The SZD-59 Acro is a single-seat glass composite

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 ...

for

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

and

cross-country flying Cross-country flying ( XC flying) is a type of distance flying which is performed in a powered aircraft on legs over a given distance and in operations between two points using navigational techniques; and an unpowered aircraft (paraglider, hang g ...

by PZL Allstar of

Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; cs, Bílsko-Bělá, german: Bielitz-Biala, szl, Bjylsko-Bjoło) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 168,319 as of December 2021, making it the 22nd largest city in Poland, and an area of . It is a ...

, Poland.Official SZD-59 Acro website
– accessed 2008-02-23Technical description of the SZD-59 Acro on SZD's website
– accessed 2008-02-23; unavailable 2008-08-06, but equivalent to
Technical description of the SZD-59 Acro on the website of the German dealer (in German)
– accessed 2008-08-06
– accessed 2008-02-23 The SZD-59 can be flown with a 13.2m span or a 15.0m span. Attaching or detaching the wing-tips takes only a few minutes. With 15m wing-tips it is a competitive Club Class glider, while it is a competitive aerobatic glider in the 13.2m configuration.

Design and certification

The SZD-59 Acro was derived from the SZD-48-3 Jantar Standard 3 in 1990–91 mainly by Jan Knapik. 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 only a slightly modified version of the one used in the Jantar Standard 3. However, the T-tail has been replaced by a cross-tail with larger

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

and the

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

of the SZD-42-2 Jantar 2. The design life is 15,000 hours, though at present it is approved for only 4,000 hours of operation. In 15m configuration, the SZD-59 is approved in the utility category of

JAR 22 The Joint Aviation Requirements (JAR) were a set of common comprehensive and detailed aviation requirement issued by the Joint Aviation Authorities, intended to minimise Type Certification problems on joint ventures, and also to facilitate the expo ...

(sailplanes) of the

Joint Aviation Authorities The Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) was an associated body of the European Civil Aviation Conference representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a number of European States who had agreed to co-operate in developing and implementin ...

, and in the 13.2m configuration it is approved according to the aerobatics category of JAR 22.

British Gliding Association The British Gliding Association (BGA) is the governing body for gliding in the United Kingdom. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 80 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members (i ...

Segelflugzeug-Kennblatt Nr.: 415 (German)
by the

Luftfahrt-Bundesamt The ''Luftfahrt-Bundesamt'' (LBA, "Federal Aviation Office") is the national civil aviation authority of Germany headquartered in Braunschweig.FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships in

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (2021). Zielona Góra has a favourable geographical position, being close to the Polish-German border and on several international road ...

. Twelve Acros were built by PZL-Bielsko until the production stopped in 1996 due to economic problems. Allstar PZL Glider Sp. z o.o. in

(Poland) restarted production of the SZD-59 Acros in 2004. Currently, it is the only ''unlimited'' glider in serial production.

Soaring

With a handicap factor of 100, according to the 2008 handicap list of the Deutscher Aero Club e.V.,2008 DAeC Handicap list
– accessed 2008-02-23 the SZD-59 in 15m-configuration is a typical Club Class glider. With 15m wing-tips with or without

winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

glide performance can be enhanced by increasing its

wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...

with up to 150 litres of water ballast, but water ballast is not allowed in the 13.2m configuration.Flight handbook of the SZD-59 Acro

Aerobatics

In the 13.2m configuration, the SZD-59 is certified for unlimited aerobatics, whereas with the 15m wing-tips only basic

aerobatic maneuver Aerobatic maneuvers are flight paths putting aircraft in unusual attitudes, in air shows, dogfights or competition aerobatics. Aerobatics can be performed by a single aircraft or in formation with several others. Nearly all aircraft are capab ...

s (looping, turn, chandelle, spin) are permitted. While international aerobatic championships in the unlimited category are dominated by

Swift S-1 The Swift S-1 is a single seat aerobatic glider manufactured by Polish company Swift Ltd. Design and development Edward Margański, Jerzy Cisowski and Jerzy Makula developed the Swift at Bielsko-Biała from the SZD-21-2b Kobuz 3. The prototyp ...

and

MDM-1 Fox The MDM MDM-1 Fox is a Polish, composite mid-wing two-seater aerobatic glider with fixed undercarriage and conventional tail unit. This sailplane was first displayed at the World Glider Aerobatic Championships in Venlo, Netherlands, 1993, whe ...

, FAI

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and European Glider Aerobatic Championships – accessed 2008-08-05 pilots have competed successfully with SZD-59 Acros in national and regional championships. Recently, Wolfgang Kasper placed 4th in the German Nationals 2008.Results of the German Glider Aerobatic Championships 2008 (unlimited)
– accessed 2008-08-02

Specifications in utility configuration

*Maneuver speed: 200 km/h *Water ballast: 150l *Wing loading range: 31.00-50.70 kg/m² ^* at 540 kg
^** at 97 km/h

Specifications in aerobatic configuration

*Maneuver speed: 200 km/h *Water ballast: 0l *Wing loading range: 33.7-38.8 kg/m²calculated from data i
Datasheet of the SZD-59 Acro on the SZD-Website
– accessed 2008-02-23 – assuming a pilot weight of 55kg and 10kg trim weight ^* at 380 kg
^** at 80 km/h

References

{{Polish gliders 1990s Polish sailplanes SZD59 Aircraft first flown in 1991 Glider aircraft SZD aircraft

Design and certification

Soaring

Aerobatics

Specifications in utility configuration

Specifications in aerobatic configuration

See also

Comparable aerobatic gliders

Gliders with comparable cross-country performance

References