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14-831: In designing the Mini-Nimbus, Klaus Holighaus incorporated the flapped wings from the Glasflügel 303 Mosquito, with the fuselage of the Standard Cirrus. The wings feature trailing edge terminal speed dive brakes-variable camber flaps that limit the vertical dive speed to a maximum of 70 knots when the dive brakes are fully deployed. The name "Mini Nimbus" was adopted to distinguish it from longer-wingspan Nimbus models. It first flew on 18 September 1976. The Mini Nimbus range all feature self-connecting controls, of Glasflügel design, for added safety and ease of rigging, and have been incorporated in all newer Schempp-Hirth models. The trim lever

28-747: A Mini Nimbus and flew a Mini Nimbus C in the US 15-Meter Gliding Championships. While no longer considered competitive in the 15-meter class, the Mini Nimbus still competes in the Sports Class of sailplane racing where handicaps are allowed in scoring. Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1981-82 . General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Klaus Holighaus Klaus Holighaus (14 July 1940 – 9 August 1994)

42-697: 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 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

56-460: 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 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

70-515: A road in Kirchheim unter Teck was named Klaus-Holighaus-Straße. Schempp-Hirth Cirrus 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 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

84-478: 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 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

98-570: Is connected to the flap operating rod and needs to be set only once per flight; thereafter changes in flap setting (-7 to +10 degrees) automatically provides trim compensation. Based on the Standard Cirrus , the original Mini-Nimbus HS-7 design had an all-moving tailplane and fibre glass wing spars. A tailplane anti-balance tab was a required modification for certification in the United Kingdom after flight testing by Derek Piggott on behalf of

112-596: The British Gliding Association revealed very low stick forces and marginal pitch stability of the HS-7 version. A conventional tail was added for the Mini-Nimbus B version. The conventional horizontal stabiliser/elevator configuration was less sensitive to inputs by the pilot making it easier to fly without constantly making small adjustments to the pitch attitude . This was due to the much larger control surface of

126-445: The choice of some successful international soaring competition pilots in the late 1970s. One capability of the Mini Nimbus is its powerful trailing-edge integrated air brake/flap system with a 70 kn terminal dive velocity which gives the aircraft strong short field and steep landing approach capabilities. 159 Mini-Nimbuses were built, many of which remain in use today. George Moffat won the 1977 European Gliding Championships flying

140-600: The first two carbon-fibre aircraft to be built by Schempp-Hirth. The use of carbon-fibre significantly lightened the Mini Nimbus improving its climbing performance and increasing water ballast capacity while making assembly and disassembly much easier. The Mini-Nimbus glide ratio was somewhat less competitive than its primary rival in sailplane race competitions, the Alexander Schleicher ASW 20 . However its superior climbing performance (altitude gained over time while climbing in lifting air) over its rivals made it

154-413: The former compared to the later configuration. The Mini-Nimbus C version had an increased maximum takeoff weight. Additionally, lighter weight wings with spars and shells of carbon-fibre was available as an option for the C version (meaning that only some Mini Nimbus C has carbon fibre wings, the "C" is often thought to represent "Carbon" which is not correct). The Nimbus 2C and the Mini Nimbus C were

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#1732894361983

168-679: 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

182-546: 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,

196-578: 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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