Aircraft [Schneider AB Flygplan Grunau Baby IIb-2 ZK-GDG]
Maker and role
AB Flygplan, Manufacturer
Hirth and Schneider, Designer
Production date
1945
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
1982.753
Production period
Description
Grunau Baby IIb-2 Glider ZK-GDG was built in 1945. Silver monoplane with plywood fuselage and wings. Wooden frame inside the plywood panelling. Single seater airplane with a Perspex canopy. The fuselage is narrow with a tail unit. The wingspan is 13.56 m, almost twice the length of the aircraft. There is a red stripe down the silver fuselage. The stripe has an arrow head which runs under and past the cockpit area. The area around the cockpit is painted black. There is no registration marking on the wings or fuselage. There is no undercarriage.
Brief History
MOTAT’s Grunau Baby IIb-2 ZK-GDG was made in Sweden and is one of two imported by the Whakatane Gliding Club in 1963. In June 1965, the other glider, ZK-GDH was involved in a tragic accident in which the pilot was killed and the aircraft was written off. Following the accident, the ZK-GDG was stored and in circa 1971 was sold to the Thames Gliding Club. In 1972 ZK-GDG was donated to MOTAT.
The Grunau Baby was designed in Germany by Edmund Schneider as a single seat sailplane. Production began in 1933 and it is estimated that around 5000 Grunau Babies or derivatives were made worldwide.
In addition to training glider pilots, the Grunau Baby was used to train Luftwaffe pilots, who, in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, could not fly powered aircraft. Many pilots of the Baby II achieved the ‘Silver C’ soaring badge, which required the pilot to be airborne for more than five hours, gain a minimum of 1000 m after takeoff and travelling 50 km.
Date: 1945
Manufacturer: AB Flygplan, Sweden
Type: Single seat sailplane
Span: 13.6 m (45 ft)
Length: 5.9 m (20 ft)
Accommodation: One pilot
The Grunau Baby was designed in Germany by Edmund Schneider as a single seat sailplane. Production began in 1933 and it is estimated that around 5000 Grunau Babies or derivatives were made worldwide.
In addition to training glider pilots, the Grunau Baby was used to train Luftwaffe pilots, who, in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, could not fly powered aircraft. Many pilots of the Baby II achieved the ‘Silver C’ soaring badge, which required the pilot to be airborne for more than five hours, gain a minimum of 1000 m after takeoff and travelling 50 km.
Date: 1945
Manufacturer: AB Flygplan, Sweden
Type: Single seat sailplane
Span: 13.6 m (45 ft)
Length: 5.9 m (20 ft)
Accommodation: One pilot
Marks
ZK-GDG
Media/Materials
Credit Line
AB Flygplan et al. 1945. Aircraft [Schneider AB Flygplan Grunau Baby IIb-2 ZK-GDG], 1982.753. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
Public comments
"There is no registration marking on the wings or fuselage" Registration 'ZK-GDG' now interrupts the red stripe
- Errol Cavit posted 4 years ago.