DEVELOPMENT and DESCRIPTION

The Standard Cirrus, designed by Dipl. Ing. Klaus Holighaus, flew for the first time in March 1969. It is a high performance 15 metre version of the Open Cirrus, but has nothing in common with it in appearance. It has a new fuselage with a T-tail and a roomy cockpit complete with a one-piece hinged canopy. The wing has a new Wortmann aerofoil but, like the Open Cirrus, no flaps, and the aspect ratio is reduced from 25 to 22.5, providing a good climb rate even with heavy pilots.

The prototype Standard Cirrus first flew in March 1969 and production began in the summer of that year. The type proved to have very docile and pleasant handling qualities and soon made its mark in competition flying, winning the Standard Class at the International Soaring Competition at Hahnweide in 1969 and going on to win many national gliding contests. By April 1977, when production by Schempp-Hirth ended, a total of 700 Standard Cirruses had been built, including 200 built under licence by Grob Flugzeugbau, makers of the Astir series of sailplanes, between 1972 and July 1975. Manufacture of the type is being continued under licence from Schempp-Hirth by the French firm Lanaverre Industrie, formed at Bordeaux in 1977 by Morin SA and the boatbuilding concern Yachting France; 30 had been completed by 1 January 1979 as the Lanaverre Standard Cirrus, also known as the SCAP Cirrus 78L. VTC of Yugoslavia had also built 14 Standard Cirrus 75-VTCs by early 1979.

The Standard Cirrus 75 was an improved variant produced by Schempp-Hirth in 1975 which had enlarged fairings at the wing roots, increased area air brakes, a modified nose similar to that of the Nimbus 2, jettison valves for the wing water ballast tanks repositioned to behind the monowheel, and a new type of easy-to-rig tailplane fitting. The cantilever mid wings and the ailerons are glassfibre/foam sandwich structures. The large glassfibre Schempp-Hirth airbrakes operate only on the upper surface of the wings, reducing the risk of damage when landing away and keeping the lower surface of the wing aerodynamically clean. The fuselage is a glassfibre shell, 1.5mm thick, stiffened with bonded-in foam rings, and the T-tail unit is of glassfibre/foam sandwich, the tailplane being an all-moving surface. The standard landing gear is a manually-retractable monowheel, but a non-retractable faired mono-wheel is optional for the customer; in both cases there is a drum brake. The pilot sits in a semi-reclining seat and has adjustable rudder pedals.

The Standard Cirrus has exceptionally docile and pleasant handling characteristics and has won national competitions all over the world.

PERFORMANCE DATA

 

Three Axis View Schempp-Hirth Cirrus

GGC's STANDARD CIRRUS – VH-GVE

The Cirrus was purchased new through Bacchus Marsh Aviation Services in July, 1975. Assembled at the factory it was finished by the local agent. Being an early “75” variant it was fitted with a prototype water dump valve which proved unsatisfactory and since been replaced.

VH-GVE is the current Australian record holder for speed around a 300km triangle of 143.32km/hr, the record being set by Terry Cubley in December 1980 out of Bacchus Marsh. Suffering originally with problems of gelcoat cracking it has been subsequently refinished. It has been modified by the installation of a nose release to improve its aerotow launching characteristics.

For many years the best performing standard class glider in the club fleet it has now been eclipsed by more recent acquisitions, but is still regarded by many as the most responsive, though unforgiving, of the club fleet.

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