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

Type designation: Grünau Baby-IIA and II-B
Name: Grünau Baby-IIA and IIB
Designer: Schneider, Edmund
Class: Advanced trainer
Wing span: 13.57 m
Crew: 1
First flight in Hungary: 1935
Number of built: 8
Number of imported: 4

Short historical background:

The LÜH bought the licence of the Grünau Baby-IIa in 1932 and had 5 Grünau Babys built by the Hungarian Aircraft Repair Works, Székesfehérvár, in 1934. The gliders were donated to clubs. One Grünau Baby-IIa went to MÁVAERO, one to MOVERO, Budapest and one to MOVERO, Gyöngyös. The remaining two went to the Flying Scouts, Budapest, in 1935. The glider became very popular. Other 3 were built by other clubs.

In 1944 four Grünau Baby-IIb versions were imported by MÁVAERO.

In 1936 Wolf Hirth, who had attended the ISTUS Congress in Budapest, went to Mátyásföld airport after the Congress and he was launched by winch in one of the Air Scouts's Grünau Baby-IIa-s for a demonstration flight. He crashed the glider when he was not able to recover from a looping. He was seriously injured and the glider was a write off. Wolf Hirth later donetad a Gö-1 Wolf glider to the Air Scouts to compensate for their crashed Grünau Baby-IIa.

Two Grünau Baby-IIa and two IIb versions had survived the war. The last one, a IIb version crashed in 1952 when her airbrake permanently opened up on one side during a flight. Her pilot walked out unscratched but the last Baby was completely destroyed.

Production
Hungarian Aircraft Repair Works, Székesfehérvár 1934 5
Autobus Plant of BSzKRt 1937 1
No. 13. "Ezermester" Boy Scout Group's workshop, MÁVAG, Budapest 1938 1
No. 248. "Vas" Boy Scout Group. Carpenter workshop of the Rima-Murány-Salgótarján Steel Works, Ózd 1938 1
TOTAL PRODUCED 8
Production

TOTAL IMPORTED 4






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