Schweizer SGS 1-29 - Background

Background

In the mid-1950s the SGS 1-23 was in full production and through successive models was performing very well in competition. By 1957 the development of fiberglass-reinforced plastic had an impact on the production of many sporting goods, such as boats and fishing rods. Schweizer Aircraft thought it was only a matter of time before a fiberglass sailplane was produced. This concern was borne out in 1965, when two German fiberglass sailplanes were entered in the world championships.

Schweizer Aircraft evaluated the use of fiberglass for sailplane construction and rejected it for several reasons:

  • The high cost of demonstrating to the Federal Aviation Administration that this new material could safely be used for aircraft primary structure.
  • Problems with crash resistance of fiberglass structures in high impact accidents.
  • The unknown service life of fiberglass.
  • The high degree of manual labor required to do fiberglass lay-ups at that time and the associated cost.

The company decided to concentrate on getting the best performance from the material that it knew best, aluminum.

Schweizer created several design studies of new sailplanes in the mid-1950s. These included:

  • Schweizer 2-27
  • Schweizer 7-28
  • Schweizer SGS 1-29

Of these, only the SGS 1-29 proceeded to prototype stage.

Read more about this topic:  Schweizer SGS 1-29

Famous quotes containing the word background:

    “Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “Pilate with his question “What is truth?” is gladly trotted out these days as an advocate of Christ, so as to arouse the suspicion that everything known and knowable is an illusion and to erect the cross upon that gruesome background of the impossibility of knowledge.”
    —Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

    “... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
    —Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)