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Private company

Glasflügel

1962-1982 glider manufacturer in Germany1

The firm Glasflügel (German: glass wings) was founded by Eugen Hänle in 1962 and was located in Schlattstall, south of Kirchheim unter Teck. It was the first firm to manufacture a glass-fibre sailplane in large numbers.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1962Founded1

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The firm Glasflügel (German: glass wings) was founded by Eugen Hänle in 1962 and was located in Schlattstall, south of Kirchheim unter Teck. It was the first firm to manufacture a glass-fibre sailplane in large numbers. It was also responsible for a large number of innovations in sailplane design and technology: quick assembly systems for wings and tailplane, automatic control connections, trailing edge airbrake-flap combinations, hinged instrument panels, the parallelogram control stick and automatic trimming are some innovations introduced by Glasflügel and later adopted by other manufacturers. Some of these are standard features in nearly all gliders produced today.2

Products and brands

  • glider

Listed on Wikidata.1

Products

The following glider types were manufactured by Glasflügel:

Glasflügel BS-1

Glasflügel H-30 GFK

Glasflügel H-101 Salto

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Glasflügel H-201 Standard-Libelle

Glasflügel H-301 Libelle

Glasflügel 202 Standard-Libelle

Glasflügel 203 Standard-Libelle

Glasflügel 204 Standard-Libelle

Glasflügel 205 Club Libelle

Glasflügel 206 Hornet

Glasflügel Hornet C

Glasflügel 303 Mosquito

Glasflügel 304

Glasflügel 401 Kestrel

Glasflügel 402

Glasflügel 604

Hansjörg Streifeneder Falcon

The projected Glasflügel 701 and 704 side-by-side two-seaters did not materialise due to the demise of the company.

Licensed production

The British company Slingsby Aviation built the Kestrel under license as the Slingsby T-59. Slingsby later developed the Slingsby Vega, a family of 15-metre span gliders heavily influenced by its previous experience with Glasflügel designs.

From Wikipedia’s article on Glasflügel, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1982Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1962Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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