Sailplanes

The third of the series, ‘Sailplanes’ brings the story to the end of the 20th Century. Plastic structures became orthodox. Glass was supplemented with carbon and aramid fibres as reinforcing materials. The improved strength and accuracy of structures allowed advantage to be taken of new wing profiles. Retracting motors became more acceptable. Pilots, modellers and aviation enthusiasts will find descriptions, pictures and excellent scale drawings showing most successfully designs, and some not so successful such as tailless and variable geometry sailplanes, and some less expensive from the flourishing homebuilding scene in the USA and Australia. Champion pilots have showed how the new aircraft should be exploited. Records for distance and speeds around closed circuits were broken time and again by some of these outstanding sailplanes. Many of them are still available and it is useful to have this background information. A glimpse of the future? One example of a true solar-powered, self-launching sailplane is shown on this back cover. A fuller description is within.