Edmund Schneider
Grunau 9
The Grunau 9, designed and built by German sailplane pioneer Edmund Schneider in the mid‑1930s, was an early effort to provide a lightweight, low‑cost trainer for the expanding German gliding movement. First flown in 1935 from the Schleissheim airfield near Munich, it incorporated lessons from Schneider’s earlier Grunau 7 and 8 models, featuring a refined wooden semi‑monocoque fuselage and a higher‑performance Göttingen 535 airfoil. Its 12‑metre (39 ft) wingspan, braced by a single strut on each side, gave a modest glide ratio of about 17:1, sufficient for novices to practice basic soaring and ridge‑lift techniques.
Key features included an open cockpit with a simple windscreen, easy‑release aileron controls, and a detachable wheel‑skid undercarriage that could be swapped for a pure skid for rough fields. The glider’s low wing loading and forgiving stall characteristics made it popular with clubs throughout Germany, Austria, and later Norway, where licensed production continued after World War II.
The Grunau 9’s significance lies in its role as a bridge between primitive primary gliders and the higher‑performance sailplanes of the late 1930s. By offering an affordable, robust platform, it broadened participation in sport gliding, supported pilot training programs that later fed the Luftwaffe, and demonstrated the practicality of mass‑produced wooden gliders.
Key features included an open cockpit with a simple windscreen, easy‑release aileron controls, and a detachable wheel‑skid undercarriage that could be swapped for a pure skid for rough fields. The glider’s low wing loading and forgiving stall characteristics made it popular with clubs throughout Germany, Austria, and later Norway, where licensed production continued after World War II.
The Grunau 9’s significance lies in its role as a bridge between primitive primary gliders and the higher‑performance sailplanes of the late 1930s. By offering an affordable, robust platform, it broadened participation in sport gliding, supported pilot training programs that later fed the Luftwaffe, and demonstrated the practicality of mass‑produced wooden gliders.
