The Bölkow Phoebus is a

glass fibre Glass fiber ( or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the inventio ...

composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...

competition

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

, designed and produced in Germany in the 1960s. Large numbers were built, achieving success at some national contests, and many remain active.

Design and development

The Phoebus was designed at a time when glider manufacturers were moving away from all-wood aircraft towards composite structures. Bölkow had been among the early leaders of this change with their Phönix T sailplane in the late 1950s, which used

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

glassfibre 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 cloth ...

sandwich construction. The Phoebus was built in the same way. It is a

shoulder wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplane (aeronautics), multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowe ...

competition sailplane. The first aircraft, the Phoebus A, was designed to Standard Class rules, with a span of 15 m. Its straight tapered wings have an aspect ratio of 17.1; airbrakes are fitted at 70% chord. The fin and rudder are straight edged and only slightly tapered, with a high aspect ratio all moving

T tail T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...

. The

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

is a

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

with the cockpit, ahead of the wings, enclosed with a one piece

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. The Phoebus A has a

monowheel A monowheel, or uniwheel, is a one-wheeled single-track vehicle similar to a unicycle. Hand-cranked and pedal-powered monowheels were patented and built in the late 19th century; most built in the 20th and 21st century have been motorized. ...

plus tail bumper undercarriage, but in the later "B" variants the main wheel is retractable. The Phoebus C has a

braking parachute A drogue parachute is a parachute designed for deployment from a rapidly-moving object. It can be used for various purposes, such as to decrease speed, to provide control and stability, or as a pilot parachute to deploy a larger parachute. V ...

Operational history

The Phoebus prototype was placed 3rd in the Standard Class at the German national gliding championships of 1964 and 8th at the

World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held every two years or so by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are sometimes held in the summer in the Southern ...

held in the United Kingdom the following year. Production aircraft came 1st and 3rd at the 1966

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n international championships. Many Phoebus remain registered, particularly in Germany and the United States.

Variants

;Phoebus A :1964 15 m span, fixed-gear Standard Class. Discontinued after 1970 FAI rule change. ;Phoebus B :1967 15 m span, retractable gear. In 1970 FAI rules changed, allowing retractable undercarriages in Standard Class. ;Phoebus C :1967 17 m span, retractable gear, braking parachute. Open Class.

Specifications (Phoebus A)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolkow Phoebus 1960s German sailplanes

Phoebus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

T-tail aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1964

Design and development

Operational history

Variants

Specifications (Phoebus A)

See also

References