NAME OF THE Antonov A-7 Glider

GLDER
The A-7 was an assault glider that was for a time obscure to Western
observers and historians. It was an important Soviet glider and as
such deserves its place in history. The A-7 was announced in
December 1940 in a design competition for an assault glider. Also,
known as the RF-8 in the Red Front series of gliders for the Soviet
Air Force, it was designed by Oleg K. Antonov and after it was
declared the winner of a design for military transport gliders it
became the prototype for the subsequent A-7. The A-7 was to be the
first Soviet transport glider to achieve production status. The
assembly plant was in Kaunas (before the German occupation) and
flying tests were conducted in Moscow in late summer 1941.
Production commenced elsewhere and some 400 such gliders were
eventually built making it the largest number of any Soviet wartime
transport glider.

The A-7 was a remarkable clean design, all-wood construction with

partial fabric covering on wing areas and tail-planes. The core of
HISTORY the structure was the fuselage, which was almost of the pod and
boom type with an enclosed cockpit and accommodation for a
maximum of 9 troops in virtually windowless compartment. There
were two pairs of double doors; one was forward on the port side
and the other aft on starboard side. The tailskid landing gear
included manually operated retractable main units, stowed in wells
in the lower fuselage sides.

The standard tug was the Tupolev SB-2, Ilyushin DB3 or the Il-4.
The maximum towing speed was a high 300Km/h. The A-7 saw
limited service behind German lines in WWII and was used
primarily to supply or land partisans or sabotage groups. Its best
known action was the supply flights to the Kalinin front. From
March 6th to 20th 1943 some 96 missions were flown to the
partisan area-with no losses recorded.

WHEN DOES IT USE March 6th to 20th 1943

USED BY WHOM Soviet Air Force
PURPOSE OF THE Military
GLIDER
Crew 1
Length 10.54 m (34 ft 7 in)
GENERAL Wingspan 18 m (59 ft 1 in)
CHARACTERISTICS Height 1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Wing Area 23.2 m2 (250 sq ft)
Empty Weight 955 kg (2,105 lb)
Gross Weight 1,760 kg (3,880 lb)
Max takeoff weight 1,875 kg (4,134 lb)
 NAME OF THE Slingsby Skylark 4
GLDER
The Slingsby T.50 Skylark 4 was a British single seat competition
glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes in the early 1960s. It sold in
numbers and had success at national, though not world level
competition.

The Slingsby Skylark 4 is the final development of the Skylark

HISTORY series of gliders and was first manufactured and used in 1961 using
a wing similar to that of the Skylark 3. About 30 Skylark 4s are still
flying today (2010). Slingsby had introduced double curvature
fuselage panels made of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) into their
previous design, the T.49 Capstan and they remodelled the front of
the wooden fuselage of the Skylark 3 in this material for the Skylark
4, introducing a reclining pilot's position and smoother canopy line.
Though the previous wing planform, span and area was retained, its
ailerons were extended to increase the rate of roll and the outer
panels used a different aerofoil section, the more cambered NACA
6415, to give a better lift distribution.

WHEN DOES IT USE February 1961

USED BY WHOM Competitors
PURPOSE OF THE Competition sailplane
GLIDER
Crew 1
Length 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m)
GENERAL Wingspan 59 ft 9 in (18.2 m)
CHARACTERISTICS Height 3 ft 5 in (1.04 m) at cockpit
Wing Area 173.0 sq ft (16.07 m2)
Aspect Ratio 20.5
Airfoil NACA 633-620 inboard and NACA 6415 at tips
Empty Weight 569 lb (258 kg)
Gross Weight 829 lb (376 kg)
 NAME OF THE DG400 Air-sail Glider
GLDER

The Glaser-Dirks DG-400 is a single-seat self-launching

motorglider that was produced by Glaser-Dirks between 1981 and
1990. It was the first self-launching motorglider with retractable
engine and propeller to be produced in large numbers.

The cost of carbon-fibre had fallen enough in the late 1970s to allow
its use in the wing spars of high-performance gliders. Glaser-Dirks
introduced a carbon wing variant of the DG-200 about this time.
Designer Wilhelm Dirks realised that the span, strength and very
HISTORY low weight of this wing allowed for a self-launching engine to be
carried in the glider without an unacceptable penalty when soaring
in weak conditions. The DG-400 was created as a result. It first flew
in May 1981.

The DG-400 uses the wings and most systems of the DG-202. It has
a modified fuselage with a slightly enlarged tailcone and carbon
fibre reinforcements to accommodate the engine, which is a
relatively large unit with electric starter and electric retraction. This
powerful installation, with a user-friendly engine control unit, made
the DG-400 easier to operate than other self-launching gliders.

As was typical for the time, the engine, propeller and supporting
pylon constitute a single unit that extends into the airflow (in more
recent self-launchers the engine usually stays inside the fuselage).
The type may be flown either with 15 metre or 17 metre wingtips.
The DG-400 was not aimed at competitions, but rather at leisure
flying. Nevertheless, several World Gliding Records have been
achieved flying this type

WHEN DOES IT USE May 1981

USED BY WHOM

PURPOSE OF THE
GLIDER
 Crew 1
Length 7 m (23 ft 0 in)
GENERAL Wingspan 17 m (55 ft 9 in)
CHARACTERISTICS Height 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in)
Wing Area 10.57 m2 (113.8 sq ft)
Aspect Ratio 27.3
Airfoil Root Wortmann FX-67-K-170-17
Tip Wortmann FX-60-K-126
Empty Weight 305 kg (672 lb)
Max takeoff 460 kg (1,014 lb)
weight
Propeller 2-bladed Hoffman fixed pitch propeller, 1.29 m
(4 ft 3 in) diameter