Martin Heide

Martin Heath (* around 1954 ) is a German glider pilot and former designer of gliders of the company Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co . The machines he designed bear the type designation "ASH".

ASH 31 Mi during the first flight

education and profession

Heide studied aircraft construction at the University of Stuttgart and was a member of Akaflieg Stuttgart and president of Idaflieg for a year . He wrote his diploma thesis on the flight tests of the Schleicher ASW 22 .

In 1981 Heide was able to join the design office of the Alexander Schleicher company in Poppenhausen . There he worked with Rudolf Kaiser for four years and with Gerhard Waibel for a total of 22 years . Heide's first design was the AS 22-2 two-seater. The so-called “ super orchid ” was created from the front part of the fuselage of the Stuttgart fs 31 and the tail unit and 24-meter wing of the ASW 22 . The first flight took place on September 20, 1984 on the Wasserkuppe . Heide developed this unique piece into the two-seater ASH 25 with a 25 meter span . The open class aircraft had its maiden flight on May 11, 1986 and 266 units were built in different variants. Hans-Werner Grosse and Steve Fossett flew 16 and 11 world records respectively with this type , including a glider flight over 2000 kilometers. In May 2018 it was the world's most-built aircraft in this class.

Heide's next design was the self-launching motor glider ASH 26 E with a retractable engine . It had its first flight in 1993 and is characterized by a single-disc rotary engine that remains in the fuselage and drives the propeller via a toothed belt. The successor to the ASH 25 was the self-launching ASH 30 Mi , which made its maiden flight on April 7, 2011. Like the single-seater ASH 31 Mi (with a wingspan of 18 or 21 meters, first flight on April 21, 2009), they have retractable engines of the same design as the ASH 26 E. The fuselage of the ASH 30 was also used slightly shortened in the ASG 32 .

In addition to development and research in the area of cockpit security and the fiber-plastic composite , Heide was also involved in the prototyping of the designs of his predecessors Kaiser and Waibel. On a voluntary basis, he passes on his knowledge to young Akaflieg designers at Idaflieg design seminars .

Martin Heide retired in May 2018. In his private life he flies an ASH 26 E.

Web links

• alexander-schleicher.de: Dipl.-Ing. Martin Heide retires. 37 years as an aircraft designer at Alexander Schleicher .

literature

• Peter F. Selinger: Rhön-Adler. 75 years of Alexander Schleicher glider construction , 2nd edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2003.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Record hunter from Poppenhausen . In: Flight Revue . November 1984. p. 6.
2. ↑ alexander-schleicher.de: ASH 25 . (accessed on February 19, 2020)
3. ↑ alexander-schleicher.de: Dipl.-Ing. Martin Heide retires . (accessed on February 19, 2020)
4. ↑ idaflieg construction seminar 2019 . (accessed on February 19, 2020)