Akaflieg Stuttgart FS-24
Encyclopedia
The Akaflieg Stuttgart FS-24 Phönix was a glider designed and built in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
from .
Development
The Phönix was the first glider to use fibreglassGlass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
in its construction. The development of modern aerofoil sections for gliders required very accurate reproduction with smooth surfaces, using tolerances that were extremely difficult to achieve using conventional wood or metal construction, but could be achieved by using composite materials laid up in a mould.
The design of the FS-24 was started at Akaflieg Stuttgart, (Akademische Fliegergruppe - academic flying group), by R. Eppler and H. Nägele in 1951. Originally it was constructed of balsa wood with a strengthened outer layer of paper and glue layers, which was not satisfactory. The project was abandoned until a grant was received for further research from Baden-Württemberg state. By then glass fibre reinforced polyester resin was available and so it was redesigned using a balsa wood/glass fibre 'sandwich', with the load-bearing points and the edge of the cockpit canopy strengthened with plywood.
At the time the Phönix was designed, emphasis was placed on climb performance rather than high cruising speed, with a low wing loading to optimise thermalling and a faster cruise speed (best Lift /Drag speed) achieved through careful attention to fuselage shape, wing incidence, aspect ratio and other criteria.
The first flight was made on 27 November 1957, and good performance and excellent handling were demonstrated, especially in weak thermal conditions. For its first flights the prototype had a conventional tail unit and fixed undercarriage, but later a T-tail and retractable undercarrriage were fitted. Flaps on the underside of the wing trailing edges could be used to control the glideslope on landing, with minimal trim change. Eight examples of the Phönix were built and all were still flying in 1980, with at least one example now preserved in the Deutsches Museum
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...
in Munich and another in the Deutsches Segleflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe
Wasserkuppe
The Wasserkuppe is a high plateau , the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains within the German state of Hessen. Between the first and second World Wars, during the era of the so-called Golden Age of Aviation, great advances in sailplane development were made there.Remark: The German wording takes its...
.
Specifications
Surviving aircraft
The prototype fs 24 Phönix is on display at the Deutsches MuseumDeutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
D-8353 is part of the collection of the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe
Wasserkuppe
The Wasserkuppe is a high plateau , the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains within the German state of Hessen. Between the first and second World Wars, during the era of the so-called Golden Age of Aviation, great advances in sailplane development were made there.Remark: The German wording takes its...
, Germany.