If there was a beauty contest for vintage sailplanes the Petrel would most certainly be a contender. The graceful gull wings combined with its streamlined fuselage makes the Petrel one of the more beautiful sailplanes to be found in the air or on the ground. The 1:3 scale Slingsby Type 13 Petrel is designed by Tony Elliott and offered exclusively at Aerosente.
SLINGSBY TYPE 13 PETREL
General Characteristics
* Crew: 1
* Length: 7.25 m (23 ft 9 in)
* Wingspan: 17.34 m (56 ft 11 in)
* Wing area: 16.72 m2 (180.0 sq ft)
* Aspect ratio: 17.9
* Airfoil: Göttingen 535
* Empty weight: 199.5 kg (440 lb)
* Gross weight: 289.5 kg (638 lb)
Performance
* Rate of sink: 0.54 m/s (106 ft/min) minimum, at 56 km/h (35 mph)
* Lift-to-drag: 27
* Wing loading: 17.5 kg/m² (3.6 lb/ft²)
SLINGSBY TYPE 13 PETREL KITS
The base kit or short kit includes almost 400 laser cut parts from 1/4" and 1/8" lite ply, 1/8" ply and 1/8" balsa along with detailed plans, a build manual and a canopy. Below are three photographs of the contents of a short kit:
I'm offering a full kit for $1,695 which includes laser cut parts, plans, manual, canopy, a hardware kit, sheeting, sitka spruce spars and straight stringer stock.
Slingsby Type 13 Petrel - FULL KIT - $1,695
Laser Cut Parts
Laser Cut Skins - Rudder/Elevator
Manual
Plans
Canopy
Spars/Stringers
1). 6 - 1/8" x 5" x 48" Sitka Spruce spar stock.
2). 3 - 3/8" x 3/8" x 48" Basswod fuselage stringers
3). 3 - 3/8" x 1/8" x 48" Basswod fuselage stringers
4). 12 - 1/4" x 1/4" x 48" Balsa stringers
5). 12 - 3/16" x 3/16" x 48" Balsa stringers
6). 12 - 1/8" x 1/8" x 48" Balsa stringers
Sheet Stock
1). 10 - 1/8" x 4" x 48" Balsa
2). 16 - 3/32" x 4 x 48" Balsa
3). 1 - 1/16" x 4 x 48" Balsa
4). 4 - 1/32" x 12 x 48" Ply
5). 1 - 1/64" x 12 x 48" Ply
Fuselage Hardware and Fabricated Parts
1). 1/4" Dowel for wing root former assembly (F5's)
as well as wing joiner former assembly (F7's) - 36" (2x18")
2). 3/16" OD steel pin for canopy locator at front - 1" long -
3). 7/32" OD Brass Tube for canopy locator pin receiver at front - 1" long
4). Canopy spring latch to enable removal of canopy
Rudder Hardware and Fabricated Parts
1). A pull-pull setup for the rudder - heavy duty
2). Robart Hinge Points - large - 3
3). Control horns for the rudder
4). 2" length of 1/2 hardwood dowel
5). 1/2" x 1/2" Square balsa LE - 6"
6). 1/4" Square FLE - 6"
7). 3/8" Triangle stock 12"
6). 1/32" Ply - 6" x 24" for rudder TE and canopy frames
Stabilizer Hardware and Fabricated Parts
1). 1/4" Steel pin - approx 12"
2). 3/16" Steel pin - approx 6" long
3). 7/32" OD Brass tube - approx 6" long
4). 9/32" OD Brass tube - approx 12" long
5). 5/16" OD Brass Tube - approx 2" long
6). A carbon pushrod for the elevator - 48" long
7). Two 4-40 pushrods - 12"
8). Two 4-40 clevises
9). 4 pieces, 1/2" wide by 1/8" thick spruce or basswood for stab spar caps
10). 1/8"x3" + 3/32"x3" + 1/16"x3" balsa sheer web stock
11). 1/4" x 1/2" x 24" balsa strips for stab LE - 2
Wings Hardware and Fabricated Parts
1). Control horns for the ailerons
2). 4 x 4-40 pushrods for the ailerons
3). 1/8" OD Steel incidence pins - 1" long each
Spoilers Hardware and Fabricated Parts
1). A 12" 4-40 threaded rod plus 8 clevises
2). Four small control horns for the spoiler plate itself
3). Two 1/2" wide 0.017" thick, 20" long mini hinges
Full scale plans
Fig. 1 Stab
Fig. 2 Fin
Fig. 3 Rudder
Fig. 4 Wing Joiner
Fig. 5 Spoiler Box
CURRENT RESTORATION
Bob Gaines, who recently passed away, had sent through these shots of his progress on restoring the "White" Petrel. There were a total of three Petrels built. The first was destroyed shortly after being built. Bob is restoring #2, "The White Petel". It has "all flying" tail and #3 is the Red Petrel and has a normal stabilizer-elevator.
