Zögling Primary Glider - $$4.95
Sydney Button built his Zogling Primary Glider and test flew it in 1941 on the paddocks at Matraville, right next to Mascot Airport. He taught himself to fly by getting a friend to operate his Essex car which had the back wheel jacked up and fitted with a drum full of wire.
Zögling Primary Glider
FREE DOWNLOAD coming soon
Very Similar to our Zögling Primary glider, the Slingsby T.38 'Grasshopper'(above) is a primary glider intended, as the name suggests, to give basic training through short 'hops' on airfields or school playing fields. It was based on a pre-war German design but used the wings of the Slingsby Cadet MkI and was designed to be easily dismantled for storage. It was launched by a V shaped elastic rope pulled by teams of cadets.
The Grasshopper was used by ATC Squadrons and RAF from 1952 to
the late 1980s and many cadets made their first, somewhat brief,
solo flights in these gliders.
You have no idea how that glider has answered
several questions for me! I'm modeling for Flight Simulator
an "Affordaplane", which is a home built. (http://www.affordaplane.com/)
..Felix Rodriguez
Thanks a lot Chip for just another beautiful model! My father was making his first flights in a Zögling...
Looking forward to your next models. Matthias
Zögling Primary Glider
From Wikipedia)..
The Primary Glider is a simple type of aircraft that enjoyed worldwide
popularity during the 1920s and 1930s as people strove for simple
and inexpensive ways to learn to fly.
Constructed of wood, metal cables and cloth, they were very light and easy to fly. They generally had no cockpit, no instruments and were only flown very close to the ground after being towed by a car or group of people running down a hill.
Today, para gliders are light years ahead of our Zögling primary
glider however, nostalgic enthusiasts, are still building primary
gliders. While they are much like the originals in appearance,
they are usually constructed with composites and safety enhancements.
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A personal side comment:
Back in 1952, as a sophomore in high school, yours truly had to
choose wood shop project and building a 34ft span primary glider
was mine. Having access to the shop and all those wood and metal
working tools after school was perfect and the actual glider was
put together in our barn at home. I worked on it for two years
finishing it less the covering.. It was stored hanging from the
beams for the 4 years I went to University and sadly it was too
dried out to cover and legally fly. In hindsight, the odds of
getting hurt leaning to fly with it were very real indeed so perhaps
it was a blessing.
Come to think of it, there were NO HILLS for hundreds of miles around and, having only two pals (total !), I might have been able to taxi at best {G}..chip
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A Zögling Primary Glider takes off from a grassy hillside in Germany where gliding enjoyed a rebirth because of the restrictions and limitations of the Versailles Treaty |
Because of the strut in front of the student pilot, this version of the Primary Glider was dubbed the 'Skull Crusher' It was phased out early in the 1920s in favor for the Zögling type glider with a clear frontal area. There are a couple more images of this early primary glider below. |
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 Grunau Baby diving to pick up a little airspeed. |