Wolfgang Dallach

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Wolfgang Dallach (born February 2, 1951 ; † January 18, 2015 in Rechberghausen ) was a German designer, stunt pilot and entrepreneur.

Life

Dallach began his career as a designer of aircraft with an aerobatic plane , the Diabolo , which was based on the design of the Stephens Akro . He wanted to build an aircraft that was lighter and less sluggish than the then predominant Pitts and Zlín .

The diabolo was equipped with a proven Lycoming AEIO-540 D4B5 six-cylinder boxer engine with 260 hp; What was revolutionary, however, was the construction of the airframe and wing, which allowed a flight mass of just 700 kg. With his design, Wolfgang Dallach was twice German vice aerobatic master and once vice European champion. Until his death he was active with the machine in aerobatics.

Microlight aircraft construction

After he had finished his career as an aerobatic pilot, he turned to the construction of ultralight aircraft in 1982 , where he was able to contribute his experience from the design and construction of the diabolo. The constructions Sunrise, Sunwheel, Fascination and Evolution were created one after the other.

For the first two ultralight aircraft mentioned, Dallach took classic models. The Sunrise released in 1984 was very reminiscent of the Klemm Kl 25 , while the Sunwheel is a classic-looking double-decker.

Fascination

The Fascination was with their sleek design and extremely high for UL aircraft cruising speed and reach a very popular airplane that sat with his performance new standards in UL Class and was built in more than 200 copies. With the D4-B version, there were a number of accidents due to structural failure, the cause of which was attributed by the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation to a production error at the supplier of the wings as well as overloading and flying too fast in turbulent weather conditions. The WD company therefore carried out additional investigations with similarly incorrectly glued wings and was able to prove that the strength values ​​required for the type approval were still exceeded by 15% even with the gluing error. The Fascination was later also approved as a VLA aircraft with an MTOW of 570 kg in the E-Class and thus benefited significantly from the less strict weight restriction. The D4 BK (for all-plastic construction) was a completely new development and not as sensitive as the previous model.

The Evolution, on the other hand, was a high-wing aircraft that achieved particularly good flight performance thanks to its high aerodynamic quality.

insolvency

In April 2005 the WD Leichtflugzeugbau GmbH went bankrupt. In 2006 the Swiss company Swiss Light Aircraft acquired all type rights, in 2014 these were returned to Wolfgang Dallach, because Swiss Light Aircraft had not started production in the 8 years and the only VLA in their possession broke in a landing accident went. On August 1, 2008, DG Flugzeugbau in Bruchsal took over the model support for the UL models . Also in 2014, the model support was again taken over by Wolfgang Dallach. The Fascination UL sample was continued to be built until 2015 by the former production company Wolfgang Dallachs in the Czech Republic as "F100". The pattern should be adapted to market needs through some changes. Due to a failed model policy, weak advertising and, last but not least, the dispute over copyrights with Wolfgang Dallach, this model was unable to establish itself on the market. A collaboration started in cooperation for the construction of an electric aircraft based on the F100 Fascination failed due to the exit of an investor.

death

Dallach and his 49-year-old partner died on January 18, 2015 when his private Piper PA-24 Comanche hit the ground in Rechberghausen . According to the public prosecutor's office, Dallach was unconscious at the time of the accident due to carbon monoxide poisoning .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BFU: Bericht_3X018-0
  2. ↑ Statement on the accident on March 22, 2000 at Simonswald (PDF file; 581 kB)
  3. ^ Elaborate recovery after plane crash by Wolfgang Dallach. In: Neue Württembergische Zeitung , Göppinger Kreisnachrichten from January 19, 2015 (accessed January 20, 2015).
  4. ↑ Pilot Dallach was unconscious due to gas poisoning in a plane crash in: Geislinger Zeitung from March 3, 2015 (accessed on March 4, 2015)
personal data
SURNAME Dallach, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German designer, aerobatic pilot and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1951
DATE OF DEATH January 18, 2015
Place of death Rechberghausen