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 .
8-625: The Cirrus was designed by Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Holighaus and was the first glass-fibre glider to be built by Schempp-Hirth. The prototype flew in 1967 with a V-tail like the Austria . It won the German Open Class in 1967. By 1971, 107 Cirrus had been built in Germany. Production was transferred to Vazduhoplovno Tehnicki Centar (VTC) at Vršac in Yugoslavia where an additional 63 were built. Haro Wodl won
16-404: A span of 17.74 metres, and a conventional low-set cruciform tailplane. It can carry water-ballast in the wings. There are no flaps. For glidepath control, there are effective top-and-bottom air brakes and a substantial drag chute built into the bottom of the rudder. The undercarriage is retractable. Holighaus chose a rather thick flapless Wortmann airfoil (FX 66-196/161) which had low drag (for
24-479: The 1968 World Gliding Championships in the open class, flying a Cirrus. Although Holighaus had designed and built the ground-breaking D-36 together with Gerhard Waibel , Wolf Lemke and Walter Schneider , he followed a completely different design philosophy for the Cirrus, preferring a thicker airfoil and the use of PVC foam instead of balsa as a core material. The resultant Cirrus has mid-set cantilever wings with
32-402: The flight and landing stresses. This steel frame is bolted to the fiberglass shell. The Cirrus was built in female moulds, an innovation that became the standard method for all manufacturers. General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Klaus Holighaus Klaus Holighaus (14 July 1940 – 9 August 1994)
40-409: The time) and very gentle stall characteristics. The span and profile are optimised for the weaker gliding weather of central Europe. The result is excellent thermalling characteristics and a high glide ratio (for 1967). All-fiberglass glider, with foam core sandwiches for the wing skins and fuselage bulkheads. Internal tubular-steel frame interconnects the wings, cockpit and landing gear, carrying
48-679: Was a glider designer , glider pilot and entrepreneur . Klaus Holighaus was born in Eibelshausen , Germany . He started his career in gliding when he was an engineering student at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt , where he was a member of its Akaflieg . Fellow students Gerhard Waibel and Wolf Lemke had already developed the D-36 glider and he contributed to its refinement. He joined Schempp-Hirth as an employee in 1965. He became Chief Executive in 1972 and from 1977 Holighaus
56-546: Was killed in the area of St. Gotthard when flying in the Alps from Samedan , Switzerland . The wreckage was not discovered for two days. The cause of the accident is not clear, but a possible factor was the deteriorating weather on the day and he may have unsuccessfully tried to cross a mountain pass. He had logged 8,168 hours in gliders. He married Brigitte. His son, Tilo, continues the Schempp-Hirth business. After his death,
64-578: Was the sole owner of the business. He designed most of the company's products, beginning with the Cirrus until the Nimbus-4 . Holighaus flew in every German National Championship from 1968, winning six times in the Open Class. He became European Champion three times and finished in the top rankings of the nine World Championships in which he competed. He held 16 World Records in various categories. Holighaus
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