Slingsby T3 Dagling (Zögling)
The Zögling (Pupil) primary trainer was designed in the mid twenties by Fritz Stamer and Alexander Lippisch who worked together at the Aeronautical Department of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft ( RRG). Strongly built with a solid wooden keel able to stand the rough and tumble of training, the Zögling were using from 1926 in the schools on the Wasserkuppe and at Rossitten and the drawing were published and sold all over Europe and the world.
Drawings for a version with steel tubes to support the tail were produced by Wolf Hirth. The drawings of this modified Zögling made their way, via the United States, to the London Gliding Club and Reginald Foster Dagnall whose RFD company manufactured it as the RFD Primary. Dagnall made some alterations to the design and the glider was renamed “Dagling”, combination of Dagnall and Zögling. Fred Slingsby took over construction in 1934 and production continued up to the outbreak of World War II. The Primary should not be confused with the similar T.38 Grasshopper which was produced for the Air Training Corps in the 1950s.
Of basic design, the Daglng was easy to build and to repair. On the minus side the Daglng had no provision for trimming ballast, which means a significant diffference to stability and sensitivity of the elevators depending of the weight of the pilot. The Dagling was nevertheless the forerunner of all the others primary gliders like the SG-38 and the SABCA Junior.
The remains of the BAPA machine were by an enthusiast who gave it free of charge to the association. No information is available about its origin.
Status : at the workshop, fully rebuilt.
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Note: Alexander Lippisch began his aeronautical career with this very basic design but specialized later in swept-wing and tailless designs like the Messerschmidt Me-163 rocket fighter and the Lippisch P-13 ramjet delta interceptor.
Drawings for a version with steel tubes to support the tail were produced by Wolf Hirth. The drawings of this modified Zögling made their way, via the United States, to the London Gliding Club and Reginald Foster Dagnall whose RFD company manufactured it as the RFD Primary. Dagnall made some alterations to the design and the glider was renamed “Dagling”, combination of Dagnall and Zögling. Fred Slingsby took over construction in 1934 and production continued up to the outbreak of World War II. The Primary should not be confused with the similar T.38 Grasshopper which was produced for the Air Training Corps in the 1950s.
Of basic design, the Daglng was easy to build and to repair. On the minus side the Daglng had no provision for trimming ballast, which means a significant diffference to stability and sensitivity of the elevators depending of the weight of the pilot. The Dagling was nevertheless the forerunner of all the others primary gliders like the SG-38 and the SABCA Junior.
The remains of the BAPA machine were by an enthusiast who gave it free of charge to the association. No information is available about its origin.
Status : at the workshop, fully rebuilt.
.
Note: Alexander Lippisch began his aeronautical career with this very basic design but specialized later in swept-wing and tailless designs like the Messerschmidt Me-163 rocket fighter and the Lippisch P-13 ramjet delta interceptor.
Above: a Dagling in 1939
Here under: the Dagling we received was more a jigsaw than a glider and much work was needed to rebuilt it.
Here under: the Dagling we received was more a jigsaw than a glider and much work was needed to rebuilt it.
Here under: if the fuselage was easy to rebuilt, the tail needed lots of repairs and the wings had to be completely rebuilt using the original spars and a few structural components.
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T3 Dagling characteristics : |
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| Length : 5,45m |
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Wingspan : 10,35 m |
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Wing area : 15,06 m² Wing Profil : Göttingen 326 |
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Empty weight: 82 kg Gross weight: 173 kg |
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Slingsby T3 Dagling reconstruction
The Zögling primary glider was designed mid twenties by Fritz Stamer and Alexander Lippisch. The machine in the BAPA collection is a version built by the British company Slingsby and named "Dagling". Donated by an aviation enthusiast many parts are missing and It will be completely rebuild for static display.
Above and left, June 2016: The machine that we received was a jigsaw with missing and damaged parts. The first job was to sort and identify the components to assess the work to be done.
Winter 2016 - fuselage reconstruction. The fuselage had been, for an unknown reason, carefully dismantled and was reassembled relatively easily thanks to the good condition of the parts.
The keel and the seat were in very good condition, missing only a few parts and needing only a good cleanup and a few repairs.
The keel and the seat were in very good condition, missing only a few parts and needing only a good cleanup and a few repairs.
Above, Winter 2016: Fuselage framework, keel and seat (with spare) are the main components of the fuselage. In good condition rassembly was relatively easy. At right, the fuselage reassembled, the fuselade skid and the seat back were missing and had to be built.
January 2017: The tailplane components were mostly complete but very damaged. Many repairs had to be done and at the end its nearly 20% of the structure that had to be replaced. The metallic parts were removed to be properly cleaned, treated and painted.
Summer 2017, the taiplane has beenl repaired and assembled with the fuselage in order to adjust the control cables and to manufacture the two missing steel tubes. The taiplane has been completed and fabric covered during the 2018 summer.
Summer 2017, the taiplane has beenl repaired and assembled with the fuselage in order to adjust the control cables and to manufacture the two missing steel tubes. The taiplane has been completed and fabric covered during the 2018 summer.
Above, tailplane components repaired . At left, the tailplane completed and attached to the fuselage using the two availabg steel tubes.Two new tubes had to be manufactured. Below: the tailplane complete and fabric covered.
In parralel to the tailplane repair new ribs for the wings were manufactured using a template made using the original drawings. Hopefully most of the ribs were identical and the many triplex gussets of various shapes needed were laser cut, saving a lot of manufacturing time.
Winter 2018-2019: the control cables, rusty but almost all in good condition, are cleaned and treated. The few missing control cables had to be manufactured.
Spring 2019: using the newly manufactured ribs and the original spars, the reconstruction of the left wing begin. This reconstruction, in which as many usable original stucture parts as possible are integrated, took months to complte.
Spring 2019: using the newly manufactured ribs and the original spars, the reconstruction of the left wing begin. This reconstruction, in which as many usable original stucture parts as possible are integrated, took months to complte.
Above: newly build ribs are inserted in the refurbished original spar, under you can see in darker color the original wing structure that has been installed and the first steps of installing the plywood wing root. At right: left wing is mostly complete and the installation of the plywood wing root is underway.
Now its the turn of the right wing to be rebuild & the ailerons, that have been refurbished and fabric covered, are installed to ensure all is ok.
Once done the glider is fully reassembled for the first time in May 2021 to verify and fine tune the command cables and the structure wires.
The final job is the fabric covering of the wings, using the good old dope.
The machine fully restored and fabric covered is displayed during an event at Temploux airfield ("le printemps de l'aviation") in march 2023, conclusion of a lenghty but nicely done restoration/reconstruction work of an interesting early trining glider.
Once done the glider is fully reassembled for the first time in May 2021 to verify and fine tune the command cables and the structure wires.
The final job is the fabric covering of the wings, using the good old dope.
The machine fully restored and fabric covered is displayed during an event at Temploux airfield ("le printemps de l'aviation") in march 2023, conclusion of a lenghty but nicely done restoration/reconstruction work of an interesting early trining glider.
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Above,aileron installed on the newly rebuilt right wing. The glider assembled for the first time in May 2021 and the fabric covering of the wings underway.
The machine fully restored and fabric covered displayed during an event at Temploux airfield ("le printemps de l'aviation") in march 2023.