The Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-2 is an Open Class glider built by Schempp-Hirth during the 1970s. The Nimbus-2 first flew in April 1971 and a total of over 240 examples of all subtypes have been built until the beginning of the 1980s. It replaced the Schempp-Hirth Cirrus .
7-527: Loosely based on the original Nimbus HS-3 prototype, the production version that eventually surfaced as the Nimbus-2 was a very different glider with many improvements over the problematic prototype. The wing was shortened to 20.3 metres and was built in four sections to make it easier to rig and transport. It received Schempp-Hirth air brakes fitted in the upper surfaces and a tail braking-parachute, plus camber-changing flaps. It had an all-flying T-tail similar to
14-670: A Nimbus-2. The Nimbus-2 was succeeded by the Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-3 . Data from Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1976–77 General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Schempp-Hirth Nimbus The Schempp-Hirth HS-3 Nimbus was a prototype glider built by Klaus Holighaus . The HS-3 Nimbus was a high performance single-seater. Holighaus designed and built this prototype glider in his spare time with assistance from Schempp-Hirth . Strictly speaking, it
21-526: A feminine Out and Return record of 1,127 km in 1981, Yvonne Loader a feminine Height Gain record of 10212 m in 1988, and Joann Shaw a feminine Distance record of 951.43 km in 1990, all flying Nimbus-2. At its time several national and world records were held by Nimbus-2M's in the FAI motorglider category. In 1979 Klaus Holighaus , the glider's designer, completed the first 1,000 km triangle in Germany flying
28-539: A minimum sink rate of only 0.43 m/s (1.4 ft/s). George Moffat of the USA flew the Nimbus in the 1970 World Gliding Championships at Marfa , Texas . He had to modify the aircraft's cockpit to fit in, and became the first person to sample its spin characteristics when, in mid-competition, the glider departed from a steep turn into autorotation with asymmetric water ballast. While considering bailing out, he remembered that
35-543: Is not a Schempp-Hirth glider but rather a glider built at Schempp-Hirth. It employed the same fuselage as the Open Class Cirrus and a similar tail, but had an entirely new wing, high-set and in three segments adding up to a 22 m (72 ft) span. The prototype first flew in January 1969. The Nimbus had a rudder far too small for an aircraft of its size, leading to very unfavourable control characteristics; After
42-696: The Standard Cirrus as well as the general layout of its fuselage. The Nimbus-2 was successful in competitions, twice winning the Open Class in World Gliding Championships : Göran Ax (Sweden) in 1972 and George Moffat (USA) in 1974. It was also popular with record-seekers. Bruce Lindsey Drake, David Napier Speight and Sholto Hamilton "Dick" Georgeson jointly set a World Goal and Free Distance record of 1,254 km in New Zealand in 1978, Doris Grove
49-448: The pilot applied full aileron and rudder inputs, the glider continued to fly straight ahead for several seconds before suddenly dropping a wing, requiring full opposite controls to recover. No air brakes were fitted and it was an exceptionally difficult glider to land. It was damaged several times in overshoots. However, it had an exceptionally high performance for the time, with a best glide ratio of 51:1 at 90 km/h (56 mph) and
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