| GA-11 Chiricahua | |
|---|---|
| Role | Glider |
| National origin | United States |
| Designer | George Applebay |
| First flight | 1970 |
| Status | Production completed |
| Number built | one |
The Applebay GA-11 Chiricahua was an American high-wing, single-seat, FAI Standard Class glider that was designed and constructed by George Applebay, first flying in 1970.[1]
Contents |
Applebay started the Chiricahua as a standard class sailplane in 1959, but the aircraft was not completed for 11 years, first flying in 1970.[1] It was named for the Chiricahua people, a group of Apache Native Americans.
The aircraft was made from wood and covered in a combination of plywood and doped Ceconite. Its 15 m (49.2 ft) span wing employed a Gottingen 549 airfoil and featured Schempp-Hirthstyle top surface airbrakes. As originally specified for the standard class, the landing gear was a fixed monowheel.[1][2]
Only one example was built.[1]
On 7 July 1974 at New River, Arizona the prototype, N9413, was involved in an accident and substantially damaged. The aircraft was on a soaring flight, ran out of lift, made an attempted landing on a road in a 20 kn (37 km/h) crosswind and struck a tree. The 24 year old pilot, who had 32 hours of flying time total, including 11 hours on type, was not injured.[3]
By 2007 the sole example, no longer registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, is believed to no longer exist.[4]
Data from Sailplane Directory[1]
General characteristics
Performance
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
