ⓘ 1930s British sailplanes ..

Abbott Farnham sailplane

The Abbott Farnham sailplane, named after its builders, was designed by T. C. Letcher and first flew in August 1930. It was an all-wood single-seat glider with a cantilever three piece high wing. The central half span had constant chord; outboard long elliptical tips contained the ailerons. No airbrakes or flaps were fitted. The fuselage was roughly elliptical in cross-section, tapering towards the tail where it carried mid-mounted, straight-tapered elevators with rounded tips. The rudder was hinged at the extreme end of the fuselage and was of rounded triangular shape with a steep rising ...

Addyman STG

Erik T. W. Addyman designed and built his STG single seat primary glider for low cost basic training. As such, it was a simple, wooden, aerodynamically unrefined aircraft with a relatively low aspect ratio wing, a cockpit nacelle under it and a flat open truss girder fuselage aft. The unswept wing had parallel chord with blunt tips and was built around two spars. There were no flaps or airbrakes. Above the wing landing wires ran from about mid-span on each wing from the spars to the top of a centrally mounted inverted V-strut; below, similarly arranged flying wires ran to the lower nacelle ...

Addyman Zephyr

Erik Addyman designed and built the single-seat Zephyr, his first design, in 1933. It was intended as a light wind sailplane, combining a wing of modest aspect ratio with a nacelle cockpit and an open truss girder fuselage of the kind more common on primary gliders. It was a wooden-structured, largely fabric-covered aircraft. The two-spar wing had a straight leading edge and constant chord out to a little over half span, where the trailing edges of the ailerons, hinged at a slight angle to the spar, curved inwards to the wingtips. It was braced from above with pairs of wires from the spars ...

Cloudcraft Phantom

The Cloudcraft Phantom was a glider designed in the United Kingdom in 1931 to make long flights. It set an unofficial duration British record but vandalism prevented a cross-Channel attempt.

Cramlington Cramcraft

The Cramcraft was a single-seat primary glider trainer, aimed at newcomers to the sport and designed with simplicity, robustness and low cost in mind rather than aerodynamic performance. It was a wooden aircraft with wings of rectangular planform built around two box spars which, like the ribs, were made from spruce and plywood. Ailerons reached to the wing tips but no airbrakes were fitted. The tail surfaces were carried on a narrow, flat boom formed by two parallel beams from the wing leading edge, braced together and fabric covered. Both the boom-mounted tailplane and elevators it carri ...

Dart Cambridge

The Dart Cambridge was a single-seat competition sailplane built in the United Kingdom in the 1930s. A development of the Grunau Baby, only two were built, flying with gliding clubs.

Free and no ads
no need to download or install


online intellectual game →