The Glaser-Dirks DG-500, and later the DG-505, is a two-seat

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

glass-reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

and

carbon fiber reinforced plastic Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

construction, manufactured in the DG Flugzeugbau GmbH in

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

, Germany. It first flew in 1987.

Design

The glider is a trainer with an 18-metre wingspan or a high-performance glider with 20 or 22 m span. There are also trailing edge flaps with the exception of the Trainer and Orion variants. The 20m version also has winglets. The fuselage has a single wheel main landing gear which retracts into the lower fuselage. The DG-500/18 is mainly intended for flight training, and is fully aerobatic with +7/-5 g rating. There is also a motorglider version, the DG-500M. The DG-500/22 can carry up to 160 kg of water ballast which is not possible on the trainer version. Since 2004, the latest version of the DG-500 has been built as the "DG-505 Orion" in Slovenia.

Past altitude record

The DG-500 once held the all-time altitude record for manned gliders, at 15,460 m (50,720 ft), set on 29 August 2006 by Steve Fossett and Einar Enevoldson, breaking the previous record by 1,713 ft (522 m). It was a standard DG-500M but the engine had been removed and replaced with liquid oxygen tanks. Additional instruments were installed powered by non-rechargeable batteries. The canopy had double-wall glazing and there was a drogue parachute for an emergency descent from high altitude. Pressure suits were worn. The glider is on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight. A new altitude record of 52,172 ft (15,902 m) was set by the

Windward Performance Perlan II The Windward Performance Perlan 2 ( en, Pearl) is an American mid-wing, two-seats-in-tandem, pressurized, experimental research glider that was designed by Greg Cole and built by Windward Performance for the Perlan Project.Staff report, ''The ...

on September 3, 2017.

Variants

;DG-500 :Initial production with span wings. ;DG-500/18 :Aerobatic version ;DG-500/22 :high performance sailplane with span wings ;DG-500M :Motorglider version of the DG-500, powered by a retractable pylon mounted

Rotax 535 The Rotax 535 is an Austrian aircraft engine, that was designed and produced by Rotax of Gunskirchen for use in motor gliders.European Aviation Safety Agency, (26 February 2010)Type Certificate Data Sheet Number: E.209 retrieved 24 September 2015 ...

C engine ;DG-500T Elan Trainer : span wings, fixed undercarriage, no flaps, full controls in both cockpits. ;DG-505 :improved DG-500 ;DG-505 Orion :Production version built in Slovenia ;DG-505MB :Motorglider version of the DG-505 with a retractable

Solo 2625-02 The Solo 2625 is a series of German aircraft engines, designed and produced by Solo Vertriebs- und Entwicklungs GmbH of Fellbach for use in ultralight aircraft, self-launching sailplanes and homebuilt aircraft.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et a ...

engine

Specifications (Elan Trainer)

References

External links