- Oberlerchner Mg 23
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Mg 23 Role Single seat high performance sailplane National origin Austria Manufacturer Josef Oberlerchner Holzindustrie, Spittal an der Drau Designer Erwin Musger First flight 25 June 1955 (Mg 23 prototype) Number built 94 by March 1966, including prototype The Oberlerchner Mg 23 is a single seat, all wood, high performance sailplane. It was built and first flown in Austria in 1955, though it did not go into production until the early 1960s when a total of 94 were built.
Contents
Design and development
The Mg 23, an Erwin Musger design often known as the Musger Mg 23, was an all wood shoulder wing aircraft. Its wing had a straight leading edge, a constant chord inner section with taper outboard and 2.5° of dihedral. The wing tips have small tip fences. It was built around a single wooden spar and wood covered apart from the ailerons, which were fabric covered. Wooden Schempp-Hirth spoilers were fitted. The tail surfaces were fabric covered, the tailplane narrow in chord and straight tapered with a Flettner tab on the starboard elevator. One change between the prototype Mg 23 and the production Mg 23 SL was that the size of the fin and rudder was increased; on the SL the fin was straight edged apart from a curved fuselage fillet but the trailing edge of the wide, deep rudder was rounded.[1]
The fuselage was an oval section wooden semi-monocoque, tapering to the rear. On the production SL the fuselage line over the wings merged into a forward sliding canopy, which was longer than that of the prototype. The Mg 23 SL had a fixed monowheel undercarriage, with both integral nose and tail skids.[1]
The Mg 23 prototype flew on 25 June 1955, flight testing leading to the increase in vertical tail size and a modified canopy on the production aircraft, the first of which first flew on 1 April 1962.[1]
Operational history
93 Mg 23 SL had been built by March 1966.[1] In mid-2010, 11 Mg 23s were on the civil registers of European countries, 9 in Austria, 1 in Switzerland and 1 in the Netherlands.[2] Others have flown in the USA.
Aircraft on display
A Mg 23, one of those still on the Austrian register, is on display in the Flugmuseum Aviaticum, Wiener Neustadt-Ost, Austria[3]
Variants
- Mg 23
- Prototype, one built.
- Mg 23 SL
- Production model, 93 built.
Specifications (production Mg 23 SL)
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1966/7[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 7.22 m (23 ft 8 in)
- Wingspan: 16.40 m (53 ft 10 in)
- Height: 1.49 m (4 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 14.21 m2 (153.0 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 18.54
- Airfoil: NACA 631315
- Empty weight: 240 kg (529 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 360 kg (794 lb)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 220 km/h (140 mph; 120 kn) smooth air
- Stall speed: 60 km/h (37 mph; 32 kn)
- Maximum glide ratio: 33:1 at 85 km/h (53 mph)
- Rate of sink: 0.64 m/s (126 ft/min) minimum, at 78 km/h (49 mph)
References
- ^ a b c d e Taylor, John W R (1966). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1966-67. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd. p. 382.
- ^ Partington, Dave (2010). European registers handbook 2010. Coulsdon, Surrey: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 614. ISBN 13 9780 7106 2916 6.
- ^ "Mg 23 on display in Vienna". http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1075167/. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
Lists relating to aviation General Aircraft (manufacturers) · Aircraft engines (manufacturers) · Airlines (defunct) · Airports · Civil authorities · Museums · Registration prefixes · Rotorcraft (manufacturers) · TimelineMilitary Accidents/incidents Records Categories:- Austrian sailplanes 1950-1959
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