The Slingsby T.24 Falcon 4 was a two-seat training

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 glidin ...

designed in the UK just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for ATC use. It was judged too expensive for production and only three were completed.

Development

Despite the shared name, the Slingsby Falcon 4 was a completely different aircraft from the early Falcon 1, 2 and 3, all derived from the Schleicher Falke from about 1930 and notable for their swept wings. In contrast, the Falcon 4 was a tandem seat training glider intended for an ATC role and built to Air Ministry specification TX.8/45. It used conventional wooden construction; all three Falcon 4s were built by

Martin Hearn Ltd Martin Hearn Ltd. was a British aviation company which during World War II played a major role in the assembly of thousands of American and Canadian aircraft imported to Liverpool by shipping convoys. History Formation Martin Nieto Hearn (1st Ju ...

. of Hooton Park, Cheshire. The wing of the Falcon 4 was of quite low aspect ratio, with a straight, unswept

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, ...

, rounded copper bound tips and straight taper on the trailing edge. The first two aircraft had flaps extending over almost all the trailing edge not occupied by the

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 around ...

s, but the third replaced flaps with spoilers. The wings were pylon mounted with lift struts from the spar to the lower

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

longeron In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

s. The pylon only extended forward to the spar, leaving space for the rear, open, cockpit under the wing; the forward cockpit was close to the nose. Behind the wing the pylon dropped away gently above the flat sided fuselage to the tail. The braced, 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 gyroplane ...

was mounted on top of the fuselage and placed far enough forward that the divided elevators were ahead of the rudder hinge, avoiding the need for a large cut out for rudder movement. The fin was small, but the horn balanced rudder was generous in area, slightly pointed and with a rounded, copper bound trailing edge. The undercarriage was conventional, with a nose skid, fixed monowheel and small tailwheel. The first flight was in April 1946 and two other prototypes followed, but the aircraft was expensive to produce and offered no advantage over the

Slingsby T.21 The Slingsby T.21 is an open-cockpit, side-by-side two-seat glider, built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd and first flown in 1944. It was widely used by the Royal Air Force, Sri Lanka Air Force and by civilian gliding clubs. Design and developme ...

and no orders resulted. The second prototype was written off in an accident in December 1946, but in 1948, owing to delays in the T21 entering service, the remaining two Falcon 4s were tested in order to allow them to be cleared for service with the ATC. The third prototype was written off during these trials in August 1948, but in 1949, the remaining Falcon 4 entered service with the ATC gliding school at

Detling Detling is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the slope of the North Downs, north east of Maidstone, and on the Pilgrims' Way. History and features The ''Cock Horse Inn'' was used ...

. It was sold in March 1953.

Specifications

Notes

References

* * {{Slingsby aircraft 1940s British sailplanes

Falcon 4 ''Falcon 4.0'' is a combat flight simulation video game developed by MicroProse and published by Hasbro Interactive in 1998. The game is based around a realistic simulation of the Block 50/52 F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter in a full-scale m ...

Aircraft first flown in 1946 Parasol-wing aircraft