german gliders and sailplanes in after-war...
TRANSCRIPT
POSTER 2016, PRAGUE MAY 24 1
German gliders and sailplanes in after-war
Czechoslovakia
Vojtěch HÁJEK1
1 Dept. of Management, The Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies, Czech Technical University, Kolejní 2637/2a, Prague
6, Czech Republic
Abstract. This article focuses on the transformation of
gliders and sailplanes after the Second World War until
mid of fifties. The starting point of this issue is inter-war
period when the German gliding was the most successful in
the world, because it was supported as military sport which
was significantly financed by the state after 1933. In after-
war Czechoslovakia a lot of German gliders and sailplanes
were used by Czechoslovak glider pilots until mid of fifties.
At the end of the period German technique was fully
replaced by Czechoslovak types and the elementary
training scheme of glider pilots was transformed from
single seat gliders to two seat sailplanes.
Keywords
Gliding, soaring, gliders, sailplanes, aircraft
manufacturing, after-war Czechoslovakia
1. Introduction
The development of gliding went together with the
development of flying generally. After the First World War
the major development of gliding took place in Germany.
Due to Verssailes treaty and other restrictions the military
air force was forbidden. Erich Mayer, Wolf Hirth and Paul
Brenner followed the tradition of Otto Lilienthal (the end
of the nineteenth century) and in 1920 they introduced the
first gliding competition in Wassekuppe (Rhön Mountains,
eastern direction from Frankfurt am Main). This event,
which uses rising flow in the atmosphere, is considered to
be the starting point of modern gliding.
This article focuses on the usage of German gliders
and sailplanes in after-war Czechoslovakia. German
gliding generally mainly aircraft technology which was left
in freed countries after the Second World War served for
subsequent boom of after-war flying in Europe.
2. Inter-war development
German inter-war gliding as the first stage of training
and preparation of aircraft personnel was focused on
building military air force which came into existence in the
mid of thirties. Early twenties were characterized by ridge
gliding. In the second half of twenties gliding in rising flow
was established so ridge gliding was replaced by thermal
soaring on a flat land. In 1933 when Adolf Hitler
consolidated his power, the development sped up because
gliding became a supported military sport which was
significantly financed by the state. Deutscher
Luftsportverband (German Air Sports Association) later
called NSFK (Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps –
National Socialist Flyers Corps) came into existence. All
the glider pilots who were so far just amateurs were shifted
into training and research centres as instructors. Wolf
Hirth, Heini Dittmar or Hana Reitsch became famous all
over the world because of their flying success. The
significant period for German gliding was the year 1935
when the distance of 500 km was overcome.
Germans applied their experience into military
structures. It was not just about elementary training of
future pilots, but also about preparation of cargo military
glider pilots and gliders itself in active service. It was
during Belgium fortress Eben Emael conquest in 1940 or
during airborne operation in Crete in 1941. Another
specific event was the development of rocket-powered
fighter aircraft Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet and the
training of pilots because during the training different types
of gliders with similar flight attributes were used. Owing to
almost unlimited financial support, huge amount of high-
quality gliders and sailplanes was produced. After the
Second World War they remained in freed countries and
enabled the development of gliding in individual states.
Czechoslovak gliding arose from the same humble
conditions as German gliding. The fundamental impulse
was the establishment of Masaryk aircraft foundation in
1922 (Masarykův letecký fond) and its transformation into
Masaryk flying league (Masarykova letecká liga) in 1926,
which promoted flying in Czechoslovakia. It enabled the
2 VOJTĚCH HÁJEK, GERMAN GLIDERS AND SAILPLANES IN AFTER-WAR CZECHOSLOVAKIA
foundation of individual associations which were devoted
to model constructions. Grants and fund-raising campaign
contributed to the expansion of gliding. The same tendency
can be seen also in neighbouring Germany when Adolf
Hitler came to the power. In mid-thirties in Czechoslovakia
in contrast to Germany money was put mainly into military
activities because of the fear of German Nazi aggression.
There was also a huge rise in number of pilots who were
trained as military pilots. Unfortunately in 1939 absolute
majority of pre-war Czechoslovak gliders and sale planes
was either confiscated by German authorities or was not
able to fly due to inconvenient conditions while storage.
3. The development of gliding in
post-war Czechoslovakia
After the Second World War a tradition of Masaryk
flying league branches was renewed and also new aviation
clubs, which did not continued in inter-war tradition,
started to exist. Countrywide aircraft organization was
called Czechoslovak national aviation club
(Československý národní aeroklub) and came under the
authority of Ministry of Transportation. Since May there
was an equipment inventory after NSFK termination and
the condition of stored pre-war gliders was determined. On
a number of counts only few pieces of gliders were
preserved, e.g. Skaut standart in Lomnice nad Popelkou,
which was being used just until 1946.
