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At 00:34 13 December 2017, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Tue, 12 Dec 2017 03:30:19 +0000, Michael Opitz wrote: Thank you very much for the insights. If my father were still alive today, he would be wanting to follow the progress very closely. The aerodynamic genius of using the wing sweep to emulate canard characteristics as opposed to using the sweep for high speed flight is extremely intriguing. Being able to use current modern airfoils while reducing drag considerably, should result in very noticeable performance increases. Also, the advent of newer construction materials and methods which enable the builders to achieve the stiffness that is required to overcome other previous wing's aeroelastic issues cannot be overstated. Please post any progress updates here whenever you may hear of them in the future.... I promise. I happen to be at the Akaflieg Karlsruhe workshop two times per year so with a little luck I can provide you with some updates if the Akaflieg guys allow that. But since we are talking: Has your father ever talked about (or even flown) the Horten VI (the 24m glider)? I was always amazed that such a thing could be built in the pre-carbon fibre aera. Martin Gregorie provided a pretty good link for a brief Horten history: https://scalesoaring.co.uk/VINTAGE/D.../Horten%20IV/H orten_IVb.html From that article: "As Heinz Scheidhauer was the most experienced and long serving Horten pilot, it is also strange that the test flying of the H IVb should be passed to Strebel at such an early stage. Scheidhauer had flown most of the Horten types and despite some peculiarities, their handling had been generally benign as they were highly stall and spin resistant. Although the H IVa had been liable to flutter, it had proved possible to damp it by simultaneous use of the drag rudders. None the less, he had refused to fly an HIII to explore its handling at extreme rear centre of gravity positions. On 24 May 1944 he made the maiden flight of the ultra high aspect ratio H VI, discovering that not only was it subject to flutter at both high and low speeds but that the entire wing was far too flexible and fragile for even an expert pilot. If Zubert’s log book entry is correct, the pilot of the H IVb on 11 August was almost certainly Scheidhauer and this may also have been its maiden flight – long before the H XIIIa. Unfortunately just ten weeks after test flying the H VI, Scheidhauer discovered that the H IVb suffered from truly appalling handling characteristics and would abruptly drop a wing and attempt to spin at speeds as high as 77km/h, yet above 110 km/h the wings would flutter. Later, also he refused to fly the H XIIIa which Strebel tested from the outset. It seems that Scheidhauer was losing faith in Reimar’s ability as a designer." Scheidhauer was a student of Dad's from the first military glider pilot training class at the DFS in ~1937 where Dad was one of the three original instructors. Dad also later got him a flight in a Me 163, even though he was from the Horten camp. By 1944 when Scheidhauer first flew the Ho VI, Dad was pretty deep into getting operational Me 163 units up and running. His glider logbook shows one or two Ho III entries earlier, but no Ho VI. He never really talked about the Ho VI at all. I doubt it flew much considering the info from the above story. There are a couple of reports about the IV, but I couldn't find any halfways detailed source about the VI. And, second question: Do you know if the Horton guys aver considered winglets instead of the drag ailerons? I don't know if they considered winglets, and I can't remember what the aircraft they designed after the war in Argentina looked like. The person to ask is Peter Selinger. He was also a friend of Scheidhauer's and received all of Scheidhauer's personal logs, etc when he passed away. Peter also wrote a book on the Hortens, but unfortunately, I don't have a copy of it. "Nurflügel", by Peter F. Selinger and Dr. Reimar Horten ISBN-103900310092 ISBN-139783900310097 I do have Peter's contact info in case you want it though. We have been in fairly regular contact with each other since 1985. RO |
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