The Slingsby T.1/T.2 Falcon or British Falcon) was a single-seat sport glider produced, in 1931–37, by

Fred Slingsby Frederick 'Fred' Nicholas Slingsby MM (6 November 1894 – 21 May 1973) was the founder of Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd (later Slingsby Aviation). Slingsby was born 6 November 1894 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, the son of Reuben and Charlotte ...

in Scarborough,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Design and development

The Falcon was constructed from plans supplied by the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (the controlling body for

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

). Originally designed by

Alexander Lippisch Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and ...

, the T.1 was a single-seat sport glider of moderate performance for its day. The fuselage was primarily of wooden construction with six longerons, built-up frames, plywood skinning forward of the central pylon and fabric covering aft. The parasol wings were conventional in design and construction with built-up ribs and spars, plywood covering forward of the main spars and fabric aft. They were swept at 12.5^o but carried ailerons with unswept hinges and rounded trailing edges. The wings were built in two parts joined at the centre, supported by a pylon and a total of eight struts, four vertical from the top longerons and four in vee pairs from the bottom longerons to approx 1/3-span. The tail surfaces were constructed in a similar fashion also braced with struts.

History

Fred Slingsby had noticed the lack of 'Intermediate' gliders available in England. At the recommendation of Guenther Groenhoff he acquired the plans for Lippisch's Falke and built ten aircraft: the Falcon, Falcon 2 and eight further Falcons (a.k.a. British Falcon). These aircraft were flown successfully for many years, but gradually succumbed until none were left airworthy. One was exported to Canada, and one was converted to a flying-boat glider for use by the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including ...

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

, surviving to this day in the

Windermere Steamboat Museum Windermere Jetty: Museum of Boats, Steam and Stories (formerly Windermere Steamboat Museum) is a museum on the eastern shore of Windermere between Bowness-on-Windermere and the town of Windermere in Cumbria, England. It reopened in March 2019 a ...

. During 1984-5 Ken Fripp of

Southdown Aero Services Southdown may refer to: * Southdown (sheep), a breed of sheep * Southdown, Cornwall, England * Southdown, a suburb of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England * Southdown, New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland * Southdown Motor Services, a former bus compa ...

Lasham Lasham is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is northwest of Alton and north of Bentworth, just off the A339 road. The parish covers an area of and has an average elevation of above sea lev ...

built a reproduction Falcon from original plans for Mike Russell, bringing the total built to eleven.

Operators

; *

Specifications

References

* Ellison, N.H. ''British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922-1970''. A & C Black, 1971 * Simons, M. ''Slingsby Sailplanes''. Airlife Publishing, 1996 -

External links

{{Slingsby aircraft 1930s British sailplanes Glider aircraft

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...