The complete majority of gliders and sailplanes in
Czech lands was German origin because in Protectorate of
Bohemia and Moravia huge number of German models for
training of future pilots was being produced. After the
Second World War also Czechoslovak gliders asked
Russian marshal Ivan Konev for donation of complete
equipment of aircraft for gliding school in Grunau
(nowadays Jeżów Sudecki, northern direction from Jelenia
Góra County in Poland) which was familiar to
Czechoslovak glider pilots. Already in early thirties famous
pilots of Czechoslovak gliding as Ludvík Elsnic or Jan
Hrbek took part in glider training. On 23rd July 1945 the
donation was transported to Czechoslovakia (116 gliders,
16 sailplanes, 3 motor planes and other materials which
were worth approximately 15 million Czechoslovak
crowns).
In this period glider training starts. Already on 15th
July 1945 there was an instructor training course in Raná
near Louny consisting of 150 members. The leading
personalities in this course were Antonín Půrok and
Vladimír Šilhan. The sufficient amount of instructors was
really important for the development of flying. Still after
the Second World War the routine way of training on one-
seat glider was used – the trainee started with short flights
and continued with doing more challenging tasks while he
was observed by instructors who controlled the flight from
land, gave orders and debriefing. Trainees usually took A
and B exams in their clubs and later they participated in
more difficult exam C or other special kinds of training or
conditional flying in country gliding schools. Country
gliding schools, sometimes called country gliding stations,
were situated in Raná near Louny, in Kralupy nad Vltavou
or Hodkovice nad Mohelkou. In 1950 all of these schools
were closed down and replaced by one central gliding
school in Vrchlabí.
3.1 School gliders
The standard type of school glider of NSFK was SG-
38 Schulgleiter, which was used for elementary training.
This type arose in 1938 in Grunau. It is estimated that
during the Second World War roughly 5000 pieces of these
planes were produced.
Fig. 1. SG-38 in flight. Source: Propriety of Jan Hrbatsch.
Owing to large number of these planes, their good
flying attributes and simple maintenance, they stayed in
aviation clubs until the arrival of two-seat Czechoslovak
sailplanes in the first half of the fifties. Even though a new
training glider Z-23 Honza was constructed, SG-38 was
never fully substituted.
Fig. 2. SG-38 during bungee glider launch. Source:
FRANĚK, E. Mladým letcům, Praha: Mladá fronta 1945, p.
17.
POSTER 2016, PRAGUE MAY 24 3
Even in pre-war period other 100 pieces of these planes
were produced. In 1947 there were about 130 pieces of SG-
38 and approximately 66 pieces of restored post-war
production labelled ŠK-38 Komár (Mosquito).
3.2 School sailplanes
School sailplanes served under the terms of post-war
glider training as a transitional intermediate stage between
school gliders and high-performance sport sailplanes.
Grunau Baby GB-IIb was very important for European and
also Czechoslovak soaring. It followed the preceding
variations of GB-I and GB-II and was constructed in
Grunau in 1936. Just as SG-38 about 5000 of these glider
was produced and the production carried on also after the
war. “Babies” started mass soaring in our countries. With
the first gliders Czechoslovak glider pilots completed their
first flying performance in flying on time, altitude and also
distance. Since fifties they were gradually eliminated and
substituted by Czechoslovak gliders Z-24 Krajánek, which
completely substituted the preceding types. In Czech lands
there were about 115 airworthy pieces of GB-IIb in 1947.
Fig. 3. GB-IIb during winch launch. Source: Propriety of
Pavel Lanštiak.
3.3 High-performance sailplanes
High-performance gliders or sport gliders served
mainly for sport flights focused on distance and altitude.
Until the middle of fifties also time of the flight was
measured. After withdrawal of German army there were
two defined groups of these sailplanes in Czechoslovakia.
The first group was created by DFS Olympia and Mü-17
sailplanes, which took part in pre-war competition – a
glider for Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1940. The second
group was created by gliders for long distances which had
wing-span longer than 16 metres. The third group
contained just one acrobatic glider DFS Habicht.
Fig. 4. DFS Weihe. Source: Propriety of Jaroslav Prchal.
Olympia (Miese – Tit) was an interesting construction
which influenced after-war development of gliders. This
type of glider with 15 metres wing-span took part in
formerly mentioned competition. After winning the
competition about the choice of Olympic glider Germany
provided planes of the sailplane to other countries. Since a
lot of counties got these plans, it is really difficult to find
out how many of these gliders were eventually constructed.
After the Second World War countries like France or Great
Britain were still producing these sailplanes. In Czech
lands there were about still 17 airworthy gliders in 1947.
The second group contains two significant gliders –
FVA-10 Rheinland and DFS Weihe (Harrier). Rheinland
was constructed in 1936 and had 16 metres wingspan. The
canopy was nicely glass-topped decorated. Two of these
gliders were flying in the area of Czech lands. The second
type was called Weihe which arose in 1938 as 18 wingspan
glider with great flying attributes. In 1947 there were about
10 pieces of these sailplanes in Czech lands.
