Schempp-Hirth Janus

Janus
Janus
	Janus Ce
General information
Type	Two Seater-class sailplane
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Schempp-Hirth
Designer	Klaus Holighaus
Number built	300
History
First flight	May 1974

The Schempp-Hirth Janus is a high performance two-seat glider that was built by Schempp-Hirth GmbH. It was the first high-performance two-seater.

Design and development

The design was by Dipl-Ing Klaus Holighaus and the prototype first flew in May 1974. The production examples incorporated several improvements in January 1975. The Janus has a glass-fibre monocoque fuselage similar to that of the Nimbus-2 but the cockpit section is lengthened to accommodate the two pilots in tandem with dual controls under a right-hand side-hinged one-piece canopy. Landing gear consists of either a non-retractable main wheel (Janus A, B & C) or a retractable main wheel (later models of Janus C and all Ce's) with a drum or disc brake, and a nose-wheel. The two-piece wings have 2° forward sweep on the leading edge, and have camber-changing flaps which are operated between +12° and -7°. The Janus has upper-surface airbrakes, and although uncommon the Janus C could also be fitted with a tail parachute.

The Janus was superseded by the unflapped Duo Discus which first flew in 1993; and the flapped Arcus which first flew in 2009.

Production

Group Of Chilean Airforce Schempp-Hirth Janus.

100 Januses were built by early 1980 plus three motorised Janus CMs. It is particularly suitable for instruction in cross-country flying in gliders with wing flaps.

Variants

Janus A
Janus B: The Janus B was produced from March 1978. It has a fixed-incidence tailplane instead of the all-moving type previously fitted.
Janus C: The Janus C has carbon-fibre wings of 20 m span and a carbon-fibre tailplane.
Janus Ce: The Janus Ce was certified in 1991 and incorporated modifications to the cockpit and fin.
Janus CM: motorised version with Rotax 535C engine
Janus CT: motorised version with Solo 2350 engine
Janus M: a motorised version with a Rotax engine mounted on a pylon aft of the cockpit and retracting into the fuselage. The prototype first flew in 1978.
SCAP–Lanaverre SL-2: The French developed the Janus as the SCAP–Lanaverre SL-2. (SCAP - Société de Commercialisation Aéronautique du Plessis SàRL) with Lanaverre Industries, It first flew in 1977. The main differences from the Janus A are the provision for water ballast in the wings, a fixed tailplane with elevators, and a more comfortable cockpit.

Specifications (Janus C)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89 ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Capacity: 2
Length: 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in)
Wingspan: 20 m (65 ft 7 in)
Height: 1.45 m (4 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 17.4 m² (187 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 23
Airfoil: root:Wortmann FX-67-K-170; tip:Wortmann FX-67-K-15
Empty weight: 355 kg (783 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 700 kg (1,543 lb)
Water ballast: 200–240 L (53–63 US gal; 44–53 imp gal)

Performance

Stall speed: 70 km/h (43 mph, 38 kn)
Never exceed speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn) ::::180 km/h (97 kn; 110 mph) on aero-tow

150 km/h (81 kn; 93 mph) on winch launch

g limits: +5.3 -2.65
Maximum glide ratio: 43.5 at 110 km/h (59 kn; 68 mph) at 36.5 kg/m² (7.5 lb/sq ft) wing loading
Rate of sink: 0.6 m/s (120 ft/min) at 90 km/h (49 kn; 56 mph) at 36.5 kg/m² (7.5 lb/sq ft) wing loading
Wing loading: 40 kg/m² (8.2 lb/sq ft) max

References

↑ John W.R. Taylor, ed. (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. London: Jane's Information Group. p. 630. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.

[JAWA88-89-1] John W.R. Taylor, ed. (1988). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. London: Jane's Information Group. p. 630. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.

[1]