The DFS Rhönsperber, otherwise known as the Schweyer Rhönsperber or Jacobs Rhönsperber (in English '' Rhön Sparrowhawk'') was a single seat competition

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 gliding ...

designed in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

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 ''Deuts ...

and first flown in 1935. For several years it was regarded as the best German sailplane and about one hundred were built.

Design and development

In 1935,

was asked by

Alexander Lippisch Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and ...

to become chief designer of

sailplanes 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 ...

at DFS (

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt Für Segelflug The ''Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (), 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 G ...

) at

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, after the closure the RRG (

Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) or Rhön-Rossitten Society was a German gliding organization, the first one in the world that was officially recognised. The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft was mainly responsible for establishing gliding as a spo ...

) at the

Wasserkuppe The is a mountain within the Germany, German state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of and is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the Aviat ...

in 1933. The Rhönsperber was not unlike his earlier Rhönbussard, but was enlarged all round, with a repositioned wing and an enclosed cockpit. With a greater aspect ratio, its performance was better. For a few years after its first flight in 1935, the Rhönsperber was held to be the best German competition sailplane. The Rhönbussard had its

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

over the cockpit, limiting the pilot's view, but on the Rhönsperber it was lowered to mid fuselage. It is an entirely wood and

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

aircraft with a wing built around a single

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well ...

. Forward of the spar the wing is plywood covered around the

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

, forming a torsion-resisting D-box. Aft of the spar, the covering is fabric. Each wing has two sections, a parallel-

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

centre section and a double straight tapered outer panel, ending with semi-elliptical tips. The only dihedral, 5°, is on the centre section, forming the gull wing. Airbrakes are centrally placed on the upper centre section surface and fabric-covered

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement arou ...

s fill the

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 199 ...

s of the outer panels. The fuselage is ply covered and of teardrop cross section, deep around the generously dimensioned cockpit. The

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an ...

is multi-framed with a rather upright windscreen; the fixed glazing extends rearwards to mid wing and the forward section, including the screen, instruments and a small surrounding portion of the fuselage, hinges to starboard for access. The narrow

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

is also ply covered but the rest of the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

is fabric over wood framing. The

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw a ...

, like the fin, is straight tapered with a rounded tip; it extends down to the keel. A straight tapered

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...

and

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

are placed on top of the fuselage, the elevators having a cut-out for rudder movement. The Rhönsperber has no landing wheel, only a curved main skid reaching from the nose to behind mid-chord, and an integral, pronounced tail bumper. Since the DFS built only prototypes, construction of the Rhönsperber was undertaken by Flugzeugbau Schweyer at

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it f ...

who produced about one hundred.

Operational history

One notable flight set, albeit briefly, a new world distance record of 474 km (296 mi). Flown by Ludwig Hofmann in 1935, this was the first glider flight over more than 400 km (250 mi). Another glider world record was set in 1937, when Paul Steinig reached an altitude of 6,200 m (18,898 ft). The first sailplane crossing of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

was flown by

Heini Dittmar Heini Dittmar (Born March 30, 1912, Bad Kissingen, Unterfranken, Germany – Died April 28, 1960 near Mülheim an der Ruhr, West Germany) was a record-breaking German glider pilot. Inspired by the example of his glider flying brother Edgar, Di ...

in 1936. Another well-known aviator,

Ernst Udet Ernst Udet (26 April 1896 – 17 November 1941) was a German pilot during World War I and a ''Luftwaffe'' Colonel-General (''Generaloberst'') during World War II. Udet joined the Imperial German Air Service at the age of 19, and eventually ...

had his own Rhönsperber, which he once flew from the

Jungfraujoch The Jungfraujoch (German: lit. "maiden saddle") is a saddle connecting two major 4000ers of the Bernese Alps: the Jungfrau and the Mönch. It lies at an elevation of above sea level and is directly overlooked by the rocky prominence of the Sphi ...

in 1935. The following year

Peter Riedel Peter Riedel (August 1905 – November 6, 1998) was a German gliding champion, and was Air Attaché for the Nazi government in Washington, D.C., before and during World War II. Between 1977 and 1985 he published the definitive history of the ...

gave demonstrations of glider aerobatics at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, taking off and landing on ice.

Hanna Reitsch Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912 – 24 August 1979) was a German 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 honors. Reitsch was amo ...

also put a Rhönsperber through some vigorous aerobatics, reaching 385 km/h (240 mph) in a dive and losing 12,920 m (6,300 ft) in a forty-two turn, 165 second spin. There were many competition successes. The type was marketed in the U.S. by Emil Lehecka, who imported one for his participation in the US Annual National Soaring Contest in 1937. A single Rhönsperber (civilian registration NC17898) was impressed into

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

service under the designation TG-19 ( s/n 42-57165). A Rhönsperber (''BGA260''), flying with a Rhönbussard empennage which has a more angular horizontal tail, is still active in the U.K. as of 2018. It is based at the London Gliding Club, Dunstable, and is regularly flown on vintage glider days. A "perfect" Rhönsperber replica, built by Otto Grau in 1997, remained on the German civil aircraft register in 2010.

Aircraft on display

* Muzeum Locnictwa Polskiego,

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

: Rhönsperber ''SP-148''

Specifications

References

External links