The ICA IS-29 was a

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 ...

built in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the 1970s. The

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

IS comes from

Iosif Șilimon Iosif Șilimon (22 July 1918 – 8 February 1981) was a Romanian aircraft designer. Education and early career He was born in 1918 in Cehu Silvaniei, at the time in Szilágy County, Austria-Hungary, now in Sălaj County, Romania. Șilimon grad ...

, the Romanian IAR (

Industria Aeronautică Română Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (now IAR S.A. Brașov), or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer. It is based in Ghimbav, near Brașov, Romania. IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian g ...

) aeronautical engineer who designed it.

Design and development

The 15-metre (49ft 3in) single-seat variant of the IS-28 series, the IS-29D2 single-seater has retractable gear, camber-changing flaps and Hütter-type airbrakes on the upper wing surface only. The

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage wikt:configuration, configuration in which the tailplane of an aircraft is mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer, fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs fr ...

has a fixed

stabilizer Stabilizer, stabiliser, stabilisation or stabilization may refer to: Chemistry and food processing * Stabilizer (chemistry), a substance added to prevent unwanted change in state of another substance ** Polymer stabilizers are stabilizers used ...

and

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

. The –29D model is of all-metal construction while the earlier –29B has wooden wings. Developments include 19 metre (62 ft) -29E2 and 20 metre (66 ft) -29E3 versions and a flapless, fixed gear 16.5-metre (54 feet) ‘club’ model -29G. The IS-29 was also produced in a

motorglider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing Aircraft#Heavier-than-air – aerodynes, aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (M ...

version, designated the IS-29EM. This shared the low-set wings and three-point

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

of the IS-28M2, and the new wings of the IS-28MA.

Variants

* IS-29 ** IS-29B - wooden wings of 15-metre span ** IS-29D *** IS-29D2 **** IS-29D2 Club - Club-class version of IS-29D2 ** IS-29E - open class version with ballast tanks *** IS-29E2 - version with 19-metre wings *** IS-29E3 - version with 20-metre wings ** IS-29EM - motorglider version ** IS-29G - Club-class version with 16.5-metre wings * IS-31 - IS-29 with 20-metre wings and linked flaps and ailerons * IS-33 - IS-29 with tanks for 150 kg (300 lb) of water ballast

Specifications (IS-29D2)

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Soaring Society of America The Soaring Society of America (SSA) was founded at the instigation of Warren E. Eaton to promote the sport of soaring in the USA and internationally. The first meeting was held in New York City in the McGraw–Hill Building on February 20, 193 ...