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

THE MEISE/OLYMPIA

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  In 1945, Olympia plans were readily available, the type now well-proven, so it was a natural choice for production outside Germany. In France it was re-christened the Nord 2000 and 100 were built. In Britain, the Chilton Aircraft Company began to offer the Olympia for post-war production as early as 1944, and received a number of orders.
  Although designed for easy construction, the British felt that the Olympia was unnecessarily complex. Various simplifying changes were made, bolts and rivets being converted to British sizes and the aircraft was re-stressed to the current British requirements. The most noticeable external alteration was the replacement of the framed canopy by a blown Perspex bubble.
  Even before the first Olympia was completed, the Chilton Company sold the rights to the firm, Elliotts of Newbury, who built 100 Olympias. There was some further re-design at this stage and the Olympia was again re-stressed, for airworthiness requirements had now been laid down by the Air Ministry rather than the British Gliding Association. The result was a somewhat heavier Olympia with an empty weight about 30 kg more than the Meise. The first few Elliot Olympias were delivered to clubs and private owners during March and April, 1947. Before long Elliotts brought out the Olympia 2b, which had a wheel instead of a skid. Many of the earlier Mark 1 Olympias were modified retrospectively to the Mark 2 standard. A third version was advertised with a drop-off dolly, but very few were sold in this form. Later another 50 Olympias were built.
  The mass production of Olympias changed British gliding almost overnight and in Europe it became the normal sailplane for performance flying. Except for a few surviving Weihes, competitions for a time became virtually ‘one design’ contests where most pilots flew identical aircraft. Soon the idea was revived of a ‘standard’ sailplane: thus the present Standard Class concept can be seen to have begun with the Olympic Games proposal of 1936.
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  A good many other Olympias and Meises are still in service although now are considered too slow for advanced competition racing. They still delight pilots with their well balanced controls and docile handling.

  Technical data:
   Olympia 2: As for Meise but empty weight, 195 kg. Flying weight, 304 kg. Wing loading, 20 kg/sq m. Maximum permitted speed. 208 km/h.

M.Hardy. Gliders & Sailplanes of the world

EoN Olympia

  Just after the war, when sporting gliding was getting started again, it was evident that there would be a need for new sailplanes to supplement the surviving prewar ones, and to fill the gap until such time as postwar designs could go into production it was a logical step to build some of the best German prewar designs, some captured examples of which had been brought to this country, in British factories. Elliotts of Newbury Ltd had been formed in 1895 and specialised in joinery and furniture production; during the war it manufactured components and sub-assemblies for wooden and other types, including the Tiger Moth, Mosquito and Horsa and Hamilcar troop-carrying gliders. A combination of a desire to make use of this experience and refusal by the Board of Trade to allow Elliotts to return to its prewar furniture-making activities led to a decision to enter glider manufacturing, starting with the production of an improved version of the well-known DPS Meise known as the Olympia. This was originally to have been built in Britain by Chilton Aircraft Co Ltd, makers of the prewar DW1 ultralight, but after building a prototype Chilton disposed of the manufacturing and sales rights and associated drawings to Elliotts. The prototype Olympia first flew in January 1947 and an initial production batch of 100 was started; the type soon proved to be popular with private owners and clubs, also being exported to a number of countries. The Olympia was built in three versions differing only in the landing gear; the Mk 1 had a central steel-sheathed ash skid under the forward fuselage very similar to the Meise's, while the Olympia 2 had a built-in fixed central monowheel and the Mk 3 had a jettisonable dolly wheel landing gear. A one-piece quickly detachable bubble canopy for the pilot with a sliding ventilation and clear-vision panel on the port side replaced the Meise's framed canopy, and there was an aerobatic harness and provision for a back-type parachute. Otherwise the Olympia is very similar to the Meise; the high cantilever wings are of wooden construction with plywood and fabric covering, with D-spars in the leading edge and DFS air brakes, while the wooden ailerons are fabric-covered. The all-wooden monocoque fuselage has a luggage compartment under the wing root with an access door on the port side. The tail unit is of wooden construction with plywood and fabric covering, and there is a trim tab in the starboard elevator. Price of the Olympia 2 in 1960 was £850.


Data: Olympia 2
Span: 49 ft 2 1/2 in
Length: 21 ft 8 in
Wing area: 161.5 sqft
Aspect ratio: 15.0
Empty weight: 430 lb
Max weight: 670 lb
Max speed: 129 mph
Min sinking speed: 2.2 ft/sec at 39 mph
Best glide ratio: 25:1 at 45 mph



