The Schweizer SGS 2-25 is a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
two-seat, mid-wing, two-place competition
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 by
Schweizer Aircraft of
Elmira, New York.
The 2-25 was purpose designed to compete in the 1954
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 ...
held in
Great Hucklow
Great Hucklow (Old English ''Hucca's burial mound'') is a small village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District which nestles under Hucklow Edge between the villages of Tideswell and Bradwell. It has a population of about 100, includi ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and was also flown in the World Championships held in 1956. There was insufficient market demand to produce the aircraft and so only one example was completed.
Background
In 1954, for the first time at a World Soaring Championships, there was a class for two-place gliders. Each nation was permitted to enter two single-place gliders and one two-place.
Schweizer Aircraft supplied all the gliders for the US team: the sole
Schweizer SGS 1-23E was purpose built for
Paul MacCready
Paul B. MacCready Jr. (September 25, 1925 – August 28, 2007) was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to dev ...
, a
Schweizer SGS 1-23D for
Paul A Schweizer and the SGS 2-25 to be flown by Stan Smith and Bob Kidder. The small fleet of aircraft were all sent to the UK by ship from
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
, bound for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
.
Development
The 2-25 was a new project, a high performance two-place sailplane. Schweizer had hoped to demonstrate the glider at the world competition and then manufacture additional copies for sale.
Schweizer constructed the 2-25 over the winter of 1953-54 and had it ready to fly in the spring of 1954.
The aircraft was of all-metal construction and was the largest glider that the company had built at that time. The 2-25 has a 60-foot (18.29 m) wingspan and a gross weight of 1450 lbs (657 kg). It has triple spoilers, with two on the top and one on the bottom of each wing.
Due to the lack of orders for the design it was never certified and the sole example was flown in the "experimental" category, registered as N91892.
Competition and operations
1954 World Championships
Stan Smith and Bob Kidder flew the SGS 2-25 in the World Soaring Championships at the
Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club in
Great Hucklow
Great Hucklow (Old English ''Hucca's burial mound'') is a small village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Peak District which nestles under Hucklow Edge between the villages of Tideswell and Bradwell. It has a population of about 100, includi ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
held between July 20-August 4, 1954 and finished third out of a field of nine two-place sailplanes.
The competition was fraught with difficulties. While the US sent a full team to compete, including a manager/meteorologist and assistant manager, fund-raising for the team was not successful and most of the team members had to pay their own way to Great Britain to compete. The contest featured the worst weather recorded in over fifty years. The contest was held over 14 days, but only four days were flyable contest days, due to the rain and low cloud. Before the contest started, the competition pilots were flown over the routes in a light aircraft to gain familiarity. The ceiling and visibility were so poor that the four pilots on board got repeatedly lost on the flight.
The contest opened with two good flying days, followed by a week of rain. By the end of the second contest day, Kidder and Smith were in second place. The third contest day saw them complete the day's best flight. Unfortunately the flight was invalid as not enough other contestants finished the task to validate it.
While landing at the end of the third day, Kidder and Smith put the 2-25 into a small English field and it was damaged. The SGS 2-25 could not be stopped within the confines of the field and it collided with a heavy wooden fence at the edge of the field. A heavy fence crossbeam ended up on top of the 2-25's canopy as the sailplane slid under the fence. The fence itself did not break the canopy, but the canopy could not be opened, leaving the crew trapped in the glider. The pilots had to enlist the aid of a farmer to remove the fence beam and extract them from the aircraft.
Although slightly damaged, the 2-25 was eventually removed from the field and loaded on its trailer. When the towing vehicle had to stop for gasoline the 2-25's fin and rudder were damaged on a low-hanging petrol-filling station canopy over the pumps. This all guaranteed that the 2-25 would not fly in the contest again and it missed the final flyable day of the competition.
1955 The Jetstream Project
The SGS 2-25 was repaired at Schweizer Aircraft and put to work as part of the Jetstream Project. This was a joint
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
Cambridge Research Center and
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
Department of Meteorology research project to gain a better understanding of
Lee waves
In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric stationary waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, above ...
and was flown in the
Sierra Nevada mountains of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
.
The 2-25 proved very useful on the project and good data were gathered from many days of wave flying, including four days where flights over 40,000 feet were made. Pressure-jump waves were studied as part of the 1955 project.
1956 World Championships
The 1956 Worlds were held in
Saint-Yan
Saint-Yan is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
Geography
The Arconce forms part of the commune's southern border and the Loire part of its western border.
Climate
Educ ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and saw the SGS 2-25 flown in the two-place category, by Kemp Trager and Gene Miller. The team of Miller and Trager finished fourth in that contest, without damage to the 2-25.
USAF use
The 2-25 was later sold to George Arents Jr, who, after flying it for some years, donated it to the gliding program at the
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...
. The 2-25 served there for many years under the designation of TG-1A. This was a new series of USAF designations and the 2-25 should not be confused with the
Frankfort TG-1 of
Second World War
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 opposi ...
vintage. The Frankfort TG-1 had the same designation under an earlier military designation system. While in USAF service the 2-25 was registered as N225AF.
Museum
The 2-25 was donated to the
National Soaring Museum
The National Soaring Museum (NSM) is an aviation museum whose stated aim is to preserve the history of motorless flight. It is located on top of Harris Hill near Elmira, New York, United States.
The NSM is the Soaring Society of America's officia ...
and is now on permanent loan to the
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
at
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...
in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
.
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
records show the SGS 2-25 as "destroyed" in May 2000.
Specifications
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
{{US glider aircraft
1950s United States sailplanes
Schweizer aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1954