The DFS Kranich is a type of German glider. It was developed by

Hans Jacobs Hans Jacobs (30 April 1907 in Hamburg – 24 October 1994) was a German sailplane designer and pioneer. He had been taught sailplane design by Alexander Lippisch, designer of many gliders during the 1920s and the 1930s. As the head of the ''Deu ...

for the

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug The , or DFS , was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Walter Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) at Darmstadt.Reitsch, H., 1955, ...

(DFS).

History

Series production of the Kranich (Crane) took place in the aircraft division of

Karl Schweyer AG Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

. The two-seater was, in its version 2, the most widely built two-seat glider in Germany from 1935 to 1939. Several hundred examples were built; exact numbers are not known. On 11 October 1940 Erich Klöckner in a Kranich achieved the record height in a glider of 11,460 m (37598 ft). Because it occurred in wartime, the altitude record was not recognized by the Allied occupying powers, and Klöckner only received official recognition by the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

(FAI) in the late 1990s.aerokurier magazine 1/1999: Erich Klöckners Vorstoß zur Tropopause, Motor Presse 1999 This record height was only exceeded ten years after the flight by the American Bill Ivans during a similar scientific program in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. In 1942 30 Kranichs were built by the Swedish manufacturer AB Flygplan in

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

, and delivered to the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

for training purposes. These machines were given the military designation Flygplan Se 103. Between 1950 and 1952 50 examples of a slightly modified copy of the Kranich II were built in Poland, known as the

SZD-C Żuraw The SZD-C Żuraw ('' Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny'' - Glider Experimental Works), also designated as IS-C is a two-seat training and aerobatic glider aircraft, built in Poland from 1952, a copy of the German DFS Kranich II. Development Wor ...

(''żuraw'' is ''Kranich'' in Polish = " crane"). Between 1947-48 10 examples and until 1957, 17 more of a slightly modified copy of the Kranich II were built in Yugoslavia, they have also repaired two war trophy left by the Germans. They were known as the UTVA Ždral LIBIS Žerjav (''ždral-žerjav'' is ''Kranich'' in Serbian and Slovenian = " crane"). After the war, Jacobs designed the Kranich III, a new development very different from its predecessors. It was developed and produced at the

Focke-Wulf Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

aircraft factory in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

. The first flight was on 1 May 1952, piloted by

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 ...

. Thirty-seven were built.

Variants

;Kranich: The initial prototype designed by

for the DFS. ;Kranich II:Production aircraft built primarily by

and by

Mraz Mraz or Mráz (Czech/Slovak feminine: Mrázová) is a surname of Czech, Slovak, and Croatian origin. It means ''"frost"'' and is cognate to Maroz (Belarusian), Mróz (Polish), and Moroz (Ukrainian and Russian). It may refer to: People * Alois Mr� ...

, Czechoslovakia, but also in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Spain and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

;Liege-Kranich: Conversion of Kranich II with an additional cockpit in the glazed nose for a prone pilot. Several built. First conversion in Trebbin in the middle of World War II for the purpose of testing prone flying. Also used for training to fly new German types (BV 40, DFS 228 and DFS 346). ;Flygplan Se 103: License production of 30 aircraft in Sweden for the

;

: License production of a modified Kranich in Poland ;

Focke-Wulf Kranich III Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

: A major re-design. ;

UTVA Żdral Utva Aviation Industry (), commonly known as UTVA is a Serbian manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, subsidiary of Yugoimport SDPR, headquartered in Pančevo. History Utva was founded on 5 June 1937 in Zemun, since 1940 located in Panč ...

: License production of 10 aircraft a modified Kranich in Yugoslavia ; LIBIS Żerjav: License production of 17 aircraft a modified Kranich in Yugoslavia by LIBIS Letalski inštitut Branko Ivanuš Slovenija

Specifications (Kranich II)

History

Variants

Specifications (Kranich II)

Notes

References

Further reading

External links