GLIDERS IMPORTED TO OR BUILT UNDER LICENCE IN HUNGARY
1929-1945

Type designation: Ra-35
Name: Rhönadler
Designer: Hans Jacobs
Class: Performance
Wing span: 17.4 m
Crew: 1
First flight in Hungary: 1936
Number of built: 7
Number of imported: -

Short historical background:

A popular performance glider of Hungarian gliding before the war was the Ra-35 Rhönadler. The glider's drawings were bought by different clubs the workshops of which were engaged to build them.

All Rhönadlers built in Hungary were a modified version. Lajos Rotter redesigned the canopy for better performance.

In 1936 a Rhönadler and the Karakán made a 67 km out-and-return flight flying together in wave on the Hármashatárhegy-Esztergom-Hármashatárhegy route. In 1939 one of the Rhönadlers participated in the olympic training camp at Szolnok. In 1941 Róbert Mérai-Horváth broke the Hungarian duration record flying MOVERO's Rhönadler performing a 26 hours 55 minutes flight over the hills of Farkashegy. In 1943 two pilots gained height over 3000 m in Rhönadlers. In the same year Tibor Szilas (Steff) performed a 254 km distance flight with a Rhönadler.

Two Rhönadlers survived the war and were use till the first half of the 1950s.

Production
MÁV Istvántelki Főműhely 1936 1
Autobus Plant of BSzKRt 1937 1
Central workshop of Air Scouts, Budapest 1938-40 2
(*) 1940 2
Workshop of MOVERO, Schwarzenberg street, Budapest 1941 1
TOTAL PRODUCED 7
(*) The sources cover only the production of five gliders. However register records as well as photographs confirm that 2 other gliders were produced in 1940.






Webmaster: Gábor FEKECS E-mail address: fekecs.gabor@t-online.hu