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The History
of Glasflügel Ing. Eugen Hänle / Schlattstall  Founded
by Eugen Hänle in 1957 the Glasflügel Company was located in Schlattstall, in the south
of Kirchheim/Teck. By the logo of a dragonfly (German "Libelle") the company is
recognized up to the present. In May 1975, financial problems lead to a co-operation with
the Schempp-Hirth. Until 1979 Glasflügel carried the name "Holighaus &
Hillenbrand+CoKG" and was then dissolved in 1982 as a German-Brasilian Aircraft
Consortium.
The founder
Eugen Hänle himself was killed in a flight accident on 21st of September, 1975.
In 1964
Glasflügel started the large-scale production of H 301 Libelle, a 15m glider with wing
flaps, which achieved performances far ahead of others in the newly created 15 m class in
1975. A total of more than 100 gliders of this type, which is also known as Open Libelle,
were produced between 1964 and 1969. Thus, the first time in history a fiber glass
aircraft construction was mass-produced! Other famous glider types as well were built by
Glasflügel, e.g. BS 1, Standard Libelle, Kestrel, Glasflügel 604, Club Libelle, Hornet,
Mosquito, Glasflügel 304 and Glasflügel 402. Additionally, there were some more
prototypes; the 202, 203 and 204 for example preceded the Club Libelle and Hornet.
Interesting but never finished was the project of a two seater with side by side seats,
the Glasflügel 701 and 704. Similar to the Calif it was conceived with a double wheel
undercarriage, a T-shaped elevator with stabilizer, flaps divided in three sections over a
wingspan of 19 meters for the Glasflügel 701 and 22 meters with a surface area of 18,76
m² for
 the Glasflügel 704. On 8th of January 1981 Hansjörg Streifeneder started the
construction of Falcon, working in his spare time the factory floors of Glasflügel.
Falcon became an advanced standard class glider. The calculations and measurements were
carried out by Martin Hansen, another Glasflügel employee of those days. Hansjörg
Streifeneder himself made the first testing flight in Braunschweig on 7th July 1981.
After the
bankruptcy of Glasflügel, Hansjörg Streifeneder felt committed to the work of Eugen
Hänle and continued with the maintenance and certification of all Glasflügel gliders. He
founded the Glasflügel Aircraft Service GmbH. At first he worked in the old Glasflügel
facilities, but soon he built completely new facilities in Grabenstetten. In the first
years he concentrated on maintenance, surface finishing, service and repair work of
Glasflügel aircrafts and also gliders from other manufacturers. Nowadays his company
offers a wide range of services to the international aerospace industry and is specialized
in composite technologies.
urvey of manufacturing
| Type |
Year |
Number built |
| H 30 GFK |
1962 |
1 |
| H 301 Libelle |
1964 until1969 |
108 |
| Glasflügel BS 1 |
1966 until 1968 |
18 |
| Standard Libelle |
1967 until 1974 |
600 |
| Kestrel |
1968 until 1975 |
129 |
| Glasflügel 604 |
1970 until 1973 |
10 |
| Standard Libelle 202 |
1970 |
1 |
| Standard Libelle 203 |
1972 until 1973 |
2 |
| Standard Libelle 204 |
1973 |
1 |
| Club Libelle 205 |
1973 until 1976 |
171 |
| Hornet |
1974 until 1979 |
89 |
| Hornet C |
1979 until 1980 |
12 |
| Mosquito |
1976 until 1980 |
199 |
| Glasflügel 304 |
1980 until 1982 |
62 |
| Glasflügel 402 |
1981 |
1 |
| Falcon |
1981 |
1 |
We are always in search of photographs showing gliders of our clients. If you hold the
copyright and want to publish it on this website, please send it to:
info@streifly.de |
