| Lists of aircraft |
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This is a list of gliders/sailplanes of the world, (this reference lists all gliders with references, where available) [1] Note: Any aircraft can glide for a short time, but gliders are designed to glide for longer.
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| List of gliders |
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| By constructor name |
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Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co is a major manufacturer of sailplanes located in Poppenhausen, near Fulda in Germany.
The Schempp-Hirth Ventus is a sailplane produced during 1980–1994 by Schempp-Hirth, a German sailplane manufacturer. It was designed by Klaus Holighaus and replaced the Schempp-Hirth Mini-Nimbus. Schempp-Hirth manufactured 613 Ventus sailplanes.
The Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus is a high-performance two-seat glider primarily designed for fast cross-country flying, including gliding competitions. Often, it is used for advanced training.
The Glaser-Dirks DG-200 is a 15 metre class glider built by Glaser-Dirks, now DG Aviation GmbH
The Schempp-Hirth Mini Nimbus is a 15 Metre-class glider designed and built by Schempp-Hirth GmbH in the late 1970s.
The Schempp-Hirth Cirrus is an Open Class glider built by Schempp-Hirth between 1967 and 1971 and by VTC until 1977. It was replaced by the Nimbus 2.
The Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-2 is an Open Class glider built by Schempp-Hirth during the 1970s. The Nimbus-2 first flew in April 1971 and a total of over 240 examples of all subtypes have been built until the beginning of the 1980s. It replaced the Schempp-Hirth Cirrus.
The Glaser-Dirks DG-300 is a Standard Class single-seat high-performance glider built from glass-reinforced plastic. The DG-300 was designed by Wilhelm Dirks and manufactured by Glaser-Dirks Flugzeugbau's Slovenian partner company Elan (company). A total of 511 of all versions were built since production started in 1983. Representative contemporary types from competing manufacturers are the Rolladen-Schneider LS4 and the Schempp-Hirth Discus.
The Glasflügel 201 Standard Libelle is an early composite Standard Class single-seat sailplane produced by Glasflügel from 1967.
Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of:
The firm Glasflügel was founded by Eugen Hänle in 1962 and was located in Schlattstall, south of Kirchheim unter Teck. It was the first firm to manufacture a glass-fibre sailplane in large numbers. It was also responsible for a large number of innovations in sailplane design and technology: quick assembly systems for wings and tailplane, automatic control connections, trailing edge airbrake-flap combinations, hinged instrument panels, the parallelogram control stick and automatic trimming are some innovations introduced by Glasflügel and later adopted by other manufacturers. Some of these are standard features in nearly all gliders produced today.
The Glasflügel 303 Mosquito is a composite 15 metre Class single-seat sailplane manufactured by Glasflügel between 1976 and 1980.
The European Gliding Championships is a gliding competition held every two years.
The Glasflügel 206 Hornet is a Standard Class sailplane produced in Germany between 1975 and 1979. Of conventional sailplane design with a T-tail, it replaced the Standard Libelle, featuring composite construction throughout. Differences from the earlier aircraft included a redesigned canopy, retractable monowheel landing gear, and provision for 100 kg (220 lbs) of water ballast.
The SZD-59 Acro is a single-seat glass composite glider for aerobatics and cross-country flying by PZL Allstar of Bielsko-Biała, Poland.
The Glasflügel BS-1, sometimes called the Björn Stender BS-1 or the Stender BS-1, is a West German, high-wing, single seat, T-tailed, FAI Open Class glider that was designed by Björn Stender and produced by Glasflügel.
The German Glider Museum, situated on the Wasserkuppe in the German state of Hesse is the national gliding museum, opened in 1987.
