User Guide

Flight Simulator
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Microsoft
Schweizer Aircraft
Company
The love of soaring: that’s the motivation that kept
the Schweizer brothers building sailplanes
through many years of less-than-soaring sales
volume. Although the company’s success was
largely from manufacturing other products, they
maintained a tradition of building some of the
world’s best sailplanes, even when it didn’t always
make the best business sense.
As teenaged boys, Ernest, Paul, and William
assembled their first glider at home in a barn in
1930. The model 1-1 was launched by manpower
(unlike modern gliders, which are towed aloft by
powered aircraft, winches, or automobiles), and
flown successfully by all members of the local
soaring club. It was an auspicious beginning.
It wasn’t long before the brothers formed the
Schweizer Aircraft Company (SAC). Though they
became widely respected for their designs and
manufacturing acumen, it would be many years
before a substantial enough market emerged to
support large-scale production of sailplanes for
private individuals. However, even during the lean
years, soaring records were set and soaring
events were won by pilots flying Schweizer
sailplanes. Schweizer aircraft became the
standard by which to measure sailplane perfor-
mance.
With the advent of World War II, nearly every
company having anything to do with aviation got
into defense work. The Schweizer Aircraft
Company built parts for many famous aircraft,
including the P–40 and P–47 fighters and the C–
46 transport, and they built gliders for the Army
Air Corps to use in pilot training programs.
After the war, there were thousands of surplus
gliders to be had cheaply, which dampened the
commercial sailplane market. SAC, based in
Elmira, New York, won a lucrative contract to
build the welded fuselage for a neighboring
company’s new machine: the Bell 47 helicopter.
SAC eventually built more than 1000 Bell 47
bodies. The company continued to be called upon
by the government and other aircraft manufactur-
ers as an important subcontractor of defense and
civilian aircraft projects.
The first truly successful Schweizer glider (in
terms of numbers built) was the SGS 1-26. It
could be factory assembled or purchased as a kit
for assembly by the owner. Over a 25-year
production run, 700 of these planes were built. In
1962 SAC introduced the classic SGS 2-32, still
considered to be one of the finest sailplanes ever
designed.
For nearly 40 years the company built the Ag Cat,
a radial-engine biplane used for spraying crops.
They also went into the helicopter business, and
today build three models in that line: the 300C,
300CB, and the 330SP. Still an active defense
contractor, their products include the Schweizer
SA 2–37A and RU–38 surveillance planes.
Sons of the three Schweizer brothers now run the
company. With the passing of the company’s
command to the next generation, Schweizer
Aircraft Corporation is one of the few remaining
family-owned aircraft manufacturers in the United
States.