The Akaflieg München Mü17 Merle is a single-place
glider aircraft
A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose gliding flight, free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although mot ...
that was designed and built in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
from 1938.
Development
The Mü17 Merle (a.k.a. 'Aerostat' or 'Kleiderbügel') is the oldest Akaflieg design still flying with the Fliegergruppe today. In 1938 the ISTUS conference issued a specification for an Olympic games Olympic glider to be used at the 1940 Olympics gliding competition. Akaflieg München designed and offered the Mü17 Merle to the committee at
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in February 1939, but it was rejected in favour of the
DFS Meise.
Two prototypes of the Mü17 Merle were built with emphasis on simple construction, straightforward handling and easy rigging and de-rigging, using automatic connections for the aileron and
airbrake controls. The plywood- and fabric-covered wooden wings are trapezoidal in plan view with swept leading edges and straight trailing edges, ailerons over the outer half of the trailing edges and
spoilers mid-chord at approx half span. Adhering to the 'Schüle München' the fuselage is a welded steel-tube space-frame with fabric covering and wooden tail surfaces, also covered in plywood and fabric. Despite failing in the Olympic selection the Mü17 Merle was put into production with around 60 units built before and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, many with variations such as retractable landing gear.
A Mü17 Merle 'Alpha Sierra' (D-1740), built in 1961, is still in use today at the Akaflieg München gliding club, where it is used as an intermediate single-seater for early single-seat and cross-country flying. The low weight and sedate performance suiting the aircraft to inexperienced pilots.
A 19m (62.3 feet) span wing was conceived for use with the Mü17 fuselage, as the Akaflieg München Mü19, gradually losing all direct connection with the Mü17 as the design evolved into a motor-glider. Construction of the prototype was not completed due to the war situation.
Variants
:Akaflieg München Mü17 – The original proposal, a single-seat 15m (49.2 feet) span Olympic glider contender. Two examples were built.
:Akaflieg München Mü19 – A 19m span version of the Mü17, not completed due to the war situation.
Specifications (Mü17 Merle)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akaflieg Munchen Mu17 Merle
1930s German sailplanes
Mu17
Aircraft first flown in 1938