Erwin Musger
Oberlerchner Mg 19 Steinadler
The Oberlerchner Mg 19 Steinadler is a classic Austrian single‑seat sailplane that emerged from the innovative mind of Erwin Musger in the late 1930s. First flown in 1938, the aircraft was produced by the Oberlerchner company in Vienna and quickly became a benchmark for performance‑focused gliders of its era. Built primarily of spruce and plywood, the Mg 19 features a high‑mounted, gull‑wing configuration with a 15‑metre span and an elegant, streamlined fuselage that houses the pilot in an open cockpit originally, later upgraded to a modestly enclosed canopy. Its all‑wood structure and generous aspect ratio gave it an outstanding glide ratio of about 22:1, allowing pilots to set several distance and altitude records in the pre‑war and post‑war periods. The Steinadler’s robust design also made it popular as a trainer, providing a forgiving handling character while still delivering competitive performance in contests. By demonstrating that a modestly sized, wooden sailplane could achieve both high efficiency and durability, the Mg 19 helped shape the development of modern gliders and cemented Erwin Musger’s reputation as a pioneering aircraft designer. Today, a handful of restored Mg 19s are displayed in Austrian museums and still fly at vintage glider gatherings, keeping Musger’s legacy aloft.
Classification
Dimensions
- Wing Area
- 21 square metre
- Length
- 7.75 metre
- Height
- 1.72 metre
- Mass
- 275 kilogram
Performance
- Maximum Speed
- 200 kilometre per hour
Production & History
- First Flight
- 1951