science

Weltensegler

Weltensegler is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Weltensegler rather than just read about it. In short: Weltensegler G.m.b.H. was a German aircraft company formed by Friedrich Wenk, who became its Technical Director. Wenk developed tailless gliders and entered one in the 1921 Rhön gliding competition held at the Wasserkuppe, from 8 August to 25 August 1921.

Key takeaways

Weltensegler belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Weltensegler to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Weltensegler from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Weltensegler G.m.b.H. was a German aircraft company formed by Friedrich Wenk, who became its Technical Director. Wenk developed tailless gliders and entered one in the 1921 Rhön gliding competition held at the Wasserkuppe, from 8 August to 25 August 1921. The aeronautical engineer Alexander Lippisch was an employee.

History Friedrich Wenk had experimented with model gliders since his teen-age years and discovered that tailless gliders would fly with swept back wings and forward centres of gravity. Stabilising moments in Wenk's designs were provided by swept back wing-tips set with negative incidence relative to the rest of the main-plane. After limited success, Wenk was fortunate enough to secure financial backing, allowing him to form Weltensegler G.m.b.H. to design and build his designs. In 1921 Weltensegler entered a glider in the Rhön competition. That same spring, Lippisch designed the Falke, a low-wing monoplane which was structurally unsound. The wing was removed and tested as a hang glider, before being enlarged and, in the winter of 1921-22, incorporated in the Alexander training glider. 1923 saw Fritz Stamer design another training glider the Bremen, with Lippisch designing its wing. Lippisch also designed another trainer, Djävlar Annamar, which was a braced monoplane. The Steinmann Company would later build an improved version.

The 1921 Rhön competition glider

Design and development The glider built for the 1921 Rhön competition was a monoplane with a constant chord un-swept centre section extending to approx 2/3rds span with around 10 degrees dihedral. The wing-tips attached to the tips of the centre section were swept back at approx 45 degrees with washout increasing towards the tip, giving a gull like appearance. The structure of the wings was provided by the thin section ribs, spars and an open framework wire-braced truss under the wing surfaces from the tips of the centre section inboard to the pilots nacelle, which was underslung from the centre of the wing. The flying controls for the Weltensegler were unorthodox and unique, consisting of a system of cables pulleys and springs, connected to a control stick for the pilot, to warp the wing-tips as desired. Pulling back on the stick increased the negative incidence of the wing-tips giving a nose up moment and vice versa pushing the stick forward released the tension on the springs in the circuit allowing the tips to decrease incidence, giving a nose down moment. Roll control was similar but differential with tension increased one side and released the other. The unusual method was unique in that the pilot had no direct control over the wing-tips relying on the incidence changing with the increase and release of tension in the springs. This system was also expected to confer increased stability in pitch and roll by automatic changes in wing-tip incidence.

Operational history The Weltensegler was assembled at the Wasserkuppe and was ready for the competition on 14 August 1921. Piloted by Willy Leusch, Weltensegler's company test pilot, the glider was carried by the crew at a gentle trot and thrown forward into the breeze blowing up the slope of the Wasserkuppe. The Weltensegler flew smoothly, climbing to around 80m, but a turn to the left ended in disaster when the bank increased with the turn tightening into a spiral dive with increasing airspeed. The loads on the wing increased exponentially as the speed increased and soon the wing failed, fluttering to the ground with the unfortunate Leusch in the cockpit nacelle who was killed on impact. Despite the very brief career of the Weltensegler, it was the first glider to gain height and soar, marking the beginning of the sport of gliding.

Specifications (1921 competition glider) Data from General characteristics Crew: 1 Wingspan: 16 m (52 ft 6 in) Wing area: 22 m2 (236.8 sq ft) Performance

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Weltensegler

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Weltensegler claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Weltensegler before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Weltensegler ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Weltensegler

In research: Weltensegler appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Weltensegler in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Weltensegler is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920s German sailplanes, 1921 in aviation, Aircraft first flown in 1921, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Weltensegler outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Weltensegler in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Weltensegler means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Weltensegler out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Weltensegler in simple terms?

Why does Weltensegler matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Weltensegler?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Weltensegler.