Friday 14 September 2012

Homebuilt Gliders of New Zealand - Briegleb BG 12-16

The Breigleb BG 12 was a 1950's design by William G Briegleb that first flew in 1956.  Briegleb designed several gliders from the late 1930's through to the 1960's.  The BG 12 was developed over many years and the BG 12-16 variant first flew in 1968.  It had  a revised fuselage and a forward swept fin, and had an all flying tailplane.  It is of all wooden construction.

The BG 12 has a length of 21 feet 11 inches (6.68 metres) and a wingspan of 50 feet (15.24 metres) with an aspect ratio of 17.7, and a maximum glide ratio of 34 to 1.  Its empty weight was 500 pounds (227 Kg) and MAUW was 900 pounds (409 Kg).

The photos are from the Keith Morris collection.

Our only Briegleb BG 12-16 was ZK-GMR (c/n AACA/445) which was built by Derry L Belcher of Auckland and was first registered on 13/10/81.  Its first flight was on 18/10/81.  It is photo'd here flying over Auckland, but I do not have a record of who took the photo.

It has had a long life and is still current and still owned by Derry Belcher.  The above photo was taken at Matamata on 10/10/07.


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