The Glasflügel 401 "Kestrel" is a
glider that was developed in 1968 for the
open class. It has a
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
of 17 metres. It is named after the
kestrel
The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
bird.
History
Between 1968 and 1975 Glasflügel built 129 ''Kestrels''.
The British company
Slingsby Slingsby may refer to:
People
* Slingsby (surname)
* Slingsby Baronets
Places
* Slingsby, North Yorkshire
* Slingsby Channel, a strait in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada
Other uses
* Slingsby ...
built the ''Kestrel'' under license as the T59 and T59B. The T59B has a wingspan of 19 metres and was developed for the 1970
World Gliding Championships
The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competitions, gliding competition held roughly every two years by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are always held in the sum ...
.
On 18 May 2005, Gordon Boettger flew 2061 km in his ''Kestrel'' in
lee waves
In meteorology, lee waves are Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric stationary waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, :de:Hans_Deutschmann ...
along the
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...
in the USA.
FAI 2000 km Flight Register
Retrieved 2012-01-02
Specifications
See also
Notes
References
* Flight Manual
* ''Die Entwicklung der Kunststoffsegelflugzeuge'', Dietmar Geistmann, Motorbuchverlag,
Sailplane Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasflugel 401
1960s German sailplanes
Glasflügel aircraft
T-tail aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1968