Swiss Civil Aircraft 1960-1969 - Swiss Civil Utility Aircraft 1960-1969, Swiss Sailplanes 1960-1969, Swiss Sport Aircraft 1960-1969, Neukom Elfe (Paperback)

Chapters: Swiss Civil Utility Aircraft 1960-1969, Swiss Sailplanes 1960-1969, Swiss Sport Aircraft 1960-1969, Neukom Elfe, Pilatus Pc-11, Dtwyler Trailer, Brgger Colibri, Berger Bx-50. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 22. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Neukom Elfe is family of Swiss single-seat high-performance sailplane designs. The aircraft is a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane with a wing made from a balsa and plywood sandwich covered in fiberglass and a fuselage built from plywood. The first Elfe was a 9 metre wingspan glider that was designed by Swiss designer W. Pfenninger before World War II. A new design was introduced by Pfenninger in 1947 and was named the Elfe 2. This was probably the first sailplane to feature a laminar flow airfoil. It crashed due to rudder flutter The Elfe series was then taken over, improved and strengthened by the Swiss engineer Markwalder into a third prototype, called the Elfe PM-3. The sole PM-3's construction was started in one factory, but finished in another. It was first flown in 1955 and then went into storage for three years. The aircraft is built from Swiss pine and birch plywood and has a 52.5 foot wingspan. The PM-3 has dive brakes and full-span flaps with aileron interconnects to the flaps. It originally had fixed landing gear, but has been retrofitted with retractable mainwheel. It was retrieved from storage and flown in Europe by Rene Compte who brought it to compete in the U.S. Nationals at El Mirage, Arizona held in 1962. After the US Nationals the aircraft was not returned to Europe, but was sold, remained in the USA and registered as N6351U in the Experimental - Exhibition/Racing category. In 1999 the PM-3 was sold again and moved to the United Kingdom. Compte originally reported the glider as being very pleasant to fl...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19192200