- History
- Variants
- Specifications (Kranich II)
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
| name=Kranich | image= DFS Kranich.jpg | caption=An AB Flygplan Se-103, a Swedish licence-built Kranich. }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Two-seat sailplane | manufacturer=Karl Schweyer AG (primary manufacturer) | designer=Hans Jacobs for DFS | 1935}} | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | number built= | developed from= | variants with their own articles=SZD-C Żuraw
}} |
The DFS Kranich is a type of German glider. It was developed by Hans Jacobs for the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS). History Series production of the Kranich (Crane) took place in the aircraft division of Karl Schweyer AG in Mannheim. The two-seater was, in its version 2, the most widely built two-seat glider in Germany from 1935 to 1939. Several hundred examples were built; exact numbers are not known. On 11 October 1940 Erich Klöckner in a Kranich achieved the record height in a glider of 11,460 m. Because it occurred in wartime, the altitude record was not recognized by the Allied occupying powers, and Klöckner only received official recognition by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in the late 1990s.[1] This record height was only exceeded ten years after the flight by the American Bill Ivans during a similar scientific program in the Sierra Nevada. In 1942 30 Kranichs were built by the Swedish manufacturer AB Flygplan in Norrköping, and delivered to the Swedish Air Force for training purposes. These machines were given the military designation Flygplan Se 103. Between 1950 and 1952 50 examples of a slightly modified copy of the Kranich II were built in Poland, known as the SZD-C Żuraw (żuraw is Kranich in Polish = "crane"). After the war, Jacobs designed the Kranich III, a new development very different from its predecessors. It was developed and produced at the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory in Bremen. The first flight was on 1 May 1952, piloted by Hanna Reitsch. Thirty-seven were built. Variants- Kranich
- The initial prototype designed by Hans Jacobs for the DFS.
- Kranich II
- Production aircraft built primarily by Karl Schweyer AG and by Mraz, Czechoslovakia, but also in Poland and Sweden
- Flygplan Se 103
- License production of 30 aircraft in Sweden for the Swedish Air Force
- //SZD-C Żuraw">SZD-C Żuraw: License production of a modified Kranich in Poland
- //Focke-Wulf Kranich III">Focke-Wulf Kranich III: A major re-design.
Specifications (Kranich II){{Aircraft specs
|ref=The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde[2]
|prime units?=met
|crew=2
|capacity=
|length m=7.7
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=18
|span ft=
|span in=
|span note=
|height m=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqm=22.7
|wing area sqft=
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=14.3
|airfoil=Göttingen 535
|empty weight kg=185
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note= (equipped)
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=350
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|more general=
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=175
|never exceed speed note=
- Rough air speed max: {{convert|128|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on|1}}
- Aerotow speed: {{convert|100|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on|1}}
- Winch launch speed: {{convert|80|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on|1}}
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=23.6 at {{convert|70|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on|1}}
|sink rate ms=0.7
|sink rate note=at {{convert|60|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on|1}}
|wing loading kg/m2=19.4
}}Notes1. ^aerokurier magazine 1/1999: Erich Klöckners Vorstoß zur Tropopause, Motor Presse 1999
2. ^{{cite book|last=Shenstone|first=B.S.|title=The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs dans Le Monde|year=1958|publisher=Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue|location=Zurich|pages=91–94|edition=1st |author2=K.G. Wilkinson |author3=Peter Brooks|language=English, French, German}}
References {{refbegin}}- {{cite book|last=Shenstone|first=B.S.|title=The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs dans Le Monde|year=1958|publisher=Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue|location=Zurich|pages=91–94|edition=1st |author2=K.G. Wilkinson |author3=Peter Brooks|language=English, French, German}}
{{refend}}Further reading- Horst Lommel: Vom Höhenaufklärer bis zum Raumgleiter 1935 – 1945, Geheimprojekte der DFS, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, {{ISBN|3-613-02072-6}}
- aerokurier magazine 1/1999: Erich Klöckners Vorstoß zur Tropopause, Motor Presse 1999
- Georg Brütting; Die berühmtesten Segelflugzeuge, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, {{ISBN|3-613-02296-6}}
- Horst Lommel: Zeitschrift Luftfahrt History Nr. 4: Der Flieger Erich - ein Nachruf auf Erich Klöckner, Lautec Software und Medien GmbH, Siegen 2004
- {{citation|surname1=Peter F. Selinger|title=Segelflugzeug-Geschichten: die Gleit- und Segelflugzeuge des Deutschen Segelflugmuseums mit Modellflug auf der Wasserkuppe |publisher=Stiftung Deutsches Segelflugmuseum Wasserkuppe mit Modellflug|publication-place=Gersfeld/Rhön|isbn=3-00-011649-4|date= 2004|language=German}}
External links {{commons category|DFS Kranich}} Das Virtuelle Luftfahrtmuseum: Technische Daten, visited on 2 March 2009 Deutsches Segelflugmuseum: 1935–1950, visited on 2 March 2009{{Hans Jacobs aircraft}}{{DFS aircraft}} 5 : German sailplanes 1930–1939|DFS aircraft|Glider aircraft|Gull-wing aircraft|Aircraft first flown in 1935 |