HISTORY
The Slingsby Petrel was a development of the German DFS Rhonadler designed by Hans Jacobs. It was a single-seat high performance sailplane with a span of a little under 18 m, wooden built with a mixture of plywood and fabric covering. It had high cantilever gull wings, though the inner section dihedral was modest. They carried straight taper to fine and rounded tips and ailerons that filled more than half the span. There were neither flaps nor airbrakes.[1]
The fuselage had its maximum diameter near the nose, where the long, multipiece canopy blended in smoothly, ending at the wing leading edge. Behind the wings the fuselage tapered and became slender at the tail. The fin and the tailpane were both small in area; the rudder was large, aerodynamically balanced and extended down to the keel. The elevators were tapered, with a cut out for rudder movement. The undercarriage involved no wheels, just a main skid from below the front of the cockpit glazing to mid chord plus a tail bumper. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_Petrel)
The photos below were sent to me by Colin Simpson. His father owned the "White Petrel" currently being restored by Bob Gaines (in the above photos) in Georgia. According to Colin these photos were taken at Clayesmore School, Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England in July 1941 shortly after his father had purchased the Petrel from Slingsby's. He paid £300 plus £8 shipping from Yorkshire. Colin's father was teaching there during the war and had plenty of schoolboy volunteers to help him launch from the tops of local hills. (Credit and copyright 2010 "Colin Simpson - Private Collection")
Slingsby Aviation
The business was founded in Scarborough by Frederick Nicholas Slingsby, an RAF pilot in World War I. In 1920 he bought a partnership in a woodworking and furniture factory in Queen Street, Scarborough. In 1930 Slingsby was one of the founders of the Scarborough Gliding Club. After repairing some of the club's gliders, Slingsby's business built its first aircraft, a German designed RRG Falke which flew in 1931. By late 1933 Slingsby was advertising training gliders for sale. In 1934, encouraged by a local landowner, the business moved to Kirkbymoorside, some 30 miles from Scarborough, operating as Slingsby, Russell & Brown Ltd. As demand for gliders built up, a new factory was needed and built in Welburn, just outside Kirkbymoorside. This opened in July 1939, when Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd was founded.[1] The best selling Slingsby glider in the pre-World War II period was the Primary.[2]
During the war Slingsby built parts for other company's aircraft as well as their own military glider, the Slingsby Hengist, though the latter did not see action. Towards the end of the war and afterwards the company produced large numbers of training gliders for the ATC. After the war Slingsby continued to make increasingly refined gliders for civilian use in clubs and competitions. Their greatest success was with the Sky at the 1952 World Gliding Championships, which finished in first, third and fourth place. The later Slingsby Skylark series was their post war best seller. Slingsby began to move toward glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and metal construction methods, but the company, trading as Slingsby Aircraft Ltd since 1967, went into liquidation in July 1969 following a disastrous fire in the previous November.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_Aviation)
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