I.Ae. 34 Clen Antú

Clen Antú
I.Ae.34 Clen Antú
Role Tailless glider
National origin Argentina
Manufacturer Instituto Aerotecnico, Cordoba
Designer Reimar Horten
First flight 20 June 1949
Number built 6

The I.Ae. 34 Clen Antú, sometimes known as the Horten XVa after its designer Reimar Horten, was a two-seat tailless glider built in Argentina. Two single-seat variants competed unsuccessfully in the 1952 World Gliding Championships.

Design and development

Between 1946 and 1956 the Fabrica Miitar de Aviones of Córdoba, Argentina was known as the Instituto Aerotecnico (I.Ae.).[1] During that immediately post-World War II period, it had on its staff several designers who had worked with the Nazi regime. These included Émile Dewoitine, Kurt Tank and Reimar Horten, the latter best known with his brother for their interest in tailless aircraft. His I.Ae.34 Clen Antú[1] was recognisably one of the glider family that contained the Horten IV and Horten VI, though smaller than both. Clen Antú is Sun Ray in Mapudungun,[2] a language widely spoken across Argentina and Chile. According to one source, the Clen Antú was intended as an aerodynamic model of a four-engined flying wing transport,[1] the I.Ae 38 Naranjero. Others state it was intended as a training glider for clubs.[2]

The Clen Antú was a pure tailless glider, a flying wing apart from a central accommodation pod. It had a high aspect ratio (about 17) wing, swept at 23.67o at quarter chord, with no vertical airfoil surfaces. The chord decreased along the span to 20% of the root value at the tip, and the wing carried a dihedral of about 3.5o. Broad chord tabbed control surfaces filled the trailing edge from the tip to about half-span and airbrakes were fitted. The accommodation pod was narrow but tall, providing fully instrumented tandem dual control positions. The forward pilot sat in a glazed cockpit on the wing near its leading edge, with the second seated in his own enclosed cockpit stepped above and behind the first. Aft of the cockpits the plywood pod ended in a flat oval shape which provided some yaw stability. The pod continued below the wing containing a tandem pair of wheels with brakes at the rear and skids below the nose.[1][2]

The first flight was made on 20 June 1949.[1][2] Four of these two-seaters were built, one used to explore unconventional control surfaces.[2]

Two more were built later for the Second International Glider Competition held in Madrid, Spain in 1952.[3] These were single-seaters designated I.Ae.34 M (for Monoplace), though at the competition they were recorded as Horten XV.[4] The accommodation pod was smaller, though still relatively tall and narrow; the pilot sat near midwing under a removable section that was part wooden fairing, part glazing. Underneath the wing the pod, which now contained a single wheel, reached forward only to midwing. The undercarriage was completed by a nosewheel that retracted into the leading edge of the wing. The single-seater was 25 kg (55 lb) lighter than the I.Ae34.[2] The I.Ae.34 Ms did not distinguish themselves in the competition, which was dominated by the Slingsby Skys, failing to finish in the top twelve.[5] Both suffered landing damage in practice, attributed to their "long undercarriage".[6] One was withdrawn before the start of the competition proper,[7] and the second was damaged and withdrawn on day 4.

Horten notation

Some sources use the Horten notation, in which the I.Ae. 34 is the Horten XVa, the I.Ae. 34 M is the Horten XVb and the I.Ae. 41 the Horten XVc.

Specifications (I.Ae. 34a)

Data from [8]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related lists

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bridgman 1956, p. 39
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 History of the Fabrica Militar de Aviones
  3. ↑ Flight 27 June 1952 p.777 not 1954, as has been reported. Flight has the two aircraft as Horten XV; though in some early reports Flight refers to "two-seaters", images and references to "long undercarriage" identify the I.Ae.34 M single seater
  4. ↑ Flight 18 July 1952 p.75 Horten XV launch
  5. ↑ Flight 25 July 1952 p.87 S.I.G.C. 1952 final results table
  6. ↑ Flight 11 July 1952 p.31
  7. ↑ Flight 11 July 1952 p.32
  8. ↑ Horten, Reimar; Peter F. Selinger (1985). Nürflugel (in German) (1st ed.). Graz: H. Wieshaupt Verlag. pp. 59–93. ISBN 3-900310-09-2.
Bibliography
  • Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd. 

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