| Hummingbird PG-185B | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Motor glider |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Nelson Aircraft |
| Designer | Ted Nelson and Harry Perl |
| Introduction | 1953 |
| Number built | 7 |
The Nelson Hummingbird PG-185B is an American, tandem two seat, mid-wing motor glider that was developed by Nelson Aircraft after discontinuing the Nelson Dragonfly. [1] [2]
In 1949, Nelson began the design of another self-launching glider, but this time, he teamed-up with Harry Perl and Don Mitchell. They called this new design the Hummingbird. [3]
Introduced in 1953, the Hummingbird was an attempt to improve upon the marginal performance of the Dragonfly, of which only seven were produced. The resulting design is a mid-wing glider built predominantly from wood, with the wing leading edge filled with styrofoam and doped aircraft fabric used on the aft portion of the wing, the tail and the rudder. After the first two were completed the remainder were built from metal in place of wood. [1] [2]
The design features an all-flying stabilator with an anti-servo tab, spoilers on the wing's top surface and dive brakes on the bottom. The Nelson H-59 4-cylinder engine was mounted on a retractable mast aft of the bubble canopy. The aircraft has two wheels in tandem, the front being steerable and connected to the rudder pedals. [1] [2]
The design was not type certified, and the seven built were registered under the Experimental - Racing - Exhibition category. Nelson later sold the rights to the aircraft and the engine to Charles Rhoades of Naples, Florida. [2] [4]
In the mid-1950s a Hummingbird was flown by Les Arnold to an unofficial US motorgliding distance record of 321 mi (517 km). [1] [2]
In March 2011 there were still five registered in the US, two of which had been transferred to the National Soaring Museum. [5]
A gliderport in Livermore, California was named "Hummingbird Haven" as several of the craft were based there. [6]
Data from Sailplane Directory and Soaring [1] [2]
General characteristics
Performance
Related development
Related lists
The Frankfort Cinema was a sailplane manufactured in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s and which was used by the United States Army Air Corps as a training glider under the designation TG-1. It was a high-wing, strut-braced design with a fully enclosed cabin. Originally designed as a single-seater, a two-seat version designated the Cinema II was produced soon afterwards, and this design was put forward when the Army issued a requirement for training gliders. At the same time, the company was awarded production contracts for transport gliders, the CG-1 and CG-2.
The Schweizer SGS 2-12 is a United States two-seat, low-wing, training glider built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, New York.
The Schweizer SGS 1-34 is a United States Standard Class, single-seat, high-wing glider built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, New York.
The T.31 Tandem Tutor is a British military training glider, designed and built by Slingsby and used in large numbers by the Air Training Corps between 1951 and 1986.
The Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross is an American high-wing, strut-braced, open cockpit, pod-and-boom glider that was designed by Hawley Bowlus and introduced in 1938.
The Ross R-6 is a tandem two-seat, high-wing glider that was designed by Harland Ross and first flown in 1956.
The Bowlus/Nelson BB-1 Dragonfly is an American, two seat, strut-braced, high-wing motor glider that was developed from the Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross glider by Hawley Bowlus.
The Backstrom EPB-1 Flying Plank is an American mid-wing, single seat, tailless glider that was designed by Al Backstrom, with assistance from Phil Easley and Jack Powell in 1954 and made available as plans for amateur construction.
The Franklin PS-2 is an American, high-wing, strut-braced, single seat, glider that was designed by R. E. Franklin and produced by the Franklin Glider Corporation starting in 1930.
The Laister LP-15 Nugget is an American single-seat, high-wing glider designed by Jack and Bill Laister for the FAI Standard Class. It first flew in 1971.
The Explorer PG-1 Aqua Glider is an American single seat, biplane glider that was designed by Bill Skiliar in 1959 and made available as plans for amateur construction. The prototype was built with help from a troop of Air Explorer Scouts that same year.
The Handasyde glider was a single-seat monoplane glider, designed specifically for the first British gliding competition held at Itford Hill in 1922, an endurance event. It finished in second place to a French tandem-wing machine.
The Moore SS-1 is an American high-wing, single seat, FAI Standard Class glider that was designed and constructed by Arien C. Moore of Sweet Home, Oregon.
The Perl PG-130 Penetrator is an American mid-wing, single-seat glider that was designed and constructed by Harry Perl.
The Abbott-Baynes Scud 1 was a parasol-winged single seat glider intended to introduce pilots to soaring flight. It was built in the United Kingdom and first flew in 1931.
The Prue IIA is an American, high-wing, two-seat, T-tailed glider that was designed by Irving Prue and constructed by Ed Minghelle of Palmdale, California.
The Bowlus SP-1 Paperwing was an American high-wing cantilever monoplane, single-seat, glider that was designed in 1928 and completed by William Hawley Bowlus on January 1, 1929. The SP-1 was Bowlus' sixteenth glider, and was test flown at Lindbergh Field in San Diego in January, 1929. Later tests were also made from hillsides near Bonita, California in April, 1929. SP-1 received identification mark "493" from the United States Department of Commerce and was one of the first licensed gliders in the United States. Many refer to the Bowlus SP-1 as the first sailplane of U.S. design and construction.
The Peel Z-1 Glider Boat, also called the Peel Flying Boat, is an American biplane, two-seats-in-tandem, flying boat glider that was designed and produced by the Peel Glider Boat Company, starting in about 1930.
The Schneider ES-57 Kingfisher is a low-cost, short-span Australian glider capable of respectable cross country soaring flights. It was produced in small numbers in the late 1950s.
Lore and a copy, Musterle, were high performance sailplanes designed at Darmstadt by Paul Laubenthal. Lore was flown successfully by the well known glider pilot Wolf Hirth at the 1929 Rhön (Wasserkuppe) glider competition. Musterle was used by Hirth used to demonstrate the possibilities of "blue sky" thermalling for the first time.