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The Schneider Grunau Baby is a single-seat sailplane first built in Germany in 1931, with some 6,000 examples constructed in some 20 countries. It was relatively easy to build from plans, it flew well, and the aircraft was strong enough to handle mild aerobatics and the occasional hard landing. When the Baby first appeared, it was accepted wisdom that the pilot should feel as much unimpeded airflow as possible, to better sense rising and falling currents of air and temperature changes etc.
It was designed by Edmund Schneider with the assistance of Wolf Hirth and Hugo Kromer as a smaller version of Schneider's ESG 31 of the previous year, incorporating an elliptical wing design based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt. It was named after Grunau, the town where Schneider's factory was located, now Jeżów Sudecki in Poland. The first 14 inner ribs were of the Göttingen 535 shape with the outer ribs gradually changing up to the last 22nd rib, having a bi-convex and symmetrical shape with a slight reduction in the angle of incidence. The tips and leading edges of the wings up to the main spar were covered with plywood. The tail unit was built of plywood. The intention was to create an aircraft suitable both for training and for cross-country soaring. Typical for its day, it was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage of hexagonal cross-section and an open cockpit. The Baby was an instant success, and was enthusiastically promoted by gliding champion Wolf Hirth. An extensive redesign was undertaken in 1932 following the fatal crash of an unrelated Schneider design, which resulted in the Baby II. This version and the definitive Baby IIb that followed were adopted as standard sailplane trainers for the
:License production in France by
Grunau Baby II B-2
at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - An extensive writeup of the history of the type {{Navboxes , title=Articles and topics related to the Schneider Grunau Baby , state=collapsed , list1= {{Edmund Schneider aircraft {{IFIL aircraft {{Nord aircraft {{Slingsby aircraft {{EoN aircraft {{Swedish military aircraft designations {{US glider aircraft 1930s German sailplanes Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931 Parasol-wing aircraft Edmund Schneider aircraft
It was designed by Edmund Schneider with the assistance of Wolf Hirth and Hugo Kromer as a smaller version of Schneider's ESG 31 of the previous year, incorporating an elliptical wing design based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt. It was named after Grunau, the town where Schneider's factory was located, now Jeżów Sudecki in Poland. The first 14 inner ribs were of the Göttingen 535 shape with the outer ribs gradually changing up to the last 22nd rib, having a bi-convex and symmetrical shape with a slight reduction in the angle of incidence. The tips and leading edges of the wings up to the main spar were covered with plywood. The tail unit was built of plywood. The intention was to create an aircraft suitable both for training and for cross-country soaring. Typical for its day, it was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage of hexagonal cross-section and an open cockpit. The Baby was an instant success, and was enthusiastically promoted by gliding champion Wolf Hirth. An extensive redesign was undertaken in 1932 following the fatal crash of an unrelated Schneider design, which resulted in the Baby II. This version and the definitive Baby IIb that followed were adopted as standard sailplane trainers for the German Air Sports Association
The German Air Sports Association (''Deutscher Luftsportverband'', or DLV e. V.) was an organisation founded in March 1933, shortly after the Nazi Party came to power. Officially, it served as the national umbrella organisation for air sports in ...
(later the National Socialist Flyers Corps
The National Socialist Flyers Corps (; NSFK) was a paramilitary aviation organization of the Nazi Party.
History
NSFK was founded 15 April 1937 as a successor to the German Air Sports Association; the latter had been active during the years when ...
).
During 1941, 30 GB gliders were built by Laminação Nacional de Metais, later Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista in Brazil, under the name "Alcatraz". Following World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, series production restarted in Germany in 1956. The Baby was also built in France (as the Nord 1300) and the United Kingdom (as the Elliotts Baby EoN and the Slingsby T5 - Slingsby also used it as the basis for a number of their own designs). Edmund Schneider emigrated to Australia, where he developed the Baby design into his Baby 3 and Baby 4, which had enclosed cockpits.
Variants
;ESG 31 :The precursor to the Baby with larger less sophisticated wings ;Baby :The initial version - an ESG31 with an improved wing based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt ;Baby II : ;Baby IIa : ;Baby IIb : ;Baby III : ;Alcatraz :Thirty aircraft licence-built in Brazil by ''Laminação Nacional de Metais'', later called CAP ''Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista'' ;Nord 1300
:License production in France by Nord Aviation
Nord-Aviation () was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France.
On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was created as a result of ...
;Elliotts Baby EoN
:License production in England by Elliotts of Newbury One is now at the Gliding Heritage Centre
;Slingsby T5
:License production in England by Slingsby Sailplanes
;Baby 3
:Postwar redesign, with an enclosed cockpit, by Edmund Schneider after he emigrated to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
;Baby 4
:Further improvements made for production in Australia
;Baby V
:A two-seat version using Baby III wings with a new tandem seat fabric covered steel tube fuselage
;AB Flygplan Se-102
:License production in Sweden for the Royal Swedish Air Force
;Hawkridge Grunau Baby
:licence-built Grunau Babys
;TG-27 Grunau Baby
:Grunau Babys impressed into the 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 ...
in 1942
;IFIL-Reghin RG-1
:Grunau Babys built in Romania under licence
;Stiglmeier S.24
:Variant by Herman J. Stiglmeier with the wings of a Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross. One (registered NX15539) was impressed into USAAF service in 1942 as the TG-14 ( s/n 42-57183).
;Motor-Baby
:A motor-glider conversion, (D-YBIF), powered by a Kroeber M4 2-stroke engine driving a pusher propeller behind the centre-section. The rear fuselage upper decking was removed to accommodate the propeller and reduce drag from prop-wash.
Specifications (Baby IIb)
See also
References
Further reading
* *External links
Grunau Baby II B-2
at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - An extensive writeup of the history of the type {{Navboxes , title=Articles and topics related to the Schneider Grunau Baby , state=collapsed , list1= {{Edmund Schneider aircraft {{IFIL aircraft {{Nord aircraft {{Slingsby aircraft {{EoN aircraft {{Swedish military aircraft designations {{US glider aircraft 1930s German sailplanes Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931 Parasol-wing aircraft Edmund Schneider aircraft