A Christmas Gift for the Open Class

New open class gliders Lange Antares 23E and Schempp-Hirth Quintus M each had their maiden flight on 23-Dec-2011.

Pictures Here:
http://lange-aviation.com/htm/english/news/news_2011_12_23.html
http://www.schempp-hirth.com/index.php?id=130&L=1

Lange’s Antares 23E and Schempp-Hirth’s Quintus have just completed their first flights. These gliders were introduced and displayed in April at the Aero show, and are now entering serial production (eight sets of wings are already built at last report). At least 10 of these gliders will be racing in the upcoming world championships in Uvalde.

With Axel Lange at the controls, a self launch was performed at the home airfield of Zweibrücken

 

Axel Lange is all smiles after the first flight

These gliders are intended to be the ultimate open-class racers while maintaining excellent handling, climb, and very fast roll rate. The Boermans-designed wing for both these gliders is built by Lange. Lange’s wing tip/winglet is by Boermans but Schempp-Hirth adds a bit of dihedral to the outer panels and different winglets (by Dr. Mark Maughmer of Penn State). Lange offers the electric propulsion system used in the Antares 20E and Arcus E, while Schempp-Hirth offers a 70hp fuel-injected Solo-Binder-ILEC propulsion system.

Antares 23E 3-View (click to enlarge)

Why only 23 meters for a new open class ship ? Well, all the new open-class gliders are designed to the 850kg max (certification and IGC  limit). To get a high wing-loading as optimal for these newer designs (especially in strong conditions) at 850kg, either the span is limited (thus 23-meters for Antares 23E and Schempp-Hirth Quintus), or an extreme aspect ratio is required (Dick Butler’s Concordia).

Some numbers…
◊ 60:1 at 78 knots (knots, no typo) at max loading.
◊ 250 liters of water gives a wing-loading range of 40-58 kg/m2 (8.2-11.9 lbs/ft^2)
◊ That’s almost a 50% increase in wing loading from minimum to maximum.

Still available for the 2013 season ;-)

Dave Nadler is the North American distributor for Antares sailplanes. For more information, contact Dave at Dave.Nadler@Nadler.com or at 978.263.0097. The Café staff is also grateful to Ludwig Starkl for sending us a note about the Antares 23E and Quintus maiden flights – Ed.