Grulich S.1
| Grulich S.1 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Training and sports aircraft |
| National origin | Germany |
| Designer | Karl Grulich |
| First flight | 1925 |
| Retired | Deutsche Aero-Lloyd |
| Status | 1932 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Grulich S.1 was a German parasol monoplane with a cantilever wing, built in the mid 1920s. It seated two and offered a choice between two engines.
Design and development[edit]
The Grulich S.1 was designed by Dr. Ing. Karl Grulich, an engineer associated with Gothaer Waggonfabrik, the company which had produced the Gotha series of bombers in World War I.[1] Before the war he had designed and flown the Harlan monoplane and post-war was also associated with Deutsche Aero-Lloyd,[2] a German airline that by January 1926 had merged with Junkers Luftverkehr into Deutsche Luft Hansa.[3]
Its cantilever wing was straight-tapered, with no sweep on the leading edges, and with long, curved tips. It was built around two spars and was very thick centrally but thinned outwards; there was no dihedral on the upper surface but the thinning produced significant overall dihedral. Tapered ailerons filled about half the span. The wing was mounted over the fuselage on a cabane of four sloping metal struts to the front spar and another six to the rear.[1]
The S.1 was designed to be powered by one of two Siemens-Halske radial engines, a seven-cylinder 60 kW (80 hp) Sh 5 or a nine-cylinder 75 kW (100 hp) Sh 6, mounted in the nose under a cowling which left the cylinders exposed for cooling. Its fuel tank was in the wing.[1]
Behind the engine the fuselage had a tapering, rectangular section. There were two open cockpits in tandem, fitted with dual controls. Both were under the wing, though there was a small cut-out in the trailing edge over the rear position. The empennage was conventional, with a slightly rounded fin and deep rectangular rudder. A large area tailplane was mounted on top of the fuselage, with split elevators to allow rudder movement.
The S.1 had conventional, fixed landing gear. Metal V-form landing legs from each side of the lower fuselage, strut-reinforced laterally, carried a single axle attached via rubber chord shock absorbers. The mainwheels were well outboard of the V-struts, giving a track of 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in).[1]
The exact date of the S.1's first flight is not known; it was complete by mid-1925 but may have flown earlier.[1] It was registered as D-584 in that year, given the name Hessen and owned initially by Deutsche Aero-Lloyd. Later used by Hessiche Flugbetriebs from Darmstadt, its registration was cancelled in 1932.[4]
Operators[edit]
- Deutsche Aero-Lloyd
- Hessiche Flugbetriebs
Specifications (Sh.5 engine)[edit]
Data from Les Ailes. June 1926[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Capacity: one passenger
- Length: 7.75 m (25 ft 5 in)
- Wingspan: 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in)
- Height: 2.46 m (8 ft 1 in)
- Wing area: 19 m2 (200 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 550 kg (1,213 lb)
- Gross weight: 800 kg (1,764 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Siemens-Halske Sh 5 7-cylinder radial, 60 kW (80 hp) at 1,500 rpm
- Propellers: 2-bladed
Performance
- Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn)
- Stall speed: 70 km/h (43 mph, 38 kn) minimum speed
- Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
- Time to altitude: 12 min to 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
- Take-off distance: 135 m (443 ft)
- Landing distance: 100 m (330 ft)
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Serryer, J. (10 June 1926). "Le "parasol" Grulich S.1". Les Ailes (260): 2.
- ^ Hegner, Henri (1961). Fokker - the man and the aircraft. Letchworth, England: Harborough Publications Ltd. p. 45.
- ^ Diener, Hans-Liudger; Schiefelbusch, Martin (2000). "German Commercial Air Transport until 1945". Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire. 78: 945–967.
- ^ "Golden Years of Aviation". Retrieved 28 May 2017.