Akaflieg Darmstadt D-39

Last updated
D-39
Role Motor glider
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Akaflieg Darmstadt
First flight28 June 1979
Number built1
Developed from Akaflieg Darmstadt D-38

The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-39 was a single-seat motor glider derived from the D-38 sailplane. Built in Germany in the late 1970s, it was not intended for production and only one was constructed.

Contents

Design and development

The D-39 was a motorised version of the D-38 sailplane, with wings moved down from the latter's shoulder-wing position to the bottom of the fuselage. A Limbach SL 1700 flat four engine was conventionally mounted in the nose; the propeller could be removed but not folded away in flight. The wings, with 4° of dihedral, tail and monocoque fuselage were formed from glass fibre balsa sandwiches and the ailerons from glass fibre/Klégécel foam sandwiches. The D-38 had an all moving T- tailplane, fitted with a Flettner tab. It landed on a retractable monowheel, fitted with a drum brake and assisted by a small, fixed tailwheel. [1]

The D-39 was first flown on 28 June 1979. [1] By July 1982 it had been modified into the D-39b, with a greater span, revised wing roots and fitted with a three-bladed Hoffmann Propeller airscrew with three blades and three pitch positions. The D-39 was not further developed nor put into production. [2]

Variants

D-39
Original version
D-39b
Same aircraft modified with greater span, revised roots and a new propeller.

Specifications (D-39)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1981/2 [1]

General characteristics

Performance

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Taylor, John W. R. (1981). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1981-1982. London: Jane's Information Group. pp. 575, 598–9. ISBN   0710607059.
  2. Taylor, John W. R. (1985). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1985-1986. London: Jane's Information Group. p. 734. ISBN   0-7106-0821-7.