The Schneider Grunau Baby was a single-seat sailplane first built in Germany in 1931, with some 6,000 examples constructed in some 20 countries. It was relatively easy to build from plans, it flew well, and the aircraft was strong enough to handle mild aerobatics and the occasional hard landing. When the Baby first appeared, it was accepted wisdom that the pilot should feel as much unimpeded airflow as possible, to better sense rising and falling currents of air and temperature changes etc. Oktoberfest - Munich 2009 - 09

It was designed by Edmund Schneider with the assistance of

Wolf Hirth Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (28 February 1900 – 25 July 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.Segelflugbildkalendar 2011 Hirth was born in Stuttgart, ...

and Hugo Kromer as a smaller version of Schneider's ESG 31 of the previous year, incorporating an elliptical wing design based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt. It was named after Grunau, the town where Schneider's factory was located, now

Jeżów Sudecki Jeżów Sudecki (german: Grunau) is a village in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina Jeżów Sudecki. Jeżów Sudecki is one of the place ...

in Poland. The first 14 inner ribs were of the Göttingen 535 shape with the outer ribs gradually changing up to the last 22nd rib, having a bi-convex and symmetrical shape with a slight reduction in the angle of incidence. The tips and leading edges of the wings up to the main spar were covered with plywood. The tail unit was built of plywood. The intention was to create an aircraft suitable both for training and for cross-country soaring. Typical for its day, it was a high-wing braced monoplane with a fuselage of hexagonal cross-section and an open cockpit. The Baby was an instant success, and was enthusiastically promoted by gliding champion

. An extensive redesign was undertaken in 1932 following the fatal crash of an unrelated Schneider design, which resulted in the Baby II. This version and the definitive Baby IIb that followed were adopted as standard sailplane trainers for the

German Air Sports Association The German Air Sports Association (''Deutscher Luftsportverband'', or DLV e. V.) was an organisation set up by the Nazi Party in March 1933 to establish a uniform basis for the training of military pilots. Its chairman was Hermann Göring and its v ...

(later the

National Socialist Flyers Corps The National Socialist Flyers Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps; NSFK) was a paramilitary aviation organization of the Nazi Party. History NSFK was founded 15 April 1937 as a successor to the German Air Sports Association; the ...

). During 1941, 30 GB gliders were built by Laminação Nacional de Metais, later Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista in Brazil, under the name "Alcatraz". Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, series production restarted in Germany in 1956. The Baby was also built in France (as the Nord 1300) and the United Kingdom (as the Elliotts Baby EoN and the Slingsby T5 - Slingsby also used it as the basis for a number of their own designs). Edmund Schneider emigrated to Australia, where he developed the Baby design into his Baby 3 and Baby 4, which had enclosed cockpits.

Variants

;ESG 31 :The precursor to the Baby with larger less sophisticated wings ;Baby :The initial version - an ESG31 with an improved wing based on work done by Akaflieg Darmstadt ;Baby II : ;Baby IIa : ;Baby IIb : ;Baby III : ;Alcatraz :Thirty aircraft licence-built in Brazil by ''Laminação Nacional de Metais'', later called CAP ''Companhia Aeronáutica Paulista'' ;Nord 1300 Nord-1300-02

:License production in France by

Nord Aviation Nord-Aviation ( en, Northern Aviation) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France. On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was c ...

;Elliotts Baby EoN :License production in England by

Elliotts of Newbury Elliotts of Newbury was a British company that became well known for manufacturing gliders. Beginnings and World War II The company was founded by Samuel Elliott in 1870 as a joinery works, Elliott's Moulding and Joinery Company Ltd. It produc ...

One is now at the

Gliding Heritage Centre The Gliding Heritage Centre (GHC) is a collection of vintage gliders based at Lasham Airfield, Hampshire, UK. Origins Christopher Wills, the son of Philip Wills, founded the Vintage Glider Club in 1973. He died on 4 May 2011 but left a bequest ...

;Slingsby T5 :License production in England by

Slingsby Sailplanes Slingsby Aviation was a British aircraft manufacturer based in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded to design and build gliders and sailplanes. From the early 1930s to around 1970 it built over 50% of all British c ...

;Baby 3 :Postwar redesign, with an enclosed cockpit, by Edmund Schneider after he emigrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

;Baby 4 :Further improvements made for production in Australia ;Baby V :A two-seat version using Baby III wings with a new tandem seat fabric covered steel tube fuselage ;AB Flygplan Se-102 :License production in Sweden for the Royal Swedish Air Force ;Hawkridge Grunau Baby :licence-built Grunau Babys ;TG-27 Grunau Baby :Grunau Babys impressed into the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in 1942 ;IFIL-Reghin RG-1 :Grunau Babys built in Romania under licence ;Stiglmeier S.24 :Variant by Herman J. Stiglmeier with the wings of a

Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross The Bowlus BA-100 Baby Albatross is an American high-wing, strut-braced, open cockpit, pod-and-boom glider that was designed by Hawley Bowlus and introduced in 1938.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', pages 6-7. Soaring S ...

. One (registered NX15539) was impressed into USAAF service in 1942 as the TG-14 ( s/n 42-57183). ;Motor-Baby :A motor-glider conversion, (D-YBIF), powered by a Kroeber M4 2-stroke engine driving a pusher propeller behind the centre-section. The rear fuselage upper decking was removed to accommodate the propeller and reduce drag from prop-wash.

Specifications (Baby IIb)

References

External links

Grunau Baby II B-2
at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - An extensive writeup of the history of the type {{Swedish military aircraft designations 1930s German sailplanes Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1931 Parasol-wing aircraft Edmund Schneider aircraft

Variants

Specifications (Baby IIb)

See also

References

Further reading

External links