Rolladen Schneider LS3
The LS3 is a single-seat glider of the "old " racing class, with 15 m wingspan and flaps. It was designed by Wolf Lemke, manufactured at the company shutters Schneider Flugzeugbau GmbH in Egelsbach near Frankfurt. First flight was on February 4, 1976. Unusually, in this plane the wings with full-length flaperons ( ailerons over the entire wing length are simultaneously moved as flaps ) and " single trapezoid shape ."
All controls ( gear, flaps and trim ) are mounted on the left side. The sprung undercarriage is very easy to enter and exit and is braked with the feet. Because the flap lever is fed directly to the push rod of the brake flaps, the flaps are pushed when the airbrakes are extended automatically in the landing position ( 10), which significantly reduces the risk of incorrect operation.
Properly successfully the LS3 was never in competitions. One got the aerodynamics of the aircraft after various improvements in the handle (airing of Wölbklappenspaltes and cover parts for the wing-fuselage junction). Even so bothered some drivers, the heavy weight of the LS3 ( rudder mass balance ), which helped her rise to the nickname "LS -lead ". In addition, the wing profile of the LS3 with a relative thickness of 17% is quite mosquitoes and rain sensitive.
The objective performance convincing, however: So the LS3 has presented very good glide ratios (> 40 ) and excellent high-speed flight performance in several surveys. The plane rises despite the high weight perfectly in thermals. Meanwhile Bugwipers have been introduced to compensate for the problems of the airfoil profile at pollution. Less well known is that in the original version all controls are automatically connected during installation. The sturdy aircraft has extremely good acting brake flaps bring the pilot reserves in landings in unfamiliar terrain. All in all, the LS3 an inexpensive glider with very good flight characteristics and performance.
In addition to the LS3 which is about 30 kg lighter LS3A was built in 1978, which was later marketed in a 17 m version with Ansteckflächen. With this lighter LS3A, which has now been rebuilt with separate ailerons and flaps, the discussion about the weight should be terminated. With the same MTOW also travel by water ballast was greater. Recently, variants were spotted with winglets.