Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH is a glider

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

based in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (, ; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter (Neckar), Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It i ...

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 ...

History

Martin Schempp founded his own company in

Göppingen Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

in 1935, with the assistance of

Wolf Hirth Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (28 February 1900 – 25 July 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.Segelflugbildkalendar 2011 Hirth was born in Stuttgar ...

. The company was initially called "Sportflugzeugbau Göppingen Martin Schempp". In 1938, Wolf Hirth, mainly responsible for the design work, officially became a partner in the company, which then became "Sportflugzeugbau Schempp-Hirth". The company relocated to

the same year. The company's first product was the Göppingen Gö 1 ''Wolf'' glider, conceived as a rival to the ubiquitous Grunau Baby, but real success came with the Göppingen Gö 3 ''Minimoa'' the same year. During

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 ...

, the company built

DFS Habicht The DFS ''Habicht'' (German: "Hawk") is an unlimited aerobatic sailplane that was designed in 1936 by Hans Jacobs with support provided by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug. Four planes were made available for the Olympic Games of ...

training gliders, as well as tailplane assemblies for the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

. The company also built a research aircraft, the Göppingen Gö 9 to investigate

Claude Dornier Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a Franco-German airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boat, for decades the world's la ...

's rear-mounted " pusher" propeller plans. With its cruciform tail, this aircraft was to be a stepping-stone towards the revolutionary

Dornier Do 335 The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' (Arrow) is a heavy fighter built by Dornier for Germany during World War II. The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other twin-engine designs due to its unusual push-pull configuration and the l ...

''Pfeil''. After the war, forbidden by the allied occupation from building aircraft, the company manufactured beds, wheelbarrows, radio cabinets, and other furniture. In 1951, the prohibitions were lifted and the company returned to sailplane building. Wolf Hirth died in 1959 but it was not until 1964 that Martin Schempp found a new designer:

Klaus Holighaus __NOTOC__ Klaus Holighaus (14 July 1940 – 9 August 1994) was a Glider (sailplane), glider designer, gliding, glider pilot and entrepreneur.Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

Technical University, where he was a member of its

Akaflieg Akaflieg is an abbreviation for ''Akademische Fliegergruppe'', groups of aeronautical engineering students from individual German universities of technology and Technische Hochschulen, pre and postwar, who design aircraft, often gliders. Histor ...

. Holighaus was also an excellent pilot and became a regular member of the German gliding team. Additional technical expertise was recruited in 1970 and Holighaus became Chief Executive in 1972. From 1977 Holighaus was the sole owner of the business. After Holighaus's death in a gliding accident in 1994, control of the company passed to his widow and sons, all of whom are keen glider pilots. It employs about 100 people, and is currently managed by Tilo Holighaus and Brigitte Holighaus. The company has often sub-contracted work, and has issued licences for other companies to build its designs.

Aircraft produced

Schempp-Hirth aircraft include: * Göppingen Gö 1 ''Wolf'' sailplane, 1935 *

Göppingen Gö 2 Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace of football player Jü ...

improved Grunau 8, 1935 * Göppingen Gö 3 ''Minimoa'' sailplane, 1936 *

Göppingen Gö 4 The Göppingen Gö 4 or Goevier is a German sailplane of the late 1930s used for training pilots. Its most notable features include side-by-side seating and dual controls, making the plane ideal for use as a trainer. It boasted average performan ...

two-seat sailplane, 1938 *

Göppingen Gö 5 Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace of football player Jü ...

Hütter H 17 sailplane, 1938 *

Göppingen Gö 6 Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the Goeppingen (district), district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace ...

''Minimoa Mo 2a'' two-seat sailplane, 1937 *

Göppingen Gö 7 Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace of football player Jü ...

two-seat sport aeroplane (not built) *

Göppingen Gö 8 The Göppingen Gö 8 was a 1/5 scale model of the Dornier Do 214, a large projected trans-atlantic long-range flying boat, designed by Dornier Werke GmbH in Germany during World War II. The Gö 8 was used primarily to validate the hydro-dynamic ...

scale model test airframe for

Dornier Do 214 The Dornier Do 214 was a proposed large long-range flying boat, developed by Dornier in World War II. Development Originally designed as the Do P.93 for passenger transatlantic service from Lisbon to New York, the Do 214 was redesigned as th ...

, 1939 * Göppingen Gö 9 development aircraft for

''Pfeil'', 1941 *

Standard Austria The Standard Austria was a single-seat aerobatic glider that was originally designed and built in Austria from 1959 but production was moved in 1962 to Schempp-Hirth in Germany. Development Commissioned by the ''Österreichischer Aeroclub'' � ...

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 ...

* Cirrus *

Standard Cirrus The Standard Cirrus is a FAI Standard Class, Standard-class Glider (sailplane), glider built in Germany by Schempp-Hirth. The Standard Cirrus was produced between 1969 and 1985, when the Schempp-Hirth Discus, Discus replaced it. Over 800 examp ...

* Discus * Discus-2 * Ventus * Ventus-2 * Ventus 3 * Nimbus * Nimbus-2 * Nimbus-3 * Nimbus-4 * Mini-Nimbus *

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

* Duo Discus * Arcus *

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is ...

References

*''Segelflugzeuge vom Wolf zum Discus'', Peter F Selinger, Motor Buch Verlag 1989

External links

Schempp-Hirth company website
{{Authority control Aircraft manufacturers of Germany Glider manufacturers