Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus

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**Schempp-Hirth Standard Cirrus**
A Czech-built Standard Cirrus at La Cerdanya, Spain.
Type designation	Standard Cirrus
Competition class	Standard
Number built
Crew	1
Length	6.35 m
Height	1.32 m
Cockpit width	0.55 m
Cockpit height	0.74 m
Wingspan	15 m
Wing area	10.00 m²
Aspect ratio	22.5
Wing profile	FX S-02-196 modified
Empty mass	ca. 215 kg
Water ballast	80 kg
Maximum mass	390 kg
Wing loading	ca. 31 - 39 kg/m²
Maximum speed	220 km/h (119 kts)
Rough air speed	220 km/h (119 kts)
Stall speed	62 km/h (33.5 kts)
Minimum sink rate	ca. 0.6 m/s
Best glide ratio	38.5 at 90 km/h (48.5 kts)

The Standard Cirrus is a glider built by Schempp-Hirth.

The Standard Cirrus was designed by Dipl. Ing. Klaus Holighaus and flew for the first time in March 1969. It is a Standard Class glider with a 15 metre span and no camber changing flaps. It soon made its mark in competition flying, winning many competitions, most notably the open class world championship at Leszno, Poland, in 1968, at the hands of Austrian Harro Wodl. The all-moving tailplane that was a feature of many designs of that period due to its theorectically higher eficiency, caused less than desirable high speed stability characteristics, and so modifications were made to the early design. Even so, the glider is still very sensitive in pitch.

By April 1977, when production by Schempp-Hirth ended, a total of 700 Standard Cirruses had been built, including 200 built under licence by Grob between 1972 and July 1975. A French firm, Lanaverre Industrie, had also built 30 Standard Cirruses under licence by 1979. VTC of Yugoslavia also licence-built Standard Cirruses, reaching 14 by 1979.

Improvements were made with the Standard Cirrus 75. These included better air-brakes with an increased area and a modified nose.

The last Cirrus model was the G/81 built by VTC until 1985. This incorporated a longer fuselage and canopy and a conventional tailplane and elevator with the wings of the Cirrus 75. All models of Cirrus have proved very popular in recent years in 'Club Class' Competitions worldwide.

The Cirrus was superceded by the Discus.