The Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2 is a
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 ...
produced by
Schempp-Hirth
Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH is a glider manufacturer based in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany.
History
Martin Schempp founded his own company in Göppingen in 1935, with the assistance of Wolf Hirth.
The company was initially called "Sportfl ...
since 1994. It replaced the highly successful
Schempp-Hirth Ventus
The Schempp-Hirth Ventus is a sailplane produced during 1980–1994 by Schempp-Hirth, a German sailplane manufacturer. It was designed by Klaus Holighaus and replaced the Schempp-Hirth Mini-Nimbus. Schempp-Hirth manufactured 613 Ventus sailp ...
.
Design and development
The Ventus-2a and 2b are 15 metre sailplanes. The 'a' version has a narrow fuselage and the wider fuselage version is called the 2b.
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' ...
are used with these models. The 18 metre span Ventus-2c was introduced in 1995 and was almost an entirely different aircraft with a different fuselage and wings, but it has the option of shorter tips with winglets to fly as a 15-metre sailplane.
From 2003 the
Schempp-Hirth Discus-2
The Schempp-Hirth Discus-2 is a Standard Class sailplane produced by Schempp-Hirth since 1998. It replaced the highly successful Schempp-Hirth Discus.
Design and development
In plan view the almost crescent shape of the leading edge is si ...
fuselage was used for all versions, which now have the designations 2ax, 2bx and 2cx. Flight tests in 1996 showed that the 15 metre version had a glide angle of 46:1 but only after considerable work on sealing gaps and by using
turbulator
A turbulator is a device that turns a laminar boundary layer into a turbulent boundary layer.
Device
Turbulent flow can be desired on parts of the surface of an aircraft wing ( airfoil) or in industrial applications such as heat exchangers and ...
s.
The narrow fuselage Ventus-2a has been highly successful in
competitions
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
with consecutive
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
wins from 1995 to 2003. A narrow fuselage version with an 18-metre span, the Ventus 2cxa has also been built.
Some Ventus-2c and 2cx are fitted with small
Solo 2350
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Comics
* ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series
* Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics
Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ' ...
sustaining engines (turbos) and are designated with a T suffix, while some are self-launching with a more powerful
Solo 2625
The Solo 2625 is a series of German aircraft engines, designed and produced by Solo Vertriebs- und Entwicklungs GmbH of Fellbach for use in ultralight aircraft, self-launching sailplanes and homebuilt aircraft.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et a ...
and have the suffix 'M'. The 2cT climbs at up to 0.9 m/s (177 ft/min) and the 2cM at over 3 m/s (590 ft/min). Ranges for the powered versions in saw-tooth operation are and respectively. The 2cxa has been designed to take a jet engine. A small number of Ventus 2 were fitted with the
front electric sustainer
Front electric sustainer (FES) is a propulsion system for gliders that uses an electric motor powered by batteries and a foldable propeller. It is produced by LZ Design d.o.o. in Logatec, Slovenia.
The system uses a 22 kW compact outrunner ...
.
Production of the 2a and 2b has reached 168 aircraft, while the 2c, 2cT, and 2CM have reached 459.
A replacement model, the
Ventus 3, first flew on 29 January 2016 and serial production started in April 2016.
Specifications (Ventus-2cx with 15 metre wings)
See also
References
Specifications of Schempp-Hirth gliders
{{Italian military aircraft
Ventus-2
1990s German sailplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1994
Electric aircraft
T-tail aircraft
Motor gliders