The Jonker JS-3 Rapture is a
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 of
glass-fibre
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 clot ...
,
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
and
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...
. It has full-span flaps and can be operated with a wingspan of either or .
The manufacturer is
Jonker Sailplanes of
Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...
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 ...
, founded in 2004 by two brothers, Attie and Uys Jonker. The structural and chief designer is Attie Jonker, while the airfoil and main aerodynamic features were developed by Johan Bosman in co-operation with the
Delft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...
.
The first flight of the JS-3 was on 12 December 2016.
Design and development
Type certification
A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
of the JS-MD 3 was achieved with
EASA
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
on 18 July 2019.
The JS3 is equipped with Tost nose and centre of gravity release hooks, retractable main undercarriage leg with elastomeric shock absorbers, and a fixed pneumatic tail wheel with an aluminium hub. A retractable tail wheel can be fitted in place of the fixed tailwheel. Provision is made to fit two 12V LiFePo 7Ah/10Ah main batteries with a fuse box in the luggage compartment's recessed battery boxes, accessible from cockpit. A goose-neck microphone is optional, as are two independent speakers for radio, with the antenna in the rudder and a navigation computer in the instrument panel.
The prototype flew in the 2017
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 ...
Variants
;JS-3 Rapture 15m:Version with wings
;JS-3 Rapture 18m:Version with wings
Specifications (JS3 - RAPTURE 18m)
See also
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://jonkersailplanes.co.za/js3-res/
Jonker Sailplanes JS3 Rapture 50th Roll-Out and Test Flight
2000s South African sailplanes
T-tail aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 2016
High-wing aircraft