Schleicher ASW 12

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The ASW 12, initially known as the AS 12, is a single-seat Sailplane of glass composite construction. The wing is shoulder mounted and it has a T-tail. It is essentially a developed production version of the Akaflieg Darmstadt D-36.

History

In 1965 Gerhard Waibel left the Technical University of Darmstadt to enter Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co as a designer. His first project for his new employer was the ASW 12. This sailplane achieved numerous records and victories in national and international competitions. The exploits of Hans-Werner Grosse in an ASW 12 are legendary, e.g. the 1461 km flight of April 25, 1972 from Lübeck to Biarritz which stood for thirty years as the absolute World Free Distance Record. Previously, on July 26, 1970, Ben Greene and Wally Scott co-set a World Free Distance Record by flying separate ASW-12 sailplanes a distance of 1,153.82 km (716.95 mi) from Odessa, TX to Columbus, NE.

Construction

The fuselage of the ASW 12 was extremely slender for its time. It has a retractable landing gear and a two-piece canopy, of greater depth than was the case with the D-36. Each individual fuselage was manufactured - as with the D-36 - in two halves laid-up on positive molds. The construction material was a double sandwich of glass-fibre reinforced composite over balsa wood. This is an unusual and expensive procedure for serial production.

The wing planform is double-tapered. The profile is a modified Wortmann FX 62-K-131 at the wing root and a Wortmann FX 60-126 at the tip. The wings were built in the usual fashion in negative molds, and are also of fiberglass/balsa wood sandwich construction. Water ballasting is not available.

As a landing aid the ASW 12 possesses a braking parachute, an unreliable system that lacks modulation. A number of ASW 12 were retroffited with a second chute to increase the odds of successful landings.

Specifications

General characteristics

Crew: One
Length: 7.35 m (24 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 18.30 m (60 ft 1 in)
Height: 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in)
Wing area: 13.0 m² (140 ft²)
Aspect ratio: 25.8
Wing profile: Wortmann FX 62-K-131 modified and FX 60-126
Empty weight: 324 kg (713 lb)
Gross weight: 430 kg (946 lb)

Performance

Maximum speed: 200 km/h (125 mph)
Maximum glide ratio: ca. 46
Rate of sink: ca. 0.57 m/s (112 ft/min)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ASW 12.

Sailplane Directory

v t e Schleicher glider types

Wooden construction	Condor Moagazotl Rhönadler Rhönbussard

Wooden construction (Rudolf Kaiser)	Ka 1 Rhönlaus Ka 2 Rhönschwalbe Ka 4 Rhönlerche II Ka 6 Rhönsegler K7 K 8 ASK 13 ASK 14 ASK 16 ASK 18

GRP construction (Rudolf Kaiser)	ASK 21 ASK 23

GRP construction (Gerhard Waibel)	ASW 12 ASW 15 ASW 17 ASW 19 ASW 20 ASW 22 ASW 24 ASW 27 ASW 28

GRP construction (Martin Heide)	ASH 25 ASH 26 ASH 30 ASH 31

GRP construction (Michael Greiner)	ASG 29

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