The Neukom Elfe is family of Swiss single-seat high-performance

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. Sailpla ...

designs. The aircraft is a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane with a wing made from a

balsa ''Ochroma pyramidale'', commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus ''Ochroma''. The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name ''balsa'' being ...

and plywood sandwich covered in

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and a

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 aircraf ...

built from plywood.

Design and development

Elfe and Elfe 2

The first Elfe was a 9-metre wingspan glider that was designed by Swiss designer W. Pfenninger before World War II. A new design was introduced by Pfenninger in 1947 and was named the Elfe 2. This was probably the first sailplane to feature a laminar flow airfoil. It crashed due to rudder flutter

PM-3

The Elfe series was then taken over, improved and strengthened by the Swiss engineer Markwalder into a third prototype, called the Elfe PM-3.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 79. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. USPS 499–920 The sole PM-3's construction was started in one factory, but finished in another. It was first flown in 1955 and then went into storage for three years. The aircraft is built from Swiss pine and birch plywood and has a 52.5 foot wingspan. The PM-3 has dive brakes and full-span flaps with aileron interconnects to the flaps. It originally had fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

, but has been retrofitted with retractable mainwheel. It was retrieved from storage and flown in Europe by Rene Compte who brought it to compete in the U.S. Nationals at

El Mirage, Arizona El Mirage is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 35,805, up from 31,797 in 2010. History The Hohokam Native American tribe were the earliest inhabitants of the area that is n ...

, held in 1962. After the US Nationals the aircraft was not returned to Europe, but was sold, remained in the US and registered as N6351U in the Experimental – Exhibition/Racing category. In 1999 the PM-3 was sold again and moved to the United Kingdom. Compte originally reported the glider as being very pleasant to fly, but it did not do well in weak soaring conditions. It performed well only in conditions of strong lift. The PM-3 has a glide ratio of 40:1.

Elfe M and S series

Albert Neukom then took over the design and developed the Elfe M, Elfe MN and the AN66. The next in the line was the

V-tail The V-tail or ''Vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraft ...

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

Elfe S-1, which first flew in 1964. The second prototype, the S-2, was similar to the S-1, but had a conventional tail. The S-3 was the production version of the S-2 and was first flown in 1966 and entered production that same year. It had a

cruciform tail __NOTOC__ The cruciform tail is an aircraft empennage configuration which, when viewed from the aircraft's front or rear, looks much like a cross. The usual arrangement is to have the horizontal stabilizer intersect the vertical tail somewhere ...

, trailing edge airbrakes and a retractable main wheel. In competition, a Standard Elfe that was flown by Markus Ritzi of Switzerland, placed second in the 1965

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 at

South Cerney South Cerney is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, 3 miles south of Cirencester and close to the border with Wiltshire. It had a population of 3,074 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 3,464 at the ...

, United Kingdom. United States pilot A. J. Smith finished first in the Standard Class at the 1968 World Gliding Championships held at

Leszno Leszno (german: Lissa, 1800–1918 ''Lissa in Posen'') is a historic city in western Poland, within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the seventh-largest city in the province with an estimated population of 62,200, as of 2021. Previously, it ...

, Poland in an S-3.

Variants

;Pfenninger Elfe :Pre-World War II prototype ;Pfenninger Elfe 2 :1947 prototype ;Markwalder Elfe PM-3 :1955 prototype, competed in 1962 US Nationals ;Neukom Elfe M :Early 1960s prototype ;Neukom Elfe MN-R :Early 1960s prototype ;Neukom AN-66 Super-Elfe :Early 1960s prototype ;Neukom S-1 Elfe :Sailplane with a V-tail ;Neukom S-2 Elfe :Sailplane with a conventional tail ;Neukom S-3 Standard-Elfe :Production version of the S-2 with cruciform tail ;Neukom S-4 Elfe 15 :15 m wingspan ;Neukom S-4 Elfe 17 :17 m wingspan ;IPE Elfe IV :Between 1978 and 1985, Indústria Paranaense de Estruturas built three.

Specifications (Elfe 15)

References

* *

External links

{{commons category, Neukom Elfe
Photo of Elfe S-1Photo of Elfe S-4aPhoto of Elfe 17
1960s Swiss sailplanes Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1964