The Vogt Lo-170 is a
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
high-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
,
FAI Open Class
Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of:
* t ...
single seat
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 ...
that was designed by
Alfred Vogt Alfred Vogt (31 October 1879 – 10 December 1943) was a Swiss ophthalmologist, known for his development of techniques for retinoscopy and the surgical management of retinal detachment.
Alfred Vogt received his doctorate from the University of ...
.
Design and development
The development of the Lo-170 was started in 1960. It was intended as a modern wingspan cross country sailplane for production 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 ...
.
The forward
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 ...
was built from welded steel tube, surrounded by a fibreglass skin. The wing was built from
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
in a negative mold and then covered with fibreglass. The wing uses a Wortmann FX 61-184
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
.
Schempp-Hirth decided to produce the
Schempp-Hirth Standard Austria and its
FAI Open Class
Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of:
* t ...
variant
Schempp-Hirth SHK
The Schempp-Hirth SHK Open Class glider was developed in Germany by Schempp-Hirth. It was based on the 1964 version of the Standard Austria, known as the SH. The Austria was originally a single-seat aerobatic glider that had been designed and ...
instead and as a result only one Lo-170 was produced.
Operational history
The aircraft was converted to a
motor glider
A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...
in 1972, with two wing-mounted engines. Plans included increasing the span to .
Specifications (Lo-170)
See also
References
External links
Lo-170 photos
1960s German sailplanes
Glider aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1968
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