The Wasserkuppe (help·info) 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 A-12 was an unusual tailless glider designed by Georges Abrial in the early 1930s. It was not a success and was abandoned in 1932.
The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as Pulaski wings, with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorporated such wings for a diverse range of purposes. The gull wing was commonly used to improve visibility in a high wing arrangement, because such wing could be thinnest by the fuselage, and in theory should limit pilot's view no more than A-pillars of a windscreen in a car body.
The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) or Rhön-Rossitten Society was a German gliding organization, the first one in the world that was officially recognised. The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft was mainly responsible for establishing gliding as a sport, not only in Germany but eventually throughout the world.
A tailless aircraft has no other horizontal aerodynamic surface besides its main wing. It may still have a fuselage, vertical tail fin and/or vertical rudder.
The FVA 1 Schwatze Düvel was a glider produced in Germany in 1920. It was a highly streamlined, thick winged cantilever monoplane.
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 Fokker FG-2 was built by Anthony Fokker for the 1922 Rhön gliding competition, after visiting the Wasserkuppe during the 1921 competition.
The Lippisch Wien was a high-performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch in Germany in 1929. Owned and flown by Robert Kronfeld, it was one of the first sailplanes intended to exploit thermals. It set world records both for distance and altitude and demonstrated the practicality of long-distance cross-country flights.
The RRG Fafnir, named after the legendary dragon, was a single seat German high performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch. It won the Rhön competition in 1931 and made several outstanding flights as well as setting a fashion for gull wings.
The RRG Fafnir 2 São Paulo, named after the legendary dragon and the Brazilian city which partially financed it, was a single seat German high performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch. It set a new world distance record in 1934 and won the 1937 International Gliding Championships.
The RRG Professor was a very early soaring glider and the first to use a variometer for finding thermals. It was designed by Alexander Lippisch in Germany, first flying in 1928. The Professor was widely built by both flying clubs and factories.
The RRG Urubu Obs, often known just as the RRG Obs, was a one-off, large, two or three seat glider designed for meteorological observations by Alexander Lippisch in Germany and first flown in 1932.
The 1926 German RRG Prüfling of 1926 was a secondary training glider designed for club use. Plans were sold and it was built in Germany and across the world.
The Der Dessauer, later Der alte Dessauer, was a German single-seat glider built in the early 1920s. It took part in all the Rhön gliding contests on the Wasserkuppe between 1923 and 1928, flew in the Alps, and made a long-duration flight along the German sea shore.
The F.V.D. Stehaufchen or Der Dresdener Stehaufchen, later relabelled the Akaflieg Dresden D-B1 Stehaufchen, was an unequal span biplane glider designed and built in Germany in 1921. It flew with some success at the second and third Rhön competitions on the Wasserkuppe and was also used to train pilots.
The F.V.D. Doris or Dresden Doris, later known as the Akaflieg Dresden D-B2 Doris, was a monoplane glider built in Germany in 1922. It was unusual in having wings which could independently adjust their angles of attack, a feature intended to increase the energy acquired from gusts of wind.
The Sb.1 Münchener Eindecker, Loessl Sb.1 Münchener Eindecker,, was a high-wing single-seat glider with an unusual method of pitch and roll control. It won prizes at the second Rhön competition held on the Wasserkuppe in 1921.
The Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug, situated on the Wasserkuppe in the German state of Hesse is the national gliding museum, opened in 1987.
The RRG Delta I was a German experimental tailless aircraft flown in the early 1930s first as a glider and then powered. It was one of the first delta wing aircraft.
