The Scheibe ''Bergfalke'' (German: "mountain hawk") is a German
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 by
Egon Scheibe as a post-World War II development of the
Akaflieg München Mü13 produced before and during the war.
Design and development
The prototype flew on 5 August 1951 as the Akaflieg München Mü13E Bergfalke I and by the end of the year, Scheibe had established his own works at the
Munich-Riem Airport to produce the type as the Bergfalke II.
It was a mid-wing sailplane of conventional design with a non-retractable monowheel undercarriage and a tailskid.
The fuselage was a welded steel structure covered in fabric and enclosed two seats in tandem.
The wings had a single wooden spar and were covered in plywood.
Subsequent versions introduced forward sweep to the wings, a more aerodynamic canopy, airbrakes, and a tailwheel in place of the tailskid.
[ By 1982, Scheibe had built over 300 of these aircraft, and Stark Ibérica built a number of the Bergfalke III version under license in Spain.][ Scheibe also developed a motorglider version as the Bergfalke IVM][ but this did not enter production.]
In 1976, two Bergfalke motorgliders participated in the Sixth German Motor Glider Competition. Later, one of these aircraft set a world 300 km triangle record.
Variants
;Mü13E Bergfalke I
:Prototype
;Bergfalke II
:First production version, 4° forward sweep on wings[
;Bergfalke II/55
;Skopil Bergfalke II/55
:Motorglider conversion done by Arnold Skopil of ]Aberdeen, Washington
Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...
, United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
in 1957. One converted.[Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 131. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. USPS 499-920]
;Bergfalke III
:Streamlined canopy, taller fin and rudder, Schempp-Hirth airbrakes, 2° forward sweep on wings[
;Bergfalke IV
:Wing of Wortmann section with 60-cm (2-ft) greater span][
;Bergfalke IVM
:Motorglider version with 39-kW (52-hp) ]Hirth O-28
Hirth Engines GmbH is an engine manufacturer based in Benningen, Germany. It is currently a part of the UMS Aero Group. Hirth began manufacturing aero engines in the 1920s, was taken over by Heinkel in WWII to develop the Heinkel-Hirth jet engi ...
engine mounted on retractable pylon behind cockpit.[
]
Specifications (Bergfalke II/55)
See also
Notes
References
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External links
Bergfalke described on sailplanedirectory.com
{{Scheibe aircraft
1950s German sailplanes
Glider aircraft
Bergfalke
Shoulder-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1951