DFS Habicht
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The DFS Habicht was designed in 1936 by Hans Jacobs as an unlimited aerobatic sailplane, with support provided by the Deutsche-Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug. Four exemplars were available as planned for the Olympic Games of 1936, where the evolutions of the Habicht over and literally inside the olympic stadium enthralled spectators.
The flight qualities of the Habicht were praised by pilots including Hanna Reitsch. It participated in many airshows abroad before the war, including the 1938 Cleveland Air-Race.
Few Habicht survived the II World War. There is one exemplar in a museum in Paris. Another, with the registration D-8002, flew in Southern Germany until it was destroyed by the collapse of the hangar where it was stored.
After a long and patient research to recover the design documentation, Josef Kurz and other members of the Oldtimer Segelflugclub Wasserkuppe built an all-new Habicht. After an extended exhibition career, this exemplar registered also as D-8002 flies from the Wasserkuppe club's airfield.
Another airworthy Habicht was built by the Zahn family and first flew in 2001. Since then, at the hands of pilot Christoph Zahn, it has provided aerobatics demonstrations at numerous air shows.
