The Akaflieg Stuttgart fs24, nicknamed ''Phönix'' (German: " Phoenix"), was a glider designed and built in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

from 1951.

Design and development

The fs24 was the first glider to use

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

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 fs24 was started at Akaflieg Stuttgart, (''Akademische Fliegergruppe'' - academic flying group), by Richard Eppler and Hermann Nägele in 1951. Originally it was constructed of balsa wood with a strengthened outer layer of paper and glue layers, which proved unsatisfactory. The project was abandoned until a grant for further research was received from the state of Baden-Württemberg. 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. The first flight was made on 27 November 1957, and good performance and excellent handling were demonstrated, especially in weak thermal conditions. The prototype had a conventional tail unit and a bumper instead of a conventional undercarriage. Airbrakes were fitted on the underside of the wing trailing edges. Bölkow built eight fs24s, designated Phönix T, differing in the use of a

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage wikt:configuration, configuration in which the tailplane of an aircraft is mounted to the top of the vertical stabilizer, fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs fr ...

and retractable undercarriage.

Variants

;fs24 Phönix :16m sailplane certified in January 1959 and manufactured by Akademische Fliegergruppe Stuttgart ;fs24 Phönix TO :16m sailplane with a T-tail certified in May 1960 and manufactured by Apparatebau Nabern. ;fs24 Phönix T :16m sailplane certified in April 1961 and manufactured by Apparatebau Nabern.

Surviving aircraft

The prototype ''fs24 Phönix'' is on display at the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. D-8353 is part of the collection of the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum at Wasserkuppe, Germany.

Specifications

DBP 1980 1040 Jugend Luftfahrt Fs 24 Phoenix

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Akaflieg Stuttgart website
{{MBB aircraft 1950s German sailplanes Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1957 Glider aircraft Akaflieg Stuttgart aircraft