The Schneider Grunau Baby is a single-seat sailplane first built in Germany in 1931, with some 6,000 examples constructed in some 20 countries. It was relatively easy to build from plans, it flew well, and the aircraft was strong enough to handle mild aerobatics and the occasional hard landing. When the Baby first appeared, it was accepted wisdom that the pilot should feel as much unimpeded airflow as possible, to better sense rising and falling currents of air and temperature changes etc.
15-510: It was designed by Edmund Schneider with the assistance of Wolf Hirth and Hugo Kromer as a smaller version of Schneider's ESG 31 of the previous year, incorporating an elliptical wing design based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt . It was named after Grunau, the town where Schneider's factory was located, now Jeżów Sudecki in Poland. The first 14 inner ribs were of the Göttingen 535 shape with
30-485: A high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage of hexagonal cross-section and an open cockpit. The Baby was an instant success, and was enthusiastically promoted by gliding champion Wolf Hirth . An extensive redesign was undertaken in 1932 following the fatal crash of an unrelated Schneider design, which resulted in the Baby II . This version and the definitive Baby IIb that followed were adopted as standard sailplane trainers for
45-870: The German Air Sports Association (later the National Socialist Flyers Corps ). During 1941, 30 GB gliders were built by Laminação Nacional de Metais, later Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista in Brazil, under the name "Alcatraz" . Following World War II , series production restarted in Germany in 1956. The Baby was also built in France (as the Nord 1300 ) and the United Kingdom (as the Elliotts Baby EoN and
60-622: The Slingsby T5 - Slingsby also used it as the basis for a number of their own designs). Edmund Schneider emigrated to Australia, where he developed the Baby design into his Baby 3 and Baby 4 , which had enclosed cockpits. Data from The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Edmund Schneider Edmund Schneider (26 July 1901 - 5 July 1968)
75-467: The Austro-Hungarian's leading balloon killer. He received his first Medal for Bravery for this victory. He also downed a Nieuport the following day. Bönsch began the new year of 1918 by surviving being shot down by anti-aircraft fire. He also added other dimensions to his flying repertoire. On 10 March, he led such a determined assault on an escorted of Italian Capronis that the bombers aborted
90-660: The Segelflugzeugbau Edmund Schneider. His most famous construction was the Schneider Grunau Baby . By about 1931 some 3000 examples had been produced by his company in Grunau. In addition to the company's own aircraft, the gliders Wiesenbaude 1 and Wiesenbaude 2 were also commissioned for Eugen Bönsch , and the fuselage of the Moazagotl by Schneider ESG 31 Schlesierland for Eugen Bönsch who during 1931–1932
105-1094: The Wasserkuppe. The Schneider family emigrated to Australia in 1951 at the invitation of the Adelaide Aero Club in which city he established the Edmund Schneider Pty Ltd . Other well-known gliders such as the Schneider ES-52 Kookaburra and the Schneider ES-60 Boomerang were built in Australia at Schneider's new factory in Adelaide. A licensed version of the Schleicher Ka 6 was also built in Australia. Schneider died on 5 July 1968 in Rottach-Egern in Germany aged 67. Eugen B%C3%B6nsch Feldwebel Eugen Bönsch (1 May 1897-24 July 1951)
120-588: The design of fighter aircraft such as the Pfalz Albatros Flugzeugwerke , LFG , Fokker and Junkers . At end of the war he moved to the Wasserkuppe mountain gliding site in the spring of 1923.. He met Gottlob Espenlaub and helped him with the completion of gliders he designed with Alexander Lippischa for the Rhön competition in the summer of 1923. In autumn 1923 he went together with Espenlaub at
135-615: The invitation of a local group of the German Flying club to Grunau near Hirschberg Silesia (now Poland). In the winter in Grunau, the construction of an easy-to-build and easy-to-fly, stable training glider was developed, which after a few modifications finally led to the Espenlaub-Schneider ESG-9 - a basic training glider. While Espenlaub later went to Kassel, Schneider settled down in Grunau and started his own business in 1928 with
150-763: The mission. The next day, Bönsch began a week of low-level raids on the Italian airfields at Marcon and Treviso , and the port of Portegrandi . The next few months, from April through October, Bönsch carried out a hectic double load of air-to-air combat intermixed with ground attack strikes, including at the Battle of the Piave . On 8 October 1918, he became one of the few World War I pilots to survive being set afire; he parachuted to safety. He made his way back to his home airfield from enemy territory and returned to battle. He scored his final four victories after this incident. By 24 October,
165-399: The outer ribs gradually changing up to the last 22nd rib, having a bi-convex and symmetrical shape with a slight reduction in the angle of incidence. The tips and leading edges of the wings up to the main spar were covered with plywood. The tail unit was built of plywood. The intention was to create an aircraft suitable both for training and for cross-country soaring. Typical for its day, it was
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#1733086284329180-410: Was principal of the Grunau gliding school. Due to the increasing demand from the National Socialist Flyers Corps , Schneider employed more than 350 people in two plants when war broke out in 1939. At the end of World War II, Schneider left his business and fled with his family to Mühlhofen on Lake Constance . The result was the draft ES-49 "Wallaby" design, of which a copy has been preserved on
195-679: Was a German aircraft designer and owner of a glider factory. Schnieder was born in Ravensburg on 26 July 1902 and completed an apprenticeship in Memmingen as a carpenter. Towards the end of the First World War he applied to the German air force but was found unfit to fly. He found employment as a carpenter in the Schleissheim aircraft hangar , where military aircraft were repaired. He was able to study
210-506: Was a World War I flying ace credited with 16 aerial victories. Bönsch studied mechanics at the State Trade School. He originally joined the army in 1915, but after completing basic training transferred to aviation. His original assignment was as a mechanic with Fliegerersatzkompagnie 6. He requested flight training in 1917. He completed it at Flek 8 on 22 June 1917. His promotion to corporal followed six days later. In August, he
225-438: Was assigned to Flik 51 on the Italian front; he scored his first victory shortly thereafter, on 1 September, teamed with Franz Wognar . He became a balloon buster with his next triumph, on 28 September; it took several firing passes at 700 meters altitude through heavy ground fire, dodging a couple of enemy fighters, to down the balloon. In the next thirteen months, his victory skein would include five more balloons, making him
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