3.4 Two-seat sailplanes
After the Second World War the category of two-seat
gliders was not as popular as today. In that period they did
not serve for elementary training but for following glider
training in rising flow, flying with apparatus, training of
takeoff with the aid of aerotow. In Czech countries there
were two significant types. The first one was DSF Kranich
(Crane) with seats behind. Its first flight took place in 1935.
In 1947 there were about 45 pieces in Czech countries,
which enabled realization of previously mentioned form of
training. Elementary training called “ED courses” was
practised on “Cranes” – the pilot adopted the fundamental
flying techniques and later on the plane GB-IIb was used
for another type of training. The second type of glider was
Gopping Go-4 Goevier known as Duck (Kachna).
Compared to Kranich it had different arrangement of pilot
seats – the pilots were sitting next to each other. In Czech
countries there were two pieces which were flying in
Kralupy nad Vltavou and in Hodkovice nad Mohelkou
4 VOJTĚCH HÁJEK, GERMAN GLIDERS AND SAILPLANES IN AFTER-WAR CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Fig. 5. DFS Kranich on Vrchlabí airport (1947). Source:
Propriety of Jaroslav Prchal.
.
Fig. 6. DFS Kranich before bungee glider launch. Source:
FRANĚK, E. Mladým letcům, Praha: Mladá fronta 1945, p.
23.
4. Conclusion
German sailplanes and gliders significantly developed
the Czech after-war gliding. Since early fifties gliders and
sailplanes of Czech producers dominated. In the first half
of fifties SG-38 were less seen because there was a change
also in elementary training and one-seat school gliders
were replaced by two-seat school sailplanes, mainly by LF-
109 Pionýr. Before the first all-metal L-13 Blaník glider,
which started to fly in 1956, the majority of planes was all-
wood or mixed construction. The inspiration in Germany is
apparent – it is SG-38 and Z-23 Honza, GB-IIb and Z-24
Krajánek, DFS Olympia and Z-25 Šohaj or DFS Habicht
and LF-107 Luňák.
In 1955 and 1956 redundant German gliders and
sailpanes were removed and liquidated and were fully
replaced by Czechoslovak production, e.g. by types of
Krajánek or Šohaj. One of the last documented pieces of
German gliders was Weihe with that RNDr. Ladislav Háza
completed the second national glider competition in
Vrchlabí in 1957.
Fig. 7. LF-109 Pionýr during winch launch. Source: RAJNOCH, J. Křídla míru, Praha: Svazarm 1952, p. 63.
POSTER 2016, PRAGUE MAY 24 5
References
[1] BRINKMANN, G., ZACHER, H. Die Evolution der Segelflugzeuge.
Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag 1992.
[2] DUNSTAN, S. Fort Eben Emael - The key to Hitler's victory in the
west. Oxford: Osprey Publishing 2005.
[3] ELSNIC, K. Výcvik plachtaře, díl I. Praha: Česká grafická unie
1946.
[4] ELSNIC, K. Výcvik plachtaře, díl II. Praha: Česká grafická unie
1946.
[5] FRANĚK, E. Mladým letcům, Praha: Mladá fronta 1945.
[6] GEISTMANN, D. Segelflugzeuge in Deutschland. Stuttgart:
Motorbuch Verlag 1994.
[7] HÁJEK, V. Hledání vhodné lokality pro rovinné letiště v České Lípě
1945-1950. In: Fontes Nissae XVI 2014/1, Liberec (Czech Republic),
2014, p. 64 – 71.
[8] KŘÍŢ, F. Plachtění. Brno: Typie, 1947.
[9] NĚMEČEK, V. Československá letadla, Praha: Naše vojsko, 1968.
[10] PEJČOCH, I. Bojové legendy – Messerschmitt Me-163 KOMET,
Praha: Vašut 2007.
[11] RAJLICH, J., SEHNAL, J. Vzduch je naše moře. Československé
letectví 1918 –1939. Praha: Naše vojsko 1993.
[12] RAJNOCH, J. Křídla míru, Praha: Svazarm 1952.
[13] SOUČEK, O., HAVLÍK, J. Letiště v Libereckém kraji, Liberec:
Liberecký kraj 2008.
[14] ŠOREL, V. Encyklopedie českého a slovenského letectví. Praha:
Computer Press 2005.
[15] VEJVODA, L. Na křídlech větru – Historie bezmotorového létání
v Československu 1918-1952. Cheb: Svět křídel 2010.
[16] VEJVODA, L., PLACHÝ, J. Větroně v Československu a České
republice od roku 1945. Cheb: Svět křídel, 2009.
[17] Magazines: Rozlet (1945–1948), Letectví (1948–1952) and Křídla
vlasti (1952–1958).
About Author
Vojtěch HÁJEK was born in 1987. He is studying Ph. D.
program History of technique on Dept. of Management of
The Masaryk Institute of Advanced Studies of Czech
Technical University in Prague. He had studied teaching
history and geography for second grade of elementary
school and single-subject history at Technical University in
Liberec. He focuses on the history of sport aviation and
development of helicopters in Czechoslovakia.