Ginn-Lesniak Kestrel

Last updated

Kestrel
RoleTwo seat semi-aerobatic sailplane
National origin United Kingdom
DesignerVic Ginn and Lesniak
First flight19 July 1969
Number built1

The Ginn-Lesniak Kestrel is a one-off homebuilt two seat sailplane, designed in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and flown in 1969.

Contents

Design and development

Though the sole Kestrel did not fly until 1969, its design and construction began in 1956. Vic Ginn and Lesniak, both members of the London Gliding Club (LGC) designed it and Ginn built the wings, tailplane and front fuselage at his Luton home. The rear fuselage was built at the LGC at Dunstable Downs where, after some years delay, the aircraft was finally assembled by Jeff Butt and Ron Dodd. It was described as a semi-aerobatic aircraft and was built of wood and fabric. [1]

The most unusual feature of the Kestrel is that its straight tapered, cantilever wings have a forward sweep of about 8°. The wings carry outboard ailerons and airbrakes, the latter at about one third span and chord. There are no flaps. The straight tapered tailplane and elevators, mounted on the upper fuselage, are set forward of the rudder hinge. The fin and rudder are straight edged and of about equal area, the latter extending to the bottom of the fuselage. [1]

The fuselage has an oval cross section, increasing in depth forwards to behind the cockpit where the wing is mounted. Both seats, placed in tandem, are forward of the wing root under a canopy. A skid from nose to a monowheel below the wing root leading edge forms the undercarriage, assisted by a small tail bumper. [1]

The Kestrel first flew at the LGC on Dunstable Downs on 19 July 1969. [1]

Operational history

By 1998 the Kestrel, refurbished, was with the Lakes Gliding Club. [2] By 2010 it had moved to storage with the Anglia Gliding Club at RAF Wattisham. [3]


Specifications

Data from Ellison [1]

General characteristics

Performance


Related Research Articles

Slingsby Eagle British two-seat glider, 1954

The Slingsby Type 42 Eagle was a two-seat glider designed in England from 1952.

Slingsby Sky British single-seat glider, 1950

The Slingsby Type 34 Sky is a high performance single seat competition sailplane built in the United Kingdom. It was successful in major events, particularly in the World Gliding Championships of 1952.

Slingsby Prefect British single-seat glider, 1948

The Slingsby T.30 Prefect is a 1948 British modernisation of the 1932 single-seat Grunau Baby glider. About 53 were built for civil and military training purposes.

The Slingsby Type 26 Kite 2 was a post World War II development of the Slingsby Kite, a single seat medium performance sailplane. It sold in small numbers.

Slingsby Swallow British single-seat glider, 1957

The Slingsby Type 45 Swallow was designed as a club sailplane of reasonable performance and price. One of the most successful of Slingsby's gliders in sales terms, over 100 had been built when production was ended by a 1968 factory fire.

Slingsby Skylark 3 British single-seat glider, 1957

The Slingsby T.43 Skylark 3 was a single seat Open Class sailplane developed from the Skylark 2 with an extended wingspan. It won the 1960 World Gliding Championships.

Slingsby Skylark 4 British competition glider, 1961

The Slingsby T.50 Skylark 4 was a British single seat competition glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes in the early 1960s. It sold in numbers and had success at national, though not world level competition.

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.

The Dart Totternhoe was a single-seat secondary training glider produced in the United Kingdom in the 1930s. Three were built, one serving in the RAF.

Hawkridge Venture British two-seat glider, 1947

The Hawkridge Venture was a wooden sailplane built shortly after World War II in the UK. It carried two people, in side-by-side configuration. Two Ventures were built, one flying in the UK and the other in Australia.

Manuel Wren British single-seat glider, 1931

The Manuel Crested and Willow Wrens formed a series of wooden, single-seat gliders designed in the UK by W. L. Manuel in the early 1930s, intended for slope soaring. Some were built by the designer, others from plans he supplied. The Dunstable Kestrel was a further development.

The Nyborg T.G.N.1 was a single-seat experimental sailplane built in the early 1930s, its unusual wing design a scaled-up version of the wings of large birds.

Scott Viking 1 British single-seat glider, 1938

The Scott Viking 1 was a single seat, high-performance glider designed and built in the UK just before the Second World War. Only four were constructed, one setting records in Argentina and another remaining active into the 1980s.

The Stedman TS-1 City of Leeds was a parasol wing wooden sailplane, seating two in tandem open cockpits. Only one was built, by its designer in 1934; it remained active until the outbreak of World War II.

Cijan-Obad Orao

The Cijan-Obad Orao is a competition single seat sailplane designed in Yugoslavia just after World War II, one of the most advanced of its type at the time. It flew in three World Gliding Championships, having greatest success at its first in 1950 when it reached third place.

SZD-42 Jantar 2

The SZD-42 Jantar 2 is a single seat Open Class competition glider, designed and produced in Poland in the 1970s. It features a span of over 20 m (66 ft) and elastic, camber changing flaps. It was placed second, third and seventh at the 1976 World Gliding Championships. Over one hundred were built and more than ninety remain registered.

Maeda 703

The Maeda 703 was one of the first indigenous Japanese gliders, a high performance single seat aircraft which first flew in 1940. Three were built, two with gull wing wings; one of these set a national endurance record in 1941.

The VTC Delfin is a competition single seat Standard class glider designed and built in Yugoslavia in the 1960s. It had some success in national competitions and went into small scale production.

The Teichfuss Sparviero was an Italian single seat aerobatic glider, designed by Luigi Teichfuss and flown in 1938.

The IIL IS-8 was a two-seat sailplane designed by Iosif Șilimon and built in Romania in 1960. They served with Romanian gliding clubs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes. London: A & C Black Ltd. p. 130. ISBN   978-0-7136-1189-2.
  2. ↑ "Kestral at Lakes G.C." 1998. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "Kestrel at Anglia G.C." 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.