The DFS ''Habicht'' (German: "Hawk") is an unlimited aerobatic

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

that was designed in 1936 by Hans Jacobs with support provided by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug. Four planes were made available for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

of 1936, where the maneuvers of the Habicht over and literally inside the Olympic stadium enthralled spectators. The flight qualities of the Habicht were praised by pilots, including

Hanna Reitsch Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912 – 24 August 1979) was a German Pilot (aeronautics), aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight-tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many hono ...

. It participated in many airshows abroad before the war, including the 1938

National Air Races The National Air Races (also known as Pulitzer Trophy Races) are a series of pylon and cross-country races that have taken place in the United States since 1920. The science of aviation, and the speed and reliability of aircraft and engines grew ...

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.Reitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, Modified versions of the Habicht, dubbed the Stummel-Habicht ("Stumpy Hawk"), were used to train pilots to fly the

Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as ...

rocket-powered fighter. Trainees included students from the

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Glider Schools. The Me 163 was designed to use its entire load of rocket fuel to reach combat altitude of approximately , before returning to land as a fast glider. Trainees therefore began on a ''Stummel-Habicht'', in which the original wingspan, was modified to one having an wingspan, and another having an wingspan. The shorter wingspan closely mimicked the ME 163 handling characteristics. Few Habichts survived World War II. There is one craft, flown by famous French aerobatic pilot Marcel Doret, in the

Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace The Musée de l'air et de l'espace (, ) is a French aerospace museum, located at the south-eastern edge of Paris–Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris, and in the Communes of France, commune of Le Bourget. It was inaugurated in 1919 after a propo ...

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. Another, with the registration D-8002, flew in Southern Germany until it was destroyed by the collapse of the hangar wherein it was stored. Apart from these original examples, Türk Hava Kurumu manufactured six reverse-engineered copies of the Habicht as the THK-3 in 1945-1946. After lengthy and patient research to recover the design documentation, Josef Kurz and other members of the Oldtimer Segelflugclub Wasserkuppe built an all-new Habicht. After an extended exhibition career, this exemplar, registered also as D-8002, flies from the Wasserkuppe club's airfield. DFS Habicht E 1

Another airworthy Habicht was built by the Zahn family and first flew in 2001. Since then, at the hands of pilot Christoph Zahn, it has provided aerobatics demonstrations at numerous air shows.

Operators

; * Austrian Air Force (1927–1938)

Specifications

References

External links

OSC WasserkuppeDFS Habicht D-1901
{{THK aircraft 1930s German sailplanes Habicht Glider aircraft Gull-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936