Olympia II - Scale Soaring UK

OlympiaIIE l l io t t s of Newb u r y, L t d.Newbury Berks, EnglandThe EoN Olympia history began witha contest for a single design for the1940 Olympic Games to be held inHelsinki, Finland. The entrants includedthe Meise (Titmouse), designed by theDFS (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fürSegelflug) team led by Hans Jacobs,Akaflieg Munich’s contribution (designedby Ludwig Karch) the Mu 17, the Orlikfrom Poland, and two Italian designs.The selection committee chose theMeise after trials held in 1939, and thename became Olympia Meise. DFS sentout plans to a number of nations sobuilding could start in anticipation of theGames, but the Games were cancelledfollowing the outbreak of war.One of the structural features of theOlympia Meise was the incorporation ofa secondary spar in addition to the mainspar. This made the wing torsionally stiffand inhibited wing twist due to ailerondeflection.28The Meise had a semi-monocoqueply-covered fuselage, a classic torsionbox leading edged wing and a tailplanewith a minimum area stressed torsionbox leading edge. The tailplane is theweakest part of the aircraft and is proneto fail during inverted flight, rolls, andhigh velocities.The Olympia Meise was built in severalEuropean countries during the war. InEngland, following the war, the DFSplans were altered for mass productionby Chilton. One example was built there,and then all rights went to Elliotts. Afurniture-making firm before the war,Elliotts was involved in making aircraftparts during the war (Tiger Moth andMosquito, and Horsa and Hamilcargliders) and a return to building furniturewas disallowed by the Board of Trade.With the rights to the Olympia Meise inhand, Elliotts began sailplane production.First flight of the EoN Olympia was inearly 1947, and an initial production runof 100 units was started.The Olympia quickly became popularwith private owners and clubs and wasexported to a number of countries.The Olympia was produced in threeversions: the Mk I had a steel-sheathedwooden skid under the front of thefuselage, similar to the Meise; the MkII had single fixed wheel; the Mk IIIhad a jettisonable dolly landing gear.The framed canopy of the Meise wasreplaced by a single piece bubblecanopy with a sliding ventilation panel onthe port side.The two examples which Mark Nankivilphotographed for these walk-arounds areEoN Olympia II models.R/C Soaring Digest

References:Vince Cockett’s web site n/Olympia/Olympia.html is an excellent source ofdetailed information on the Olympia series.Coates, Andrew. Jane’s World Sailplanes and Motor Gliders. FlyingBooks, Ziff Davis Publishing Company, Great Britain, 1978.The World’s Sailplanes. OSTIV. Büchler & Co., Berne Switzerland,1958.Hardy, Michael. Gliders and Sailplanes of the World. Ian Allan Ltd.,London, 1982.Full size plans for a 1/4 scale model of the Olympic II are availablefrom Cliff Charlesworth at 41 Spring Road, Frome, Somerset, BA112JN, United KingdomA canopy for models built from these plans is available from http://www.sarik-vacform.com Olympia EoN Mk 2Span15 m (49’ 2.5”)Length6.61 m (21’ 8”)Wing areaAspect ratioWing section, rootWing section, tipWing twist, aerodynamic15.0 m2 (161.5 ft2)15.0Gö 549 mod.Gö 6765.0 degreesEmpty weight195 kg (430 lb)Max weight304 kg (670 lb)Max speed112 kt (208 km/h, 129 m/h)Min sinking speedMax rough air speedBest glide ratioMay 20090.67 m (2.2 ft)/sec @ 34 kt (63 km/h, 39 m/h)69 kt (128 km/h) 25 @ 39 kt (72.5 km/h, 45 m/h)29

EON Olympia II N606BGOwner:International Olympia ClubFlat Rock, IllinoisN606BG (formerly BGA 606) was first built by EON in 1948(S/N 078). It was restored in England and flown at Southdown.Restoration started in August 1993 and was completed inJune of ‘94. It was sold to a gentleman in Louisville, KY in Dec‘96, and shipped to the US on 5 APR ‘97. It was licensed asexperimental in the US 7-2-97. It was flown several times in1997, and then stored until purchased by the IOC (InternationalOlympia Club) on 8 Nov 2003. It has had over 150 launchesand been flown over 100 hours since then. It is based atLawrenceville, IL but is taken to Vintage Sailplane Regattas on aregular basis.The Olympia flies well, albeit slowly. She is honest in handlingand has no bad habits. She stalls in a straight forward manner,and recovers with minimal altitude loss by simply relievingback pressure on the stick. Large dive brakes are very effectiveallowing for steep approaches and easy landings. The largecockpit can handle tall pilots and, with padding, short ones. Sheis simply a joy to fly.When I went to the first WVSA vintage regatta at Lawrencevillea fellow from Kentucky was at the event with pictures of anOlympia he had just bought in England which he hoped tohave in time for the event. He never came back, but years laterwe heard the ship was for sale. For some unknown reason hehad only flown it a few times and then it just sat. We ended upbuying it as a syndicate called the IOC ( International OlympiaClub). When we got it we only needed to look it over and annualit. It is serial number 78, was BGA 606 and is now registered inthe USA as N606BG. One of the IOC ideas is to take it to VSAevents across the country and it has been to the east coast andas far west as Wichita.— Lee Cowie— David SchuurThe Olympia is in many respects a 15 meter version of the18 meter Weihe. The Olympia was designed to take largersized pilots including people over 6 ft tall ( many prewar gliderdesigns were for under nourished 14 year olds ) so I find it verycomfortable. The original DSF design had only a skid to take offand land on. Our ship is a post war model built in England byElliotts of Newbury. I enjoy flying the Olympia and find it straightforward and easy to fly. I find it very comfortable with even alittle wiggle room.30R/C Soaring Digest

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EoN Olympia IIb N480LYOwner:Mike CilursoSchnecksville, PennsylvaniaMy recollections of flying the Olympiawere all very favorable. It was a very easyglider to fly. I do not remember any badtendencies.It is hard to believe it was designed in the30’s. I have flown many newer ones thattook much more concentration and skill.Assembly and disassembly was easyfor an old glider. It usually took about 50minutes with two people.I gave the file on N49OLY to her newowner, Mike Cilurso of Schnecksville,PA. I remember she was built by Elliotsof Newbury in the UK in 1948. Herserial number is 081. I purchased it in1999 from two gentlemen in the UK,Colin Street and Peter Wells, and had itshipped to Charleston, SC.I hated to part with her.— Dennis BartonThe Olympia would thermal well becauseof her light weight, slow speed, and easewith which one could hold a 45 degreebank.The glider was a floater and not verygood on penetrating. I remember manyflights in windy weather when I would getto the top of a thermal and head upwindonly to find myself in need of anotherthermal at the same place I started thelast thermal. Then we would ride up thethermal again, being blown downwindand then heading upwind to do the wholething over again. It got lots of air time butvery little ground distance.Her spoilers were powerful and madespot landings easy.Her ability to float in ground effect savedme from an embarrassing short landing.On hot Tennessee days with no wind andgood thermals, she was delightful.38R/C Soaring Digest

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38 R/C Soaring Digest EoN Olympia IIb N480LY Owner: Mike Cilurso Schnecksville, Pennsylvania My recollections of flying the Olympia were all very favorable. It was a very easy glider to fly. I do not remember any bad tendencies. It is hard to believe it was designed in the 30’s. I have fl