen eV, archived from the original on December 3, 2013 ; Retrieved July 5, 2013 . 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.  
6. ↑ Our aircraft and technology park. In: fcbronkow.de. Fliegerclub Bronkow eV, accessed on July 5, 2013 . 
7. ↑ Our technology. In: acz.de. Aero-Club Zwickau eV, accessed on July 5, 2013 . 
8. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/n.html
9. ↑ Airplanes and winches. (No longer available online.) In: segelflug.de. Ballenstedter Aeroclub, archived from the original on December 21, 2013 ; Retrieved July 5, 2013 . 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.  
10. ↑ our fleet. In: Flugplatz-nardt.de. Aeroklub Hoyerswerda eV, accessed on July 5, 2013 . 
11. ↑ Airplanes and technology. (No longer available online.) In: aeroclub-frankenhausen.de. Aeroclub "Hans Grade" Bad Frankenhausen eV, archived from the original on February 27, 2014 ; Retrieved July 5, 2013 . 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.  
12. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/h.html
13. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/v.html
14. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/p.html
15. ↑ http://www.skylaunch.de/album/l.html