The I.Ae.41 Urubú was a two-seat

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

tailless

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

, built in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) in the 1950s.

History

In 1951 some airclubs requested from the Department of Aeronautics (Secretaría de Aeronáutica) that a side-by-side two-seater sports glider should be built. Its development was assigned to the Instituto Aerotécnico (I.Ae.), in Cordoba. The design team was led by Professor

Reimar Horten Walter Horten (born 13 November 1913 in Bonn; died 9 December 1998 in Baden-Baden, Germany) and Reimar Horten (born 12 March 1915 in Bonn; died 14 March 1994 in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina), sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were G ...

, who was a pioneer in the design of tailless flying wing planes. His project H.XVc was submitted to the Department of Aeronautics, and was assigned the denomination I.Ae.41 "Urubú" (meaning "owl" in

mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

). Production at the FMA was limited to five planes, and the first flight was in 1953. In September 1956, after a proposal from the "Dirección de Fomento de la Aviación Civil" (Civil Aviation Directorate), a crossing of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Mountain Range ("Cordillera de los Andes") with sailplanes was attempted. The gliders chosen were the I.Ae.41 Urubú, towed by a Morane-Saulnier, and a Slingsby Sky glider, towed by a Stearman Aircraft, Stearman. Pilots Hans Scheidhauer (Urubú) and Claudio Dori (Sky) flew from San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina) to Paraje Ensenada (Chile). The flight lasted three hours, crossing over: Cerro Otto, Cerro Catedral, the Tristeza branch of Nahuel Huapi lake, Puerto Blest, Cerro Tornador, Laguna Fría, Lanín Volcano, Cerro El Puntiagudo and Cerro Osorno.

Description

The I.Ae 41 was a wooden aircraft, similar in general to the preceding I.Ae. 34 Clen Antú but with a spacious twin-seat side-by-side cockpit. Its design incorporated lessons learnt from its predecessor and it had improved aerodynamics, showing better handling in turbulent conditions. Its tandem landing gear had more efficient shock absorbers.

Surviving aircraft

A surviving aircraft has been restored, and is displayed at the Argentine Air Force’s Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina, located at Morón Airport and Air Base, Morón Airport.

Specifications (I.Ae. 41)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Burzaco, Ricardo. "Las Alas de Perón, Aeronáutica Argentina 1945/1960", 1995, Editorial Da Vinci. *

External links