The Grulich S.1 was a German parasol monoplane with a cantilever wing, built in the mid 1920s. It seated two and offered a choice between two engines.

Grulich S.1
Role Training and sports aircraft
National origin Germany
Designer Karl Grulich
First flight 1925
Retired Deutsche Aero-Lloyd
Status 1932
Number built 1

Design and development

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The Grulich S.1 was designed by Dr. Ing. Karl Grulich, an engineer associated with Gothaer Waggonfabrik, the company which had produced the Gotha series of bombers in World War I.[1] Before the war he had designed and flown the Harlan monoplane and post-war was also associated with Deutsche Aero-Lloyd,[2] a German airline that by January 1926 had merged with Junkers Luftverkehr into Deutsche Luft Hansa.[3]

Its cantilever wing was straight-tapered, with no sweep on the leading edges, and with long, curved tips. It was built around two spars and was very thick centrally but thinned outwards; there was no dihedral on the upper surface but the thinning produced significant overall dihedral. Tapered ailerons filled about half the span. The wing was mounted over the fuselage on a cabane of four sloping metal struts to the front spar and another six to the rear.[1]

The S.1 was designed to be powered by one of two Siemens-Halske radial engines, a seven-cylinder 60 kW (80 hp) Sh 5 or a nine-cylinder 75 kW (100 hp) Sh 6, mounted in the nose under a cowling which left the cylinders exposed for cooling. Its fuel tank was in the wing.[1]

Behind the engine the fuselage had a tapering, rectangular section. There were two open cockpits in tandem, fitted with dual controls. Both were under the wing, though there was a small cut-out in the trailing edge over the rear position. The empennage was conventional, with a slightly rounded fin and deep rectangular rudder. A large area tailplane was mounted on top of the fuselage, with split elevators to allow rudder movement.

The S.1 had conventional, fixed landing gear. Metal V-form landing legs from each side of the lower fuselage, strut-reinforced laterally, carried a single axle attached via rubber chord shock absorbers. The mainwheels were well outboard of the V-struts, giving a track of 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in).[1]

The exact date of the S.1's first flight is not known; it was complete by mid-1925 but may have flown earlier.[1] It was registered as D-584 in that year, given the name Hessen and owned initially by Deutsche Aero-Lloyd. Later used by Hessiche Flugbetriebs from Darmstadt, its registration was cancelled in 1932.[4]

Operators

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  • Deutsche Aero-Lloyd
  • Hessiche Flugbetriebs

Specifications (Sh.5 engine)

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Grulich S.1 3-view drawing from Les Ailes June 17, 1926

Data from Les Ailes. June 1926[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Capacity: one passenger
  • Length: 7.75 m (25 ft 5 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in)
  • Height: 2.46 m (8 ft 1 in)
  • Wing area: 19 m2 (200 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 550 kg (1,213 lb)
  • Gross weight: 800 kg (1,764 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Siemens-Halske Sh 5 7-cylinder radial, 60 kW (80 hp) at 1,500 rpm
  • Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 140 km/h (87 mph, 76 kn)
  • Stall speed: 70 km/h (43 mph, 38 kn) minimum speed
  • Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
  • Time to altitude: 12 min to 1,000 m (3,300 ft)
  • Take-off distance: 135 m (443 ft)
  • Landing distance: 100 m (330 ft)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Serryer, J. (10 June 1926). "Le "parasol" Grulich S.1". Les Ailes (260): 2.
  2. ^ Hegner, Henri (1961). Fokker - the man and the aircraft. Letchworth, England: Harborough Publications Ltd. p. 45.
  3. ^ Diener, Hans-Liudger; Schiefelbusch, Martin (2000). "German Commercial Air Transport until 1945". Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire. 78: 945–967.
  4. ^ "Golden Years of Aviation". Retrieved 28 May 2017.