Penrose Pegasus
Harald Penrose · United Kingdom · first flew 1935 · glider
The Penrose Pegasus was a 1930s high-wing, single-seat, wooden glider from the UK, designed, built and flown by Harald Penrose.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × none, embedded-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | High-wing single-seat glider with lift struts to the lower fuselage longerons |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- High-wing single-seat glider with lift struts to the lower fuselage longerons
- Wing with a parallel-chord centre section and tapered outer panels
- Open, unscreened cockpit under the wing leading edge and a short landing skid at the nose
The fuselage was rectangular in section, ply-covered and tapered towards the tail. Rudder and elevator were both all-moving surfaces, the elevator on the upper fuselage with a cut-out for the rudder.
Specifications
- The Penrose Pegasus has a length of 4.8 m (16 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 10.47 m (34 ft).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Penrose, Chief Test Pilot at Westland Aircraft, began the design in 1932 with the constraint that no component could be longer than 12 ft 6 in so that it could leave the workshop. The Pegasus flew for the first time in 1935 and gained BGA certificate of airworthiness no. 232.
Variants
Only one was built at the time. A reproduction called the Pegasus 2 flew in 1993.
Where you'll see it
It flew in the annual BGA competition at Sutton Bank in August 1935. Until the outbreak of war Penrose often flew it from Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast at weekends.
Related aircraft
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