General Aircraft GAL.56

__NOTOC__

The General Aircraft GAL 56 was a British tail-less swept wing glider design of the 1940s built by General Aircraft Ltd.

There were three GAL 56 of different wing form:
*Medium-V ("TS507") with constant sweep on leading and trailing edges
*Medium-U ("TS510"), with a parallel-chord centre section,
*Maximum-V ("TS513"), with increased sweepback on the quarter-chord line.

The first flew in November 1944, the last after the end of the Second World War. They were followed by the GAL.61 intended to be part of the series in a more finished form complete with retracting undercarriage and more of a flying wing but this was never completed and flown.

They were flown by pilots at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough and by General Aircraft themselves - their test pilot Robert Kronfeld was killed when one of them stalled and crashed.

pecifications (Medium-V)

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?= eng

crew=
capacity=
length m=
length ft=
length in=
span m=13.82
span ft=45
span in=4
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=
height ft=
height in=
wing area sqm=
wing area sqft=
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=
empty weight lb=
gross weight kg=2,000
gross weight lb=4,400
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=
eng1 type=
eng1 kw=
eng1 hp=
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

perfhide=Y

max speed kmh=
max speed mph=
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=
ceiling ft=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

ee also

aircontent
see also=
related=
similar aircraft=
* Horten Ho II
lists=
* List of gliders

References

* [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/GENERAL%20AIRCRAFT%20GAL56.htm British aircraft of WWII] 9 February 2007
* [http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/flying%20wings/britain.htm Century of flight flying wings] 9 February 2007