According to a recent article in the Swiss Aero Club Review Zögling HB-429 is due to fly again soon. It was one of a batch of 9, HB-424 to 432, and first flew in October 1944. It was allocated to the Bern Gliding School, and then to the one in Granges in 1948. In 1952 it was sold to Austria, but never in fact left Granges. It ended up in their museum in 1984. In 1999 it was bought by Thomas Fessler. It apparently was fitted with the rudder of “473”, that I have not yet identified. In October 2011 it moved to Weinfelden for restoration, and inherited a spare rudder from the Lucerne Transport Museum. Registration was complicated by its supposed Austrian ownership, and the fact that it had no instruments! The authorities required a structural test, so it was laken to a sports field, turned upside down, and the wings loaded with sandbags. It survived, and is due to fly again this year.
By: avion ancien - 9th March 2016 at 17:16
Apologies, Eric, for my imprecision regarding the Swiss Zöglings. I should have said: ‘…..not built pre-war’ in my endeavour to draw the distinction. And as to the SG-38, again I must have expressed myself unclearly. I meant to indicate that the SG-38 postdated the original Zögling. And thank you, Dave, for the supplementary information.
By: G-ASEA - 9th March 2016 at 17:08
The wings of the Hawkridge Dagling where built by Slingsby pre war. From what we have found Hawkridge use lots of old built parts then made a glider. The Hawkridge Kittiwake was just a repaired Slingsby Gull 3 that they repaired then put a new canopy on it. This was replaced when Mike Beach restored the Gull 3. I now have this Hawkridge canopy. The other surviving Dagling is a A frame that Nigel Ponsford has, plus a rib. I do have a couple of old broken Slingsby Dagling main spars I piked up at Sutton Bank some years ago.
At Dunstable( London Gliding Club if they wanted a nacelled Dagling they built the nacelle in the workshop. An old man who lived near me, now passed away worked there before the war told me this.
Dave
By: ericmunk - 9th March 2016 at 16:40
Am I correct in thinking that the Hawkridge Daglings were, like Laurence’s Swiss Zögling, built post-war and, if so, am I equally correct in assuming that none of the original pre-war R.F.Dagnall built Daglings survive today. Am I also correct in thinking that the cockpit nacelle was a post-war development of the Zögling/Dagling/T.3 Primary and that the pre-war versions were unenclosed like the later SG-38?
The Swiss Zögling was built in 1944, hardly post-war! I am sure G-ASEA will be able to confirm that the two Hawkridge-built Daglings are the only ones still in existance…
Re enclosed fuselages on primary gliders on general: they were about long before WW2. Anything to reduce the ridiculous drag of the open A-frame, and for some creature comforts… If you have ever flown the open exposed primary gliders (which includes any of the A-framed gliders from circa 1925 all the way up to the Grasshopper from the 1950s) you’ll see that a boat, cocoon or egg (as they were variously called) would make serious sense. Most of these were not designed, but just built and fitted. Gliding wasn’t that regulated as it is now!
As an aside: the SG-38 was not later than the pre-war versions. It is a pre-war version. The name says it all: Schulgleiter-38 -> schoolglider 1938. Perhaps you are confused with Slingsby’s T38 which was a distinct post-war design, but borrowed heavily from the SG38 for fuselage design (basically a copy) and mating that with a batch of surplus Slingsby T.7 wings, stabilizer and rudder. The SG38 is a beautiful balanced glider to fly, and even performs relatively well. The bitsa T38 is a pig to get to go anywhere. Except down. That it does really well.
By: avion ancien - 9th March 2016 at 16:24
Questions, questions – which I apologise for asking but for the answers to which I am grateful!
Am I correct in thinking that the Hawkridge Daglings were, like Laurence’s Swiss Zögling, built post-war and, if so, am I equally correct in assuming that none of the original pre-war R.F.Dagnall built Daglings survive today. Am I also correct in thinking that the cockpit nacelle was a post-war development of the Zögling/Dagling/T.3 Primary and that the pre-war versions were unenclosed like the later SG-38?
By: slicer - 9th March 2016 at 15:53
Ivor Stretch…..you must be kidding!
Surely he was the inventor of the bungee launch…..
By: G-ASEA - 9th March 2016 at 13:55
The above photo is the ex Ivor Stretch Dagling later found out to be a Hawkridge built.
Dave
By: avion ancien - 9th March 2016 at 13:26
Thank you, Dave.
The back cover of ‘British Gliders’ (MAS -2nd ed., 1975) carries a photograph of what the caption says is a T.3 Primary. It says that it belongs (ed?) to Ivor Stretch; was photographed ‘during a rare public appearance at an air display held at Squires Gate’; and ‘is believed to be the last of this historic type to survive’. Is it a Primary which has been destroyed since 1975 or is it, in fact, one of the two Daglings to which you refer?
By: G-ASEA - 9th March 2016 at 13:11
This one and Nigel Ponsford has a A frame of one.
Dave
By: G-ASEA - 9th March 2016 at 12:50
Yes. Two Hawkridge Daglings survive. No Slingsby T3’s .
Dave
By: avion ancien - 9th March 2016 at 11:01
Do any genuine Daglings – as opposed to Zöglings and Slingsby Primaries – exist nowadays?
By: ericmunk - 9th March 2016 at 09:51
Very good to hear: hardly any Zöglings still about, let alone flying ones. The old primary gliders are somewhat of a forgotten corner of aviation history. Good to see one coming back to life again.
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March 9, 2016 at 9:44 am