The Slingsby T.29 Motor Tutor was a single-seat motor glider produced from 1948, by
Slingsby Sailplanes
Slingsby Aviation was a British aircraft manufacturer based in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded to design and build gliders and sailplanes. From the early 1930s to around 1970 it built over 50% of all British c ...
in
Kirbymoorside
Kirkbymoorside () is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district in North Yorkshire, England. It is north of York, It is also midway between Pickering and Helmsley, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. It had a populat ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
.
Design and development
Utilising the wings, struts and tail unit of the T.8 Kirby Tutor, the T.29 Motor Tutor had a new fuselage incorporating a wheeled undercarriage and the cockpit under the wing centre section. Early trials revealed resonance of the front wing struts, which was rectified by adding a vertical bracing strut up to the main spar. This modification was introduced for all Kirby Tutors to allow
aero-tow
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...
launching.
Development
Two versions of the T.29 Motor Tutor were produced, T.29A with a 25h.p.
Scott Flying Squirrel
The Scott Flying Squirrel was a motorcycle made by The Scott Motorcycle Company between 1926 and the outbreak of World War II.
Development
The ''Squirrel'' name was used for Scott motorcycles since 1921 but with the death of the founder Alfred ...
engine and the T.29B with a 40 h.p.
Aeronca JAP J.99. Both of these versions flew successfully but considerable difficulty was had certificating the aircraft with the
Air Registration Board
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include:
* Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of e ...
, which precluded production. The T.29A was exported and the T.29B crashed at Dunstable in 1964. In 1966 an additional T.29 was discovered by R.G. Boyton at Epsom in Surrey, and is stored pending restoration.
Specifications (T.29B)
See also
References
* Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1952–53''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1952.
* Ellison, N.H. ''British Gliders and Sailplanes 1922–1970''. A & C Black, 1971
* Simons, M. ''Slingsby Sailplanes''. Airlife Publishing, 1996 -
{{Slingsby aircraft
1940s British sailplanes
Motor gliders
Motor Tutor
Parasol-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1948