Sproule-Ivanoff Camel

Camel
Role Single-seat glider
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer Scott Light Aircraft
First flight 1939
Number built 1

The Sproule-Ivanoff Camel was a 1930s British single-seat medium performance glider designed by J.S Sproule and Alexander Ivanoff and built by Scott Light Aircraft of Dunstable, Bedfordshire.[1][2]

Design and development

At the end of 1937 Sproule and Ivanoff decided to design a glider that would be cheap, be easy to control and have a good speed range. It would also have wing-folding for quick assembly.[1] The glider was a high wing strut-supported single-spar monoplane with no flaps of airbrakes and an enclosed single-seat cockpit.[1] The Camel first flew at Ratcliffe in Leicestershire in 1939.[2] In 1949 the Camel was registered to Alexander Ivanoff as G-ALLL.[3]

Accidents

On the 19 August 1951 the Camel was destroyed in a fatal mid-air collision with another glider over Dunstable.[4][5] The pilot, an instructor with the London Gliding Club, was killed when the Camel suddenly descended on top of an EoN Olympia glider.[5] The pilot of the Olympia, from the South Downs Gliding Club, took evasive action when he saw the Camel descend; the glider lost four foot of wing tip but landed safely.[5] The Camel did not have a certificate of airworthiness, which was not a compulsory requirement. The Deputy Coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying "there was no evidence that either glider was anything but airworthy".[6]

Specifications

Data from VGC News[2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related lists

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Sproule, J.S. (April 1929). "The Camel". Sailplane and Glider (British Gliding Association) 10 (4): 70–71. 
  2. ^ a b c "Would this have been the Camel Mk 2". VGC News (Vintage Glider Club) 10 (93): 18. 1998. 
  3. ^ "Aircraft Register Entry for G-ALLL". United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority. http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/HistoricalMaterial/G-ALLL.pdf. Retrieved 1 July 2011. 
  4. ^ "Glider Instructor Killed" (News in Brief). The Times (London). Monday, 20 August 1951. Issue 52084, col D, p. 4.
  5. ^ a b c "Club and Gliding News". Flight: 236. 24 August 1951. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1951/1951%20-%201641.html. 
  6. ^ "Death after Glider Collision" (News). The Times (London). Thursday, 23 August 1951. Issue 52087, col D, p. 3.
  7. ^ a b c Ellison, Norman (1971). British Gliders and Sailplanes. London: A & C Black Ltd. pp. 138–9, 169. ISBN 0 7136 1189 8 5. 

External links