M.Simons The World's Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45

THE MU 10

  Akaflieg Muenchen had only 13 members in 1933. The leader was Egon Scheibe. The Mu 10 Milan (Hawk) was a two-seater with the second pilot in an underwing cabin. The front cockpit was enclosed, originally, by a wooden canopy with open portholes on each side for vision. Later the Mu 10 had a fully transparent canopy. The fuselage was a welded steel tube frame covered with fabric. The wing was of orthodox wooden, monospar, cantilever construction. The aerofoil was an original design. Most of the camber and thickness of the profile was to be seen in the first one-third of the profile, so the wing had a relatively thick, bluntish leading edge with a thin trailing edge. The rigging system was unusual. Instead of the two wings parting on the centre line of the aircraft, the junction of the two mainspars was on one side, just beyond the port side of the fuselage. The starboard wing was brought to the fuselage first when rigging, and joined to the steel framework by three pins, one at the rear drag fitting on the starboard side, and two to link the mainspar on the left and right sides. The mainspar end awaited the port wing which was joined to it by a vertical steel telescopic expanding pin, and the rear drag fitting of the port wing was finally attached to the fuselage. All-moving tail surfaces were used.
  The Milan was test flown by Egon Scheibe in 1934. In the following year Rudolf Ziegler, with a passenger, set a new world two-seat distance record of 180 km. The Milan also took part in the first ‘aerial derby’ for sailplanes, a round tour of 700 km in Germany, starting and ending at Darmstadt. The Mu 10 was flown by Ludwig Karch at the Salzburg International Mountain Soaring rally in 1937, and set another world two-seater distance record by flying across the Alps, by far the best flight of the meeting. On the way he set a new height record of 2980 metres.
  After World War 2 ended, the Mu 10 was placed in a museum in Munich, but the revival of gliding in Germany in the ’fifties saw it restored to use. Karch achieved more outstanding Alpine soaring flights, in 1957 completing a 260 km triangle. The Mu 10 flew over 2000 hours total before being retired for the second time in 1959, 25 years after its first flight. It is now in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.

  Technical data:
  Mu 10: Span. 17.80 m. Wing area, 20.00 sq m. Aspect ratio. 15.85. Empty weight, 185 kg. Flying weight, 365 kg. Wing loading. 18.25 kg/sqm. Aerofoil, Scheibe. Stall, 45 km/h. Best glide ratio. 1:22. Maximum permitted speed. 180 km/h.