Schempp-Hirth aircraft construction
| Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1935 |
| Seat | Kirchheim unter Teck , Germany |
| management |
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| Number of employees | 103 |
| sales | EUR 10.8 million |
| Branch | Aircraft manufacturer |
| Website | www.schempp-hirth.com |
| As of December 31, 2017 | |
The Schempp-Hirth GmbH is a German manufacturer of gliders .
history
The company was founded in 1935 by Martin Schempp - who later became mayor of Kirchheim unter Teck for a short time (1945) - under the name Sportflugzeugbau Göppingen Martin Schempp . In 1938 the company moved to Kirchheim unter Teck. Wolf Hirth became a partner.
The first aircraft were Gö-1 Wolf , Gö-3 Minimoa and the two-seater Gö-4 Goevier . Today only a few examples of these models can be found.
During the Second World War , production was switched to aircraft and accessories for the Luftwaffe , including for Messerschmitt AG in Augsburg . In 1939, Schempp-Hirth built the test aircraft Gö-9 designed by Ulrich W. Hütter on behalf of Dornier to test the functionality of the drive concept of the Dornier Do 335 with push and pull propellers.
post war period
After the war, production could only slowly be switched back to gliders. The time was bridged with the production of plywood suitcases , leg prostheses , furniture, web shooters , etc., but also with jet fighter dummies ( F-86 ) and recording studio equipment for radio stations. At the end of the 1950s, the prototype of the four-seat Milan GS 6 touring aircraft was also built. However, the project was not pursued any further.
Well-known aircraft types such as Cirrus , Standard Cirrus , Janus , Discus , Duo Discus , Ventus , Nimbus , Quintus and Arcus come from the production based in Kirchheim unter Teck. Many of these gliders were designed by Klaus Holighaus , who joined the Schempp-Hirth company in 1965 and died on August 9, 1994 with his Nimbus-4M with the competition number XX on a rock face of the Rheinwaldhorn .
The Schempp-Hirth gliders are among the top products internationally, numerous records in distance gliding have been flown with various Nimbus and Discus variants.
present
The Duo Discus x was presented to the public for the first time at the Aero 2005 in Friedrichshafen . In addition to the improved chassis suspension and general aerodynamic refinements, the "x" has been provided with a trailing edge flap, which is coupled to the flap system and enables landings with a significantly steeper approach angle and reduced touchdown speed.
The two-seater Arcus is a two-seat high-performance glider with a wingspan of 20 meters and flaps. The aircraft was presented to the general public at Aero Friedrichshafen 2009. The aircraft made its first flight after the trade fair on April 7, 2009.
Schempp-Hirth has the Quintus in its range as the newest single-seater . With a wingspan of 23 meters, it is located in the sporty open class and was successfully used at the 2012 World Cup in Uvalde, Texas . The wing was developed together with Lange Aviation , where it is used on the Antares 23 .
literature
- Rainer Kilian, Gebhard Aders : City fire 1690, country militia, Latin students, wool market, Schempp-Hirth and Wolf Hirth, displaced persons and refugees, honorary citizens. City of Kirchheim, Kirchheim unter Teck 1990 (series of publications by the Kirchheim unter Teck City Archives, Volume 12, without ISBN in the holdings of the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Annual financial statements as of December 31, 2017 in the electronic Federal Gazette
- ↑ Dornier Do 335 and Gö 9. In: www.luftarchiv.de. Bert Hartmann, accessed on May 6, 2020 .
- ↑ Klaus Keim: Klaus Holighaus - one of the greats in our gliding sport . In: Schempp-Hirth, 1994, accessed April 23, 2014.