The Stemme S10 is a self-launching

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 ...

produced by Stemme AG in

Strausberg Strausberg () is a Town#Germany, town in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, located east of Berlin. With a population of about 27,000 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland. History Strausberg was founded ''circa'' 1240, and ...

(Germany) since the 1980s. The engine is mounted amidships and it features an unusual folding propeller which is stowed inside the aircraft's nose-cone when the engine is not in use.

Design and development

The Stemme S10 also has several unusual features such as a tailwheel undercarriage and a side-by-side cockpit. It does not have a tow hook connection so it must self-launch. The two main wheels retract and lower electrically, though they can also be lowered manually if needed. There is an option to fold wings to reduce hangar span to . The engine restart time is 5 seconds. A solar panel can provide additional electrical power during long flights. It has a steerable tailwheel, Schempp-Hirth spoilers and optional

winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft ...

. The current variant, the S10-VT, has a variable-pitch propeller which allows more power during take off, and a new turbocharged Bombardier Rotax 914F engine in place of the earlier Limbach L2400. Most parts are made in Poland, but future production will be handled by Remos Aircraft. First seen at the 1996 Berlin Air Show, the S15 variant has a span reduced to and has two underwing hardpoints for scientific or surveillance sensor pods. There is also an unpiloted version, the S-UAV, again intended for surveillance.

Operational history

Atmospheric measurements were made with S10 VT during the

Mountain Wave Project The Mountain Wave Project (MWP) pursues global scientific research of gravity waves and associated turbulence. MWP seeks to develop new scientific insights and knowledge through high altitude and record seeking glider flights with the goal of inc ...

(MWP) Expedition Argentina'99 record flight to

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

and during Expedition Mendoza 2006, when scientific measurements of atmospheric turbulence were made up to around and over the highest mountain of the Americas,

Aconcagua Aconcagua () is a mountain in the Principal Cordillera of the Andes mountain range, in Mendoza Province, Argentina. It is the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest outside Asia, and the highest in both the Western Hemisphere and the ...

. An S10 was flown by

Klaus Ohlmann Klaus Ohlmann (born 1952 in Neustadt an der Aisch, Germany)) is a German glider pilot who has established 36 world records approved by FAI. Among these is the record for a free distance flight with up to 3 turn-points by flying 3,009 km from Cha ...

as a pure glider for a record distance of , in a 14-hour flight. Two examples were used by the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

between 1995 and 2002 under the designation TG-11A. In December 2017, the Colombian Air Force received two Stemme S10 VTs for training purposes.

Variants

;S10 :Standard production variant. :S10V :Variable pitch prop variant. : ;S10VC :Surveillance variant with underwing sensor pods. ;S10-VT :115hp Turbocharged Rotax 914F power. ;TG-11A :S10s operated by the U.S. Air Force Academy

Specifications (S 10-VT)

References

External links

Manufacturer's websiteUSAF AETC website
{{US glider aircraft

S10 S10 may refer to: Automobiles * Chevrolet S-10, a pickup truck * Nissan Silvia (S10), a sports car * Toyota Crown (S10), a luxury car Aviation * Lake Chelan Airport, in Chelan County, Washington, United States * Letov Š-10, a Czech trainer a ...

1980s German sailplanes Motor gliders T-tail aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Mid-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1986