The Akaflieg Stuttgart fs29 TF ''Stadt Stuttgart'' is a glider designed and built in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
from 1972.
Development
The fs29 was designed and built to research the telescopic variable span wing.
With the wing at full extension the fs29 could thermal successfully in very weak conditions and land safely in small spaces, conversely with the wing fully retracted the fs29 could cruise between lift at higher speeds, improving performance in distance/speed competitions, as well as perform aerobatics to higher load factors with faster control response.
Construction of the fs29 was as follows:-
*Inner wing:
** Spar: Carbon Fibre Epoxy.
** Skin: Glassfibre Re-inforced Epoxy + Foam Sandwich.
*Outer wing:
** Rectangular section: Carbon Fibre Epoxy Skin.
** Trapezoidal Section: Glassfibre Re-inforced Epoxy + Foam Sandwich.
*Fuselage Structure: Welded steel tubing.
*Cockpit: Glassfibre Re-inforced Epoxy + Foam Sandwich .
*Tail Boom Skin: Aluminum Alloy.
*Tail Unit: Glassfibre Re-inforced Epoxy + Foam Sandwich (derived from the tail of the
Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-2).
Extension and retraction of the outer wings was made by a screw jacks and nuts operated by the pilot pumping a handle via two-way free-wheel mechanisms, toothed belts and torque shafts which pulled or pushed the outer wings over the inner wings as required. The gap between the inside of the outer wing and the skin of the inner wing could be as much as 3mm without causing excess drag or affecting the flying qualities.
The fs29 was demonstrated in flight at the 1996 ILA airshow at
Berlin Tempelhof Airport
Berlin Tempelhof Airport (german: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) was one of the first airports in Berlin, Germany. Situated in the south-central Berlin borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, the airport ceased operating in 2008 amid controversy, lea ...
, along with the
Akaflieg Braunschweig SB-10 Akaflieg is an abbreviation for ''Akademische Fliegergruppe'', groups of aeronautical engineering students from individual German Technical Universities, pre and postwar, who design aircraft, often gliders.
History
Otto Lilienthal published his b ...
and
SB-13.
The sole fs29 was damaged in an accident during the summer of 1997, but is being re-built; meanwhile the fs29 can be seen at the
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
.
Specifications
See also
References
*https://akaflieg-stuttgart.de/en/projects/fs29-telescope-wing/
*
External links
Akaflieg Stuttgart websitewww.sailplanedirectory.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akaflieg Stuttgart Fs-29
Glider aircraft
1970s German sailplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1975
T-tail aircraft
Akaflieg Stuttgart aircraft