Sailplanes available?

[Leif Ohlsson]

Hello Glen,

I'm so glad you looked in on me. Yes. After a period away from paper modeling, I needed something I could take with me to the common TV/living-room sofa. So I made up a little tray for basic tools, and a half-size cutting mat, for smaller scale builds.

Incidentally, building in 1/48 for me means the same kind of refocusing as it would for someone who has been used to 1/33 and now tries out "the new grey", 1/100 scale, i.e. one third of what you've been used to. The difference is like night and day. I have great difficulties adjusting, but it is a good exercise.

The gliders/sailplanes have been a really nice acquaintance, plus they make me remember how it was some 25 years ago when I learned to fly some types like the ones I've built so far. I like these period types best, in particular pre-war ones. But there aren't many paper model kits of those (although the Orlik and the Komar belong to that period, which was nice).

Even after the war there were a lot of types made in Poland, that basically could have been made already in the 1930s, since they are built up in wood, plywood and fabric covered. I have discovered that quite advanced types of that kind were designed, built and flown in the 1950s and 60s. I haven't got there yet, but I'm sure you'll agree with me once I get started on the Bocian two-seater. I have great hopes for that one, although I have to practise a bit more before tackling it.

Hope I will be able to give you reason to drop in again,

Leif

[birder]

Leif, thanks it's nice to see some models by you, must be fun to fly one of those!

[Leif Ohlsson]

For a good many years I wanted to build a model of the German Sheibe L-Spatz as a balsa model. I never go to realize that dream, but when I got introduced to paper models, I came upon the Polish SZD-15 Sroka (”Magpie”) glider, which struck me as looking a lot like the L-Spatz:



In reality, I believe the L-Spatz was a much superior glider with a best glide angle of 29:1, as compared to the 19:1 of the Sroka/Magpie. This notwithstanding, I like the Sroka, which was completely built up of wood, plywood-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings and rudders, as compared to the steel tube framework of the L-Spatz with its fabric cover. Here’s a see-through sketch of the Sroka:



The Sroka/Magpie and the L-Spatz are both of the same vintage, mid-50s. The L-Spatz flew for the first im 1954, and the Sroka/Magpie in 1956. The Sroka was designed as a single-seat trainer, which was the preferred training method of the glider training organized by the Polish military up until the late 1950s, when that regime was abandoned for two-seater training gliders, which was the method the club flyers prefered. (I hope to get back to some of those two-seaters eventually).

From the 1960s and onwards the remaining Srokas were used at club single-seaters, until replaced by higher performance club aircraft in the mid-1970s. Let’s have a look at some period photos of the Sroka/Magpie:



The two photos above are of the Sroka prototype 1957. They are of special interest to me, as they indicate that at least some Srokas came in a different livery from that seen in photos ot the two Srokas still extant in museums:



I couldn’t find an easy way to recolor the original kit model (it will have to be completely redrawn), so this first build will be of the same red hue as above.

Here are three more evocative period photos of the Sroka/Magpie as flown from a slope, bungee-launched in the classical manner:



The date is only given as ”before 1973”. Note that the glider photographed here, SP-1726, is the very same that still can be seen in the color photo above, now hanging from the roof at the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow!

Leif

Sources for the SZD-15 Sroka (”Magpie”):
• Wikipedia
• ”Polnische Segelflugzeuge präsentiert” (Piotrp.de)
• Polish period photos
• Polish Aviation Museum Krakow
• Build thread at Kartonwork (Polish). Note that the builder, Ostoja, also has presented his build here on this site.

[Don Boose]

Leif -

I missed your entry into this thread, but now that I have found it, I am fascinated to see the work you have done on 1/48 gliders.

Although you did work for many years in 1/16 scale, when I first made your acquaintance, you were building in 1/87, so I initially associated you with smaller-scale projects.

Some things haven't changed: your meticulous historical research and lavishly-illustrated posts; your clean, precise craftsmanship; your neat-as-a-pin work space; and the courteous, gracious, and thoughtful tone of your narrative.

I look forward to re-reading this most interesting and educational series of posts many times and to seeing your future posts in the forum.

Best wishes,

Don

[Leif Ohlsson]

Thank you, Don! As always, you remain my mentor - and I’m sure that is true for many, many others on this forum - in how to behave in this public area, dedicated to a common interest.

It is good of you to remember my detour into 1/87 scale. In all honesty, I did transform a lot of other people’s models (with their kind permission) into that scale, but I’m not at all sure how many of those I would have been able to build myself. It seems that editing existing kits into how I would have liked to see them was a greater interest of mine than both building and designing (which I very much would have liked to be proficient at, but alas…).

