Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug | |
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| Established | August 1987 |
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| Location | Wasserkuppe, 15 km east of Fulda, Germany |
| Type | Aviation Museum |
| Website | http://info@egelflugmuseum.de |
The German Glider Museum (German : Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug), situated on the Wasserkuppe in the German state of Hesse is the national gliding museum, opened in 1987.
German glider pilots and designers have made many contributions to the development of glider aerodynamics and flight techniques. The Wasserkuppe has been a gliding site since about 1910 and was closely associated with the emergence of gliding as a sport during the interwar period. In particular it hosted the annual series of gliding competitions, started in 1920, that became known as the Rhön contests. Initially national, they became international events. [1]
Because of its long association with the sport, it seemed a natural home for a national gliding museum, an idea conceived in 1970 with the 50th anniversary of the first Rhön contest. The Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug was officially opened in August 1987 in a purpose built hall. [1] By 2014 the collection included more than sixty aircraft, [2] all German, showing their development from Otto Lilienthal's hang gliders through wooden machines to the earliest glassfibre aircraft of the 1960s. There are also photographic records, focussing on the series of Rhön contests, with aircraft pilots and designers. [1]
The museum has a store for aircraft which are not currently on display and a workshop for restoring them. In 2014 these held some twenty-five aircraft. [2]
List from Bob Ogden, Air Britain News, November 2014. [2]
The Wasserkuppe is a mountain within the German state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of 950 metres (3,120 ft) and is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the interwar period, driven by annual contests. Near the summit there is still an airfield used by gliding clubs and pilots of light aircraft.
The Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug, or DFS, was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Walter Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) at Darmstadt.
The Rolladen-Schneider LS1 is a Standard Class single-seat glider manufactured in Germany by Rolladen-Schneider from 1968 to 1977.
Contrary to the methods used by the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) for the allocation of aircraft designations, the designers and manufacturers of sailplanes and gliders in Germany enjoyed the freedom of choosing their own designations for their products up until 1945.
Akaflieg is an abbreviation for Akademische Fliegergruppe, groups of aeronautical engineering students from individual German universities of technology and Technische Hochschulen, pre and postwar, who design aircraft, often gliders.
The National Soaring Museum (NSM) is an aviation museum whose stated aim is to preserve the history of motorless flight. It is located on top of Harris Hill near Elmira, New York, United States.
The Akaflieg München Mü13 Merlin and Akaflieg München Mü13 Atalante were gliders designed and built in Germany from 1935. A motor-glider version of the Merlin was converted by the addition of a small engine in the nose, as the Mü13M Motormerlin. Post-war development as the Mü13E entered production as the Scheibe Bergfalke.
Akaflieg Darmstadt is one of approximately twenty aviation groups attached to German universities. Akaflieg is an abbreviation for Akademische Fliegergruppe, an academic group of students and faculty from a German University.
The Hannover H.1 Vampyr was a German glider designed by Georg Madelung for the 1921 Rhön gliding competition, which was held at the Wasserkuppe from 8 August to 25 August 1921. The Vampyr is believed to be the first heavier than air aircraft to use stressed skin. Several historical societies have argued that the aircraft is the precursor of all modern sailplanes.
The DFS Reiher was a single seat competition glider designed in Germany by Hans Jacobs and first flown in 1937. The type won the last two German Rhön gliding championships before the start of World War II. Six were factory produced.
The Schleicher Rhönbussard, otherwise known as the DFS Rhönbussard was intended as an intermediate glider trainer which could also fly competitively. It was designed by Hans Jacobs in Germany in the early 1930s. More than 200 were built.
The Schleicher Rhönadler, DFS Rhönadler or Jacobs Rhönadler is a high performance, single seat competition sailplane built in Germany in the 1930s. More than 65 were built.
The Jacobs Hols der Teufel was a single seat trainer glider produced in complete and plan forms in Germany from 1928. It was built and used worldwide.
The Schneider ES49 is a two-seat glider trainer, designed, first flown in late August 1951 and commercially produced in Germany but later built from plans by gliding clubs in Australia. A major redesign there led to the ES49B Kangaroo.
The Lommatzsch Libelle or VBAL Libelle was an advanced, high performance training glider built in the GDR in the 1950s. There were several variants and over 100 were built.
Edmund Schneider was a German aircraft designer and owner of a glider factory.
50°29′54″N9°56′45″E / 50.4984°N 9.9459°E
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