In Germany there's a hill named Wasserkuppe that most glider enthusiasts have heard about and it was there, just after WWI ended, the first glider meet was held. Most of the competitors brought hang gliders they were developing - most of those being somewhat less than workable.

Bad weather ruined the last few days of August so the meeting was extended for another week. Belatedly, from the Technical University of Aachen, came the FVA - 1 Schwarzer Teufel or in the dialect form Schwatze Duvel, the Black Devil. The name Schwatze Duvel was a natural choice, for in ancient myth, Aachem was plagued by a monster of this name.

It had been built by members of the Flugwissenschaftlichen Vereinigung Aachen, FVA) a student club, one of the academic flying groups or 'Akafliegs' which were to play, and still play, a crucial role in the development of soaring. Wolfgang Klemperer, who at the beginning with Meyer had formulated the idea of the gliding contest, was now a lecturer at Aachen Tech under the outstanding Professor Von Karman.


Klemperer designed the FVA 1, a simple monoplane with cantilever wings and orthodox controls, elevator, rudder and ailerons, lightly built but stressed properly and braced internally to withstand high air and landing loads. It was covered in a light, black muslin fabric donated by the girl friend of a student, whose father owned a textile shop. Some cardboard was used to stiffen the covering along the wing leading edges and fuselage nose, the group having insufficient money for aircraft quality plywood.

When the weather cleared on 3rd September 1920, Klemperer made three successful glides. For the first time a rubber bungee was used for the launches. The third flight duration was 2 minutes, 22 seconds, ending near a village in the valley, 1830 meters from the start. Pelzner's best effort was far exceeded. Bad weather returned but on September 7th Klemperer succeeded in gaining about 30 meters height after launching into a wind of 30 knots, hovering for a minute or so before gliding down to land. Two more flights were made by other FVA pilots, ending in a spectacular stall and crash. This effectively ended the first Rhon competition.

There was no question that the FVA - 1 had won but Pelzner's hang gliding gained him second prize. Despite the poor results, the second Rhon meeting began on August 10th 1921, Willy Pelzner and a new hang glider making the first flight. Some forty-five entries had been received but only a couple of dozen gliders arrived. Several of these were quite un airworthy but there were six hang gliders and five apparently more promising aircraft. Klemperer and the Aachen group came with the Schwatze Duvel repaired and a new glider, the Blaue Maus (Blue Mouse).

For many of the German enthusiasts, soaring was no more than a legal way into the air that would enable them to improve their skills, ready for powered flight when the Versailles bans were lifted. This happened in 1924. Light powered airplanes were allowed in Germany again and, for many, the need for gliding disappeared. The movement went through a bad period as many of the experienced pilots and engineers moved on.

For others, especially the young, soaring was a new sport, offering adventures and experiences of an entirely new and different kind from powered flying, and less expensive. For students and staff in technical colleges and universities this was also a way of learning, experimenting and, in a practical way, improving the efficiency of aircraft at minimal expense. An airplane might be made to fly faster or climb better by using a more powerful engine. For a sailplane, the only way to improve performance was to refine the aerodynamics and structure. This was the way forward.

(Instructions above) Specifications Wing Span: 31' 10" Length 18' 5": Wing area: 147 ft sq Empty Weight :117 lbs Glide Ratio: N/A Sink rate: N/A Armament: none