The Volmer VJ-23 Swingwing is an American high-wing, single-seat, foot launched glider that was designed by

Irv Culver Irven Harold Culver (May 11, 1911 – August 13, 1999) was an American aeronautical engineer. Most notable of all his accomplishments, Culver is credited for solving a fatal flaw in the Lockheed P-38, related to high-speed compressibility pr ...

and built by Volmer Jensen and supplied as plans by his company Volmer Aircraft for amateur construction. Kits were also available from

DSK Aircraft DSK may refer to: * Dera Ismail Khan Airport (IATA code) * German International School Cape Town (Deutsche Internationale Schule Kapstadt) * Deutsche Schule Kiew * Deutsche Schule Kobe/European School * Deutschsprachige Konferenz der Pfadfinderve ...

.Rogers, Bennett: ''1974 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 100. Soaring Society of America, August 1974. USPS 499-920

Design and development

The prototype VJ-23 was completed late in 1971 and in an era when foot-launched aircraft were Rogallo-style hang gliders, the VJ-23 was described as more of a foot-launched sailplane, with three axis controls. Jensen and Culver collaborated on the design from a concern about the safety of weight shift hang gliders as well as their structural integrity. The aircraft is predominantly made from wood and covered in doped

Ceconite Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. The wing leading edge is made from poplar

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

and supported by

nose rib In an aircraft, ribs are forming elements of the structure of a wing, especially in traditional construction. By analogy with the anatomical definition of "rib", the ribs attach to the main spar, and by being repeated at frequent intervals, fo ...

s made from marine-grade plywood. The wing spar cap strips and tail ribs are fashioned from

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

. The tailboom is an aluminium tube. Its wing is cantilevered and tapered from wing root to wing tip. The VJ-23 lands and takes off on foot, but the aircraft is equipped with small wheels to allow it to be pulled up a hill. The aircraft's rigid wing structure requires that it be transported in a trailer, rather than rolled up and carried on a roof rack like a hang glider. To make construction easier and quicker the design was developed into the aluminium tube,

strut-braced 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 strut, which act in ...

Volmer VJ-24 SunFun The Volmer VJ-24W SunFun is an American high-wing, strut-braced, single-seat, pod-and-boom motor glider and ultralight aircraft that was designed by Volmer Jensen and provided as plans for amateur construction by his company Volmer Aircraft ...

. Both the glider and powered VJ-24E version proved popular and a large number were built.

Operational history

One VJ-23E was flown across the English Channel.

Variants

;VJ-23 :Glider version ;VJ-23E :Powered version with a

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

McCulloch 101MC engine mounted on a pylon above the wing and a Culver-designed propeller.

Aircraft on display

* EAA AirVenture Museum

Specifications (VJ-23E)

References

External links

Photo of the VJ-23
{{Volmer Jensen aircraft 1970s United States sailplanes Homebuilt aircraft Sailplanes designed for foot-launching High-wing aircraft VJ-23 Aircraft first flown in 1971