M.Hardy. Gliders & Sailplanes of the world

Slingsby T 42 Eagle

  The Eagle high performance tandem two-seater was originally designed to meet possible ATC requirements and was developed from the Slingsby T36 two-seater project, itself a development of the Sky; the Eagle also owed something ДальшеMore>>> to the Skylark series. The T42 Eagle 1 prototype first flew on 12 June 1954 and had a cantilever three-piece wing with a slightly swept forward centre section of 20ft span, air brakes in the centre section and no flaps. The second prototype, the T42A Eagle 2, first flew in May 1956 and had a centre section span of 13ft 10in, with a cut-out in the leading edge to accommodate the rear cockpit; the air brakes were repositioned to the outer wings. The Eagle 2 won the two-seater class in the 1956 World Championships at St Van, France, flown by Commander H. C. N. Goodhart and Captain Frank Foster; its success was the more gratifying because it was not designed as a contest sailplane but rather as a type for advanced training and cross-country soaring, to enable pilots to bridge the gap between the 'C' and 'Silver C' certificates. The third prototype, the T42B Eagle 3, had the cockpit moved forward to avoid the Mk 2's leading edge cut-out; this version went into production and a total of 17 was built, the price being £1,650. In 1966-67 an Eagle 3, BGA 821, was converted into the T55 Eagle 4, also known as the Regal, this variant having the centre section span increased to 21ft 3in and the total span to 65ft 7 1/2 in, or 7ft 5 1/2 in more than that of the Eagle 3.
  Of conventional wood and fabric construction, the Eagle has a high wing of NACA laminar flow section with a main spar and a light secondary spar to carry the plywood-covered ailerons; the wing is plywood-covered to the rear spar, the trailing edge being fabric-covered. The wooden fuselage is of braced girder-type construction, with a glassfibre- and ply-covered nose and fabric-covered rear fuselage. The fin and tailplane are ply-covered and the rudder and elevators fabric-covered. Landing gear consists of a fixed monowheel, a nose skid under the forward fuselage and a tailskid. There is a one-piece Perspex canopy and the two pilots have provision for back-type parachutes; the rearmost pilot sits under the wing.


Data: Eagle 3
Span: 58 ft 2 in
Length: 27 ft 11 in
Height: 6 ft 0 in
Wing area: 240 sq ft
Aspect ratio: 14.8
Empty weight: 896 lb
Max weight: 1,240 lb
Max speed: 147 mph
Min sinking speed: 2 ft/sec at 49 mph
Best glide ratio: 31:1 at 49.5 mph



Slingsby T 45 Swallow

  Described as 'a poor man's Skylark', the Swallow single-seater was intended to meet the need for a small moderately-priced high performance sailplane for clubs and the private owner. The prototype first flew on 11 October 1957 with a span of 39ft 4in (12m) but this was increased to 42ft 9 3/4 in to improve performance. The type, then unnamed, got its name when the prototype, flown by John Reussner, crashed and ended up hanging from some telephone wires - 'just like all the other swallows', said Mr F. N. Slingsby, who witnessed the accident and promptly dubbed the type Swallow. Reussner later acquired the prototype and rebuilt it as a standard Swallow; it became BGA 865 in October 1958. It was later modified to his own ideas as the Reussner Swift, with the span increased to 15m (49ft 2 1/2in) by extending the wing roots, lengthening it by a 1ft insert in the rear fuselage, and fitting a revised canopy similar to that of the Swallow 2. As the Swift it became BGA 966 and crashed on 24 November 1963 at Netheravon, Wiltshire. The Swallow 1 prototype was followed by the Swallow 2 production version which differed in having a revised canopy of slightly different shape; the type was sold to nine different countries and a total of 106 were built up to 1968, plus 10 more constructed from kits supplied by Slingsby. The Swallow 3 project of January 1968 was a variant designed for that year's Swallow Competition organised by the cigarette firm of W. D. & H. O. Wills, with which the leading British sailplane pilot Philip Wills was associated; the Mk 3, which was not built, had a revised nose shape incorporating a flush-fitting one-piece canopy with no step, and the wing span was increased to 24ft and the area to 180 sqft.
  Of conventional wooden construction, the Swallow has cantilver high-set wings of spruce and plywood, with single spars, plywood covering and a leading edge torsion box; the wooden fabric-covered ailerons are unbalanced and there are dive brakes in the wing upper and lower surfaces. The forward fuselage is a plywood semi-monocoque while the rear portion is a braced structure of spruce and plywood with fabric-covered sides. The wooden tail unit has ply covering for the fin and tailplane and fabric covering for the rudder and elevators. Landing gear consists of a rubber-sprung skid under the nose, a fixed unsprung monowheel and a tailskid.


