Scheibe Sperber
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The Scheibe Specht () is a
tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...
seat
training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
glider produced in
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in the early 1950s. More than fifty were built.


Design and development

The Specht was designed by Rudolph Kaiser, who around 1952 was dividing his time between Scheibe in
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and Schleicher in Poppenhausen. Hence the Specht and its contemporary Schleicher Ka-4 Rhönlerche, also designed by Kaiser, have much in common. The Specht has a wooden, two spar,
high wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a r ...
, braced on each side by V-
strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...
s from the spars to the lower
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
,
jury struts In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...
and mounted with 2° of dihedral. There is
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
skinning from the leading edge to the rear spar on the upper surface and to the forward spar below. The
leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...
of the wing is straight and unswept and 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, 1997. ...
is parallel to it over its inner section, becoming tapered outboard.
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 aroun ...
s, with inset hinges, fill these sections.
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s are mounted in the mid-inner wing panels at 11% chord. Scheibe used their usual fabric covered, steel tube and wooden
stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...
construction for the fuselage. Pupil and instructor sit in tandem in an enclosed
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
, with the rear seat accessed by an under wing door. The fuselage, flat sided and hexagonal in section, narrows to the conventional tail. The horizontal tail, mounted on top of the fuselage, is roughly rectangular in plan and of low aspect ratio and the
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. F ...
and
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
together are straight tapered and flat topped. The rudder is hinged behind the
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 ...
s and extends down to the keel. The Specht lands on a fixed
monowheel A monowheel or uniwheel is a type of one-wheeled, single-track vehicle. Unlike the unicycle, a monowheel consists of a large, hollow wheel that loops above and around the driver. Monowheels are typically powered by an engine as with a motorc ...
under the rear seat, assisted by a central skid. The Specht prototype first flew in March 1953. Just three years (7 March 1956) later Scheibe flew the Sperber (), a side by side seat version. Necessarily wider in the cockpit area, the two types differed little, though the Sperber's span was greater and it was slightly () heavier. Their performances were also very similar; the Sperber's minimum sink rate was 7% greater.


Operational history

Fifty-five Spechts were produced. These were used by gliding clubs for pilot training in place of the earlier, open, single-seat primary gliders like the Zögling and its descendants. A few remained on the European civil aircraft registers in 2010. In 2009 at least two of these were flight worthy, each with historic aircraft groups in
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and
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; in
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a third Specht, with a certificate of airworthiness valid into 2015, is owned by a similar group. Only five Sperbers were built, one of which remained on the
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civil aircraft register in 2010.


Variants

;Specht: 1953 tandem-seat trainer, 55 built. ;Sperber: 1956 side-by-side-seat version, slightly wider and with a slightly greater span, otherwise almost identical; 5 built.


Specifications


See also


References

{{Scheibe aircraft 1950s German sailplanes Specht Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1953