In response to your kind words about republishing historical research of these gliders, here’s another little Sroka/Magpie nugget. It is taken from Piotr Piechowski’s website ”Polnische Segeflugzeuge Präsentiert” (Introducing Polish gliders & sailplanes). It seems this is the authoritative source for Polish gliders, as witnessed by the fact that almost all Wikipedia entries on these gliders cite his site (which is published parallell in German and Polish) as the main source. On his frontpage you can see Piotr himself sitting in a motor glider. And on his page for the SZD-15 Sroka, you can read the following (I’m loosely retelling his entry with some embellishments of my own:)

It all started with the IS-B Komar (”Gnat”) glider, designed by Antoni Kocjan in the 1930s (read about Kocjan in this post, and the following). This design had been resurrected after the war and death of Kocjan. At the beginning of the 1950s it was deemed that the time was ripe for its replacement. A design competition within the glider manufacturing company SZD resulted in a design appropriately for the time of the Stalin era named ”Pioneer”.

I don’t think it was an accident that the name was changed to ”Sroka” (Magpie) shortly before the production of the prototype started. This first prototype was first flown in February 1956, so the change of name must have taken place just a year or two after Stalin’s death 1953. I haven’t seen any reference to this elsewhere, and yet I think it says a lot about the change of atmosphere in a country like Poland during these short years.

Here comes an even better little nugget. The ”Sroka” design was ordered by the organization which had all the power over gliding in Poland at the time, namely ”The League of Soldiers’ Friends”. The reigning doctrine for glider schooling in this military organization was that pilots should learn to fly in single-seaters, just like in the 1920s and 30s when they were towed in an open single seater by a car back and forth over a flying field. The times, and possibilites, of course had changed a lot since then, but what the League said was what designers had to follow.

So the designer Z. Badura completed his design, all in wood, plywood and fabric (which may not have been up to date, but I must say still is to my liking…) according to specs, and the first prototype registered as SP-1598 was flown on 25th February 1956 at the airfield in Bielsko. After several tests, the need for quite a few changes became obvious. The cockpit was rebuilt to give pilots more elbow room; the rudder action was too sensitive; the tow hook had to be moved forward; the front of the fuselage needed strengthening; and the main landing gear had to be moved backwards.

The second prototype, registered as SP-1667 was flown almost exactly a year later. There were minor adjustments that still had to be made, but nothing that required hindering a start of the production. And so the first serial Sroka, registered as SP-1718 was flown in August 1957, still in its pristine varnished condition, no paint scheme applied (there’s a repaint challenge…).

All comments from test flyers were positive. The glider was easy to control and pleasant to fly; its maneuverability much like the more advanced ”Mucha 100”; and generally it was as good-natured an airplane as the two-seater ”Czapla” (Heron, more about this at a later date, hopefully).

Here’s the clinch: A total of two prototypes and 20 serials were manufactured. But at that time the design was no longer up to date, even if it met the specifications of the customer, The League of Soldiers’ Friends. Designer Badura, recognizing the situation, quickly offered quite another approach - the steel-tube, cantilever wing ”Gil” with its duraluminium tail (for the model see this post and following).

To sum up - the ”Sroka” was inferior to the glider it was supposed to be a substitution for, the ”Komar”, and by the time it came into production the Polish glider training regime had already shifted from single-seaters to two-seaters. The outdated policy of the League had become evident.

The "Srokas" already produced were distributed in the regional aeroclubs where they served for years. Here’s a photo I think is evocative of the change of policy:



According to the source it is from 1960. For me, the atmosphere of the photo somehow fits with that dating.

Leif

[matt77]

Hi,

Rudi Hegers makes available for download his scale model (1/33)

https://www.modellbauseite.at/forum/...5-bergfalke-ii

regards, matt77

[Leif Ohlsson]

Thank you, Matt, for the Rudi Heger model of the Bergfalke II 55. This fills an almost scandalous gap among the paper sailplane models, since so many have been introduced to glider flying in this type, at least in western Europe.

I got my own certificate as late as the mid-90s in Bergfalke II, III, and IV. That is quite something, learning to fly in a type which by then was at least 40 years old. At the time, I myself was only ten years older than the aircraft I learned to fly in. The Bergfalke II was quite good in thermals and forgiving in all situations, although not as good as the Bergfalke IV in distance flights. But then, the "IV" is regarded as almost a new design, not simply a development.

As for paper models, I know of a project by Roman Seissler (Seropaper models, Paperwarbirds - both sites now extinct), and have done some work on his prototype of the Bergfalke II 55. Trouble is, I have not seen it marketed anywhere. So when I'm done, I'll have to get into contact with Roman again.

For now, here's a list of Bergfalke links I once collected:

• Scale Soaring UK - all the facts and superb Martin Simons drawings
• Wikipedia
• Retroplane.net - Good photos, also of interior
• Retroplane.net - Huge drawing
• Oldtimersegler.de - High quality plan
• Flickr - very nice photos of red Bergfalke II among many other classic sailplanes
• Airliners.net Bergfalke II 55 photos - one of them displaying the wheel and skid without fabric covering.
• M. Ohlwein gallery - Large-size Bergfalke model

Thanks again, Matt, for filling this gap in the list of classic glider paper models. It would make an excellent subject for paper modeling, with its straight fuselage edges.

Leif

[Dragos]

As I've promised: the Romanian sailplane IS-29, available in Download area.

[rickstef]

file has been approved

[Jan Kytop]

Originally Posted by Dragos

As I've promised: the Romanian sailplane IS-29, available in Download area.

Thank you very much for this model!