| Si 202 Hummel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | sports and trainer |
| National origin | Germany |
| Manufacturer | Siebel Flugzeugwerke Halle K.G. |
| Designer | F. Fechner |
| First flight | May 1938 |
| Number built | 66 |
The Siebel Si 202 Hummel ("Bumble-bee") was a German light sportsplane of the late 1930s. It was an angular low-wing monoplane, which could be powered by a variety of small engines.
In January 1937 Major Werner Junck, chief of the LC II, the technical wing of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium responsible for the development of new aircraft, informed various minor aircraft manufacturers such as Flugzeugwerke Halle, which later in the year would become Siebel, Bücker, Fieseler, Gothaer Waggonfabrik and Klemm that they would not get any contracts for the development of military aircraft. He therefore advised them to concentrate in the development of a Volksflugzeug or a small twin-engined plane. As a result, Flugzeugwerke Halle developed the Si 202, while the other companies produced the Kl 105, the Fi 253, the Bü 180 and the Go 150.[ citation needed ]
The Hummel was a small single-engined low-wing cantilever monoplane with side-by-side seating for two, [1] designed to accept a variety of low powered engines of either radial or in-line arrangement. It was aimed at the sports and club market. Most variants had sharply clipped wing and tail surfaces, giving the Hummel an attractively angular appearance compared with its contemporaries.
Structurally, the Hummel was a wooden aircraft. The wing were built around a wooden monospar with plywood covered leading edges and ailerons, with fabric covering elsewhere. The fuselage was a plywood covered wooden structure, as were the fixed tail surfaces, rudder and elevators being fabric covered. The horizontal tail surfaces were set noticeably aft of the rudder, rather like the more recent Piper PA-28. The enclosed cabin had dual controls, a single central control column being shared via horizontal extensions. There was a generous baggage space behind the seats. The fixed undercarriage had main wheels on split axles, with low pressure tyres and brakes. There was a sprung tailskid. [1]
The first prototype D-ESFH had a nine-cylinder radial Salmson 9Ad motor of 36 kW (45 hp), [1] and began flight testing in May 1938. [2] For a light aircraft, there was a surprising number of prototypes (at least seven [3] ), mostly exploring different engine installations. The engines of the three main variants are given below; the third prototype used a 46 kW (62 hp) Walter Mikron II four-cylinder in-line air-cooled motor. [2]
On 2 February 1939 a Si 202b set a new altitude record for light aircraft carrying two people with an engine of 2 litre capacity, at 5,982 metres (19,626 ft). On 6 February the same pilot set another record with just the pilot aboard, reaching 7,043 m (23,107 ft). [4]
At least 17 Hummels, including the prototypes, appeared on the German civil list [3] before the start of World War II and 8 more on the Hungarian list. [5] A total of 66 Hummels of all variants had been completed by the time production ended in March 1941. [2]
from [2]
Hungary Data from Grey 1972, p. 166c
General characteristics
Performance
The Messerschmitt Bf 163 was an STOL aircraft designed by BFW and built by Weserflug before World War II.
Between 1920 and 1951 the Société des Moteurs Salmson in France developed and built a series of widely used air-cooled aircraft engines.
The Hanriot H.43 was a military utility aircraft produced in France in the late 1920s and early 1930s which was primarily used by the Aéronautique Militaire as a trainer. While Hanriot had spent most of the 1920s manufacturing further and further developments of the HD.14 that had flown in 1920, the H.43 was an entirely new design. It was a conventional single-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span and a fuselage of fabric-covered metal tube. Accommodation for the pilot and passenger was in tandem, open cockpits and the main units of the fixed, tailskid undercarriage were linked by a cross-axle.
The Potez 32 and its military version the Potez 33 was a single-engine French monoplane transport built by Potez and based on the Potez 29 biplane.
The Potez 36 was a French two-seat touring or sport monoplane designed and built by Potez. The Potez 36 was a high-wing braced monoplane with a conventional landing gear. It had an enclosed cabin with side-by-side seating for a pilot and passenger. The design had some unusual features like folding wings to make it easier to store or to tow behind a motor car. Some of the aircraft had Potez-designed leading-edge slats. The aircraft was popular with both French private owners and flying clubs with a small number being used by the French Air Force during the 1930s as liaison aircraft.
The Siebel Fh 104 Hallore was a small German twin-engined transport, communications and liaison aircraft built by Siebel.
The Salmson 9 AD was a family of air-cooled nine cylinder radial aero-engines produced in the 1930s in France by the Société des Moteurs Salmson.
The PWS-4 was a prototype Polish sports aircraft, developed in 1928 by Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów.
The Morane-Saulnier MS.180 is a single engine, single parasol wing aerobatic trainer designed in France in 1929. About seventeen were produced and used in French flying clubs, some surviving World War II and one remaining in use at a club until the 1970s. Before World War II, some were used by Spanish Republican forces to train pilots in the Spanish Civil War. Two MS.181s are still flying.
The Morane-Saulnier MS.341 was a single engine parasol wing training and touring aircraft built in France in the mid-1930s. It had two open cockpits in tandem and was sold to private owners, clubs and the Armée de l'Air.
The Udet U 1 was the first of a line of small, low-powered, low wing, cantilever monoplanes built in Germany in the early 1920s.
The Potez VIII was a French training aircraft which first flew in 1920. Originally it had a very unusual vertical inline engine and a four-wheeled undercarriage, though the production version was more conventional.
The Caudron C.27 was a French biplane, a two-seat basic trainer which also competed successfully in the 1920s.
The Delanne 11 was a French two seat touring aircraft. Only one was built.
The Albert A-60 was a single engine, two seat, wooden sports monoplane designed and built in France in the early 1930s. Two were built and flown with three different engines.
The Dewoitine D.480 was a French single engine side-by-side sports and training aircraft built in the early 1930s. Two were completed and flew with several different radial engines. One remained active through the 1950s.
The Morane-Saulnier MS.300 and MS.301 were French parasol wing introductory trainer aircraft, first flown in 1930. They differed only in engine type. Neither reached production but were developed into two similar trainers, the MS.230 and MS.315, which were made in large numbers.
The Hanriot H.46 Styx was a French, single-engined, parasol wing aircraft which could equally be configured for training, liaison or ambulance roles; in the latter form it was able to accept a patient on a stretcher. Several different engines were fitted and flown but the type did not reach production.
The Morane-Saulnier MS.250 was a crew-trainer aircraft built by Morane-Saulnier in the late 1920s.
The Hirth HM 515 was a four-cylinder air-cooled inverted inline engine, intended to power light aircraft of the 1940s. Due to World War II, demand for the light aircraft to be powered by the HM 515 dried up and only the Siebel Si 202C Hummel was powered by development engines before further work was abandoned.