Span: 42 ft 9 3/4 in
Length: 23 ft 2 in
Height: 5 ft 2 1/2 in
Wing area: 145.9 sqft
Aspect ratio: 12.6
Empty weight: 423lb
Max weight: 700 lb
Max speed: 141 mph
Min sinking speed: 2.49 ft/sec at 41.5 mph
Best glide ratio: 26:1 at 49 mph



Slingsby T 49 Capstan

  Intended as a successor to the T42 Eagle the Capstan side-by-side two-seater is designed to be suitable for all stages of dual instruction, and also for club or private owner use; a wide eg range enables it to be flown solo when required. Design work began in 1960 and the prototype, the T49A first flew on 4 November 1961; this differed slightly from the T49B production version, having a smaller fin and rudder. Production started in the spring of 1963, and altogether 31 T49B Capstans were built, plus two more constructed in New Zealand by Mr Fred Dunn from kits supplied by Slingsby; price of the T49B was £1,750 in October 1963. Of conventional wooden construction, the Capstan has glassfibre covering for the nose section and other double curvature panels and fairings, with ply and fabric covering elsewhere. The cantilever high-set single-spar wings have a plywood leading edge torsion box and fabric covering aft of the spar; there are dive brakes in the upper and lower wing surfaces and the ailerons are plywood-covered. The wings are attached to each side of the fuselage with three pins, making for ease of rigging. The forward fuselage is made up of spruce frames attached to a central keel box and is covered in glassfibre, while the rear fuselage is a braced wooden girder structure, with a bottom skin of plywood and the top and sides fabric-covered. The fixed surfaces of the cantilever tail unit are ply-covered and the control surfaces fabric-covered; there is a trim tab in the starboard elevator. There is a nose skid under the forward fuselage mounted on a full-length rubber shock absorber, and a fixed Dunlop monowheel with a band brake, plus a leaf-spring tailskid. The two pilots sit under a rearward-hinged one-piece Perspex canopy, and all controls are duplicated except for the tow release and elevator trimmer.
  The T49C Powered Capstan was a standard Capstan fitted with a 45hp Nelson H-63CP four-cylinder two-stroke engine mounted on a pylon behind the cockpit and driving a pusher propeller. Small wing tip wheels and a tail wheel instead of a skid were fitted. The prototype, G-AWDV, first flew on 15 February 1968 at Wombleton, Yorkshire, but was burnt out in the fire that destroyed Slingsby's factory in November that year. It had been intended to make complete 'power eggs' available to convert existing Capstans but this idea was not proceeded with. The T49C had a maximum level speed of 85mph, a sea level rate of climb, when flown solo, of 510ft/min, and a take-off run of 420ft with two pilots.


Data: T49B
Span: 55 ft 0 in
Length: 26 ft 6 in
Height: 5 ft 2 1/2 in
Wing area: 220 sq ft
Aspect ratio: 13.75
Empty weight: 761 Ib
Max weight: 1,250 lb
Max speed: 135 mph
Min sinking speed: 2.17 ft/sec at 43.5 mph
Best glide ratio: 30:1 at 47 mph