|
| Span |
Area |
Empty Weight |
Payload |
Gross Weight |
Wing Load |
Water Ballast |
| m |
ft |
sq.m |
sq.ft |
kg |
lb. |
kg |
lb. |
kg |
lb. |
kg
/sq.m |
lb.
/sq.ft |
kg |
lb. |
| 16.5 |
54.2 |
12.2 |
143 |
270 |
595 |
138 |
305 |
408 |
900 |
30.91 |
6.29 |
0 |
0 |
| Aspect
ratio: |
20.5 |
| Airfoil: |
Wortmann FX-62-Z-153 |
| Structure: |
foam/glass fiber structure |
| Engine: |
|
Comment:
The development of this early all-fiberglass
sailplane began at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Zurich under the direction of Prof.
Rauscher, first flying with a new fuselage and
tailplane married to wings from a schleicher Ka-6
(the Ka Bi-Vo). Further development was taken
over by Flug un Fahrzeugwerke (FFA) which used
flapped 15 m. Hutter H-30TS wings, first flying
in 1964. After production 13 examples of this
model (the HBV Diamant), production shifted to
the Diamant 16.5 with a new 16.5 m. wing designed
and built by FFA. This was the first all glass
fiber production sailplane, not using balsa or
other wood sandwiched between the fiberglass
layers. The Diamant 18 is an 18 m. development of
the 16.5, first flying in 1968, with extended
inboard wing and flap sections and a new wingtip
cap. At least one Diamant 18 was substantially
modified by Dan Pierson of Los Angeles, CA to
have a 19.0 m. / 62.3 ft. wing carrying 145 kg /
320 lb. Of water ballast bringing the gross
weight up to 673 kg/ 1,480 lb. |
|
