Volume 8 No 3 Jun 1957.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

Kronfeld was flying the "Rhongeist," aV-strolled machine which was the prototypeof the "Professor," the first quantityproducedhigh-performance sailplane andthe only one for the next three years (two orthree came to England). Dr. AlexanderLippisch, the designer, then produced ahOlled-up and larger-spanned version, the"Wien," the cost of which was defrayed bythe City of Vienna.. In this, Kroafeld begaabreaking records all over the place, startingon 15th May, 1929, with the world's fistrlOO-kilometre soaring flight; it was madealong the Teutoburger Wald, a range oflowhills which pass Oerlinghausen, ef morerecent gliding fame.At the 1929 contest on the Wasserkuppehe flew the Wien 89 miles to Hennsdorfwith a climb of 6,644 ft. on 20th July,making deliberate use ofa cold front for thefirst time; and then, on the 30th, 150 milesto Sienlas, near Bayreuth, startin& with aclimb to 8,494 ft. inside an enormouscumulus cloud. All these figures wereworld's records, and in. the following year he'raised the distance to 102 miles.Windsor) on Ivinghoe Beacon, helped by afew London Gliding Club members; theaffair was kept a dead secret and there wereno crowds.Next year Kronfeld was back in Englandin order to win a Daily Mail prize of£1,000for a double glide across the Channel on20th June, first from an aero-tow to 10,000ft. at St. Inglevert, and then from anotherto 9,000 ft. at Dover. This was the openingday of the competition, but the DailyExpress got one up on the Mail by having aCanadian opera singer cross the day beforefrom a tow to 12,000 ft. over Folkestone,using a Professor.A week later Kronfeld was demonstratingat Hanworth, the "London Air Park."From here, aftl;}r an aero-tow, he flew theWien across London to Chatham -on 30thJune 1931; then, after another aero-toWnext morning, he soared back to Hanworth.This time he had brought over not only theWien, but a curious new machine, theAustria, with a flimsy-looking cantileverwing of 98 ft. span, a hanging nacelle, anda boom supporting .the tail. It was the lastword in purely slope-soaring de