M.Simons The World's Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
THE M-22
In the early 1930s the gliding club at the Budapest Technical University decided to build a Rhoenbussard, and had started work when news reached them of Hans Jacobs’ Rhoensperber, outdating the Bussard. This shook their confidence ДальшеMore>>>
in their project and they decided to produce their own design. Most of the Bussard wing ribs were made and they planned the M-22 in such a way that the finished parts of the Bussard were incorporated. They followed the general trend of the Rhoensperber.
Those chiefly responsible for the design were Endre Jancso and Andras Szokolay. The wing planform and profiles were fixed by the Bussard wing ribs but the span was increased by moving the wing mounting down to shoulder level and including the width of the fuselage and wing roots in the total lifting area. The mainspars of spruce joined on the centre line. Like the Rhoensperber, 'gull' dihedral was used. The fuselage was wholly original with an open cockpit. The structure was strengthened to allow aerobatics and inverted flight but the machine’s soaring performance was also good. For cross-country flying the M-22 was fitted with a simple mechanism which allowed both ailerons to be raised or drooped together as camber-changing flaps. There was no landing wheel.
Once the prototype had proved itself, a small production series was started in the university workshops. After 1937. others were built, including several at a sailplane factory, Aero-Ever, in Straly. The first few lacked airbrakes or spoilers but DFS brakes were used on all the later production aircraft. Either an open canopy or a fully enclosed cockpit cover could be fitted, the open type usually being preferred for aerobatics and the closed canopy for cross-countries. A best glide ratio of 1 : 25 was demonstrated. Each of the fifteen or so M-22s was given its own name, after some Hungarian species of bird, Solyon (Hawk), Siraly (Seagull), Vercse (Windhover) and so on.
In 1936 a gliding club existed in Egypt, the chief instructor a Hungarian, Count Laszlo Ede Almasy, a very successful First World War fighter pilot. He negotiated the purchase from Budapest of the prototype M-22 in 1937. The Turul, named after a royal bird of Hungarian fable, was painted medium green with cream ‘sunburst’ rays. Group Captain Edward L. Mole, of the RAF, used the Turul to put on an aerobatic display and discovered that it was capable of inverted flight. He carried out slow rolls, a manoeuvre usually quite impossible in a glider. He resolved to try a ‘bunt’ or forward loop, having first assured himself that the M-22 was strong enough. After two failures, on the third attempt with the airspeed indicator needle pressing hard against the stops, Mole succeeded in getting round the full inverted loop. He included this manoeuvre in his subsequent display programme.
Cross-country flying being restricted by the surrounding desert, Mole in April 1938 decided to break the record for the greatest number of consecutive loops in a glider, 125, performed by Wolf Hirth. Mole was towed in the M-22 to 4700 m by a RAF Hawker Audax and immediately after release from the aeroplane he began looping. Official observers in the aeroplane and on the ground, kept a tally. The continuous looping went on for a remarkable 25 minutes until the altitude was down to 300 m, at which Mole pulled out and prepared to land. He was immediately very dizzy and disoriented but he managed to get down safely. On stumbling out of the cockpit and attempting to stand, Mole at once fell over backwards as if attempting to continue looping! He was unable to stand for some time afterwards, but had accomplished 147 loops.
Gliding in Egypt ceased temporarily but revived when another club was set up by the RAF at Abu Seir, north of Cairo. The Turul, in storage, was found by an American Lt-Colonel, Scott Royce, in 1942. Royce was able, in spite of wartime conditions, to soar all over the Suez Canal zone. He was on one occasion closely inspected in flight by an RAF tighter. Lawrence Robertson, an RAF officer, also flew the M-22 at about this time but after this the Turul was grounded, apparently permanently. Probably, after the end of the war, it was scrapped since in the dry climate of the desert, the timber would have dried out too much for safe flight.
In Hungary M-22s continued as favorites. Tasnadi completed the first Hungarian Gold ‘C’ in an M-22 and broke the national distance record, 335 km. In the same period he broke the height record with an ascent of 3770 m. Many other Hungarians later completed their Gold height climbs in this very robust sailplane. After the war, a few M-22s were restored to flying condition and still used for aerobatics or advanced cross-country work until at last they were replaced by more 104 modern types.
Technical data:
M-22: Span, 15.00 m. Wing area, 14.5 sq m. Aspect ratio, 15.52. Empty weight. 165 kg. Flying weight, 250 kg. Wing loading, 17.24 kg/ sq m. Aerofoil, root, Goettingen 535, tip, symmetrical.
The Vercse (Windhover) M-22 being rigged. The ailerons had not yet been connected. The spectacular color scheme is believed to have been red and yellowish cream with red registration and the Hungarian tricolor, red (uppermost), white and green, on the rudder. A Zoegling trainer was in the background.
The M-22 Hejja, HA 4003, with its open cockpit canopy fitted. It is to be hoped the protective cover on the pitot tube was removed prior to take-off. The year was 1937.
The exceptionally good moulded canopy which could be used interchangeably with the open type on the M-22, is shown here on HA 4002, which for some reason had no name painted on the nose. In 1936, mouldings were rare and costly.
Turul in Egypt, with Lawrence Robertson in the cockpit. The colors were medium green and cream, the Hungarian tricolor and registration having been removed for export.
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