From a training glider to a stealth prototype. Tap an exhibit to learn more about it.
The Lockheed F-104 “Starfighter” is a single-engine fighter aircraft built in the USA. Starting in 1956, Lockheed and later Canadian and European licensees built the model in large numbers. It was the first aircraft ever to hold the world records for top speed (Mach 2.2), maximum altitude (31,513 m) and maximum rate of climb (244 m/s) at the same time. In Germany alone, more than 100,000 employees in various companies worked on the production of the Starfighter.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a single-engine interceptor developed in the Soviet Union. The MiG-21 entered service in 1959. Outside the USSR, it was first stationed in East Germany with the Soviet 16th Air Army. Top speed: 2,229 km/h, weight: 5,200 kg, length: 16 m.
Our museum aircraft is a gift from the Hungarian Air Force and was one of the 4 aircraft of the legendary Hungarian aerobatic team “Sky Hussars”.
Pre-prototype of a stealth fighter. While experts all over the world were puzzling over the appearance of the American Lockheed F-117 stealth aircraft, German engineers were also working on this technology under the strictest secrecy. From 1981 to 1987, a concept was developed at MBB under the code name Lampyridae (Latin for firefly).
The exhibit is the only existing wind tunnel model in the world, built on a scale of 4:5.
The fighter jet is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and brought Europe level with the USA in military aviation. Its top speed with afterburner is Mach 2.0. In supercruise, i.e. without afterburner and without external loads, it reaches Mach 1.5.
Our exhibit is the original wind tunnel model from the Eurofighter development programme.
The General Electric CF6-50C2 is a two-shaft turbofan engine for wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A300 or the Boeing 747. This successful model is one of the best-selling engines in its class and, 50 years ago, was MTU's first engine for civil aviation.
Max. thrust 23,200 kp / 51,000 lbs · length 757 cm · fan diameter 2,667 mm · weight 4,720 kg · fuel consumption 9,300 kg/h. This engine could hold 23.2 tonnes vertically in the air from a standing start.
Gerhard Neumann played a major role in developing this engine – as shown by the variable stators in the compressor, Neumann's ingenious invention. They are fitted in this large engine just as in the J79 engine of the Starfighter.
The SG 38 training glider is the most widely built aircraft for solo flight training in the 1940s. The glider was developed from 1936 and produced in large numbers from 1938, both by amateur builders and industry.
The SG 38 is a high-wing aircraft of wooden construction braced with steel cables. Glide ratio 8.3 at about 58 km/h. The abbreviation “SG” originally does not stand for “Schulgleiter” (training glider) but for Schneider in Grunau, year of introduction 1938.
The HFB 320 was the first jet aircraft to be developed from the drawing board to series production in the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II. Hamburger Flugzeugbau GmbH (HFB) began planning and designing a twin-engine business jet in 1962. The result was an unconventional and remarkable wing design with a forward sweep of 15 degrees.
The HFB 320 reached a top speed of 835 km/h and had a range of 2,370 km. Only 47 Hansa Jets were built and very few have survived – one of them in our museum, with a very special history: former Minister of Defence Franz Josef Strauß flew in it several times.
The Bölkow Bo 105 is a light helicopter built by the German manufacturer Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). Design work began in 1961 and it made its maiden flight on 16 February 1967.
Besides civil use, it was mainly operated by government users such as the police, the military, civil defence and disaster control, as well as in air rescue. The Bo 105 introduced the newly developed hingeless rotor head and was the first civil helicopter with a twin-engine drive using two turboshaft engines.
A special attraction in the museum is a Starfighter with its outer skin removed. This exhibit causes a lot of amazement, because the view inside the aircraft shows how all systems were fitted into a very confined space – a masterpiece of aircraft engineering!
Impressions
Click to enlarge: photos of the exhibition in a special light.
The best way to experience the exhibits is in person – on a guided tour with Josef Voggenreiter.