EoN Olympia 419

  The first three marks of Olympia, which formed the bulk of the production of this type, differed little from the DPS Meise, but in the 1950s Elliotts began development of a new family of high performance Olympia variants incorporating laminar flow wings, and leading to the Olympia 419, which was sufficiently different from the first three marks of this design as to be almost a new type. First of these new variants was the Olympia 4, later known as the 401, which was a Mk 2, G-ALNF, fitted with a laminar flow wing of NACA 64-series section, identical in span (15m) and plan form to the previous wing; Frise ailerons were featured but these were found to have only marginal power at low speeds and, after the 401's debut in the 1954 World Gliding Championships, these were enlarged and the wing itself modified. G-ALNF was then fitted with a 17m span wing of the same aerofoil sections at root and tip, thus becoming the Olympia 402; aileron chord and span were increased. It was flown by Bill Ivans of the USA into fifth place in the 1956 World Championships, but was lost in an accident on the last day of the competition. It was succeeded by the Olympia 403 prototype, G-APEW, which retained the 17m span wing with a slightly thickened root but introduced some important design changes; this made its debut at the 1957 British national championships. The tail surfaces were entirely redesigned with increased area, the tailplane now being an all-moving surface which could be hinged upwards for transport. It had an anti-balance and trimming tab which at first covered the full span but was later reduced to half span. The fuselage was extended 10in forward by inserting an extra bay between the main bulkhead and the cockpit, and both the cockpit canopy and fuselage 'neck' were widened, that part of the fuselage under the wing being redesigned. The next variant was the Olympia 419, which had the wing span increased to 18.9m (62ft), longer span Frise ailerons, a slightly longer nose than the 403 and greater rudder area, these changes giving better low speed performance and tailplane balance than the 403. The 419 was constructed mainly of spruce, and all surfaces were covered by birch ply except for the rudder, tailplane and wings inboard of the ailerons. Balsa wood was used extensively as a filling for the wing ribs and as a non-structural material for wing tips and fairings. The undercarriage consisted of a jettisonable twin-wheel main unit and a tailskid, and the main landing skid under the forward fuselage was of stainless steel. Both the Olympia 419 prototype and the Olympia 415, which was a 15m span version of it, first flew in 1958; the latter did not go into production but the 419 was marketed ata price of £2,150 and in the end eight were built. These put up some good performances in both World and British National championships flown by such pilots as Nicholas Goodhart and Peter Scott.


Data: Olympia 419
Span: 62 ft 0 in
Length: 25 ft 0 in
Aspect ratio: 19.9
Max weight: 850 lb
Min sinking speed: 1.84 ft/sec at 46 mph
Best glide ratio: 38:1 at 52 mph



EoN 463

  Intended as a Standard Class 15m span single-seater to replace the popular Olympia, the EoN 463, also known as the EoN 460/463, was the production version of the EoN 460 and incorporated the design experience and certain features of the laminar flow Olympia variants, especially the Olympia 403 and 419. The EoN 460, or Elliotts AP/10 Type 460 as it was also known, first flew in prototype form on 26 April 1960 and only the five prototype 460s were built; the first had an aspect ratio of 20 and an all-up weight of 600lb, the second and third had an aspect ratio of 18 and an all-up weight of 630lb, the fourth was the same as the first but with a modified one-piece canopy and the fifth prototype was the same as the fourth but had modified outer wing sections. The tail unit was very similar to the Olympia 419's and, as on the latter, the tailplane could be folded upwards for transport. The shoulder wings were set slightly lower than the Olympia's and the centre and forward fuselage were similar to the Olympia 419's, while the same NACA 64-series laminar flow wing section as on the 419 was used. The production EoN 463 first flew in April 1963 and a total of 48 were built; this was practically the same as the fifth prototype 460, with an aspect ratio of 18 and an all-up weight of 630lb. The fabric and stringer top fuselage fairing of the 460 was now replaced by a glassfibre one on the 463, which also had a glassfibre instead of plywood nose section and a new cockpit canopy. Both the 460 and 463 have wooden wings with light alloy spars, plywood-skinned and with overall fabric covering; the wings are similar to the Olympia 419's except for the reduced span, the Frise ailerons being fabric-covered and the DFS-type air brakes of plywood. The fuselage, like the 460's, is a wooden Warren girder-type structure with plywood covering and a glassfibre rear fairing. The tail unit is a conventional fabric-covered wooden structure and the tailplane, unlike the all-moving surface of the Olympia 403 and 419, reverts to conventional elevators with a trim tab in the starboard one. There is a fixed unsprung monowheel with an internal expanding brake, and a tailwheel. The pilot's canopy has direct vision panels and a demister, and oxygen and radio can be fitted if desired.
  The 463 was followed by the EoN 465, developed for the 1965 World Championships, only two of these being built, the first one, the Series 1, making its maiden flight on 8 March 1965. The 465 had the fuselage height reduced and the pilot seated in a reclining position to reduce cross sectional area and hence drag; the main landing gear skid was deleted and the monowheel centre raised. An all-moving tailplace was reintroduced which did not fold up for storage. The EoN 465 Series 1 had an all-up weight of 680lb and the second one, known as the Series 2, had a thinner wing section than the Series 1 and a strengthened main spar; its all-up weight was 700lb and wing area was increased to 140 sq ft. Following the death of Elliott's managing director, Mr H. C. G. Buckingham, in the summer of 1965 the firm's board of directors, after reviewing the situation, decided to end glider production due to its increasing unprofitability.


Data: EoN 463
Span: 49 ft 2 1/2 in
Length: 21 ft 0 in
Height: 5 ft 8 in
Wing area: 132 sqft
Aspect ratio: 18.0
Empty weight: 400 lb
Max weight: 630 lb
Max speed: 136 mph (in smooth air)
Min sinking speed: 2.2 ft/sec at 42.5 mph
Best glide ratio: 32:1 at 48 mph