Akaflieg Braunschweig SB-13 Arcus
Akaflieg Braunschweig · Germany · first flew 1988 · glider
The Akaflieg Braunschweig SB-13 Arcus was an experimental tailless, single-seat Standard Class glider designed and built in Germany in the early 1990s. It performed as well as its conventional contemporaries but had difficult handling.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Mid-mounted, swept |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × none, embedded-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Tailless layout with a short pod fuselage |
| T — Tail | No tailplane |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Tailless layout with a short pod fuselage
- Wing tips turn up into 1.25 m winglets that carry the rudders
- Wing of three slightly tapered sections of increasing sweep
The wing is mounted between low and mid position on a pod fuselage, and the pilot reclines under a long single-piece canopy. Elevons occupy much of the outer trailing edge.
Specifications
- The Akaflieg Braunschweig SB-13 Arcus has a length of 3.02 m (10 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 15 m (49 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 210 km/h (130 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Work began in 1982, and a one-third scale model revealed flutter and centre-of-gravity problems that led to a major redesign. The full-scale SB-13 first flew in 1988 with a 15 m wing.
Variants
Only one SB-13 was built.
Where you'll see it
The sole SB-13 was flown, modified and studied from 1988 to 2000, when it was damaged and set aside. It went to the Deutsches Museum, Munich in 2007 and is displayed at the Flugwerft Schleissheim.
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