Photograph:
British-registered HpH Glasflugel 304 Shark G-OHPH (unknown)
Country of origin:
Czech Republic
Description:
Single-seat self-launched glider
Power Plant:
One 39 kw (53 hp) SOLO 2625 01 two-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 18 m (59 ft)
- Length: 6.79 m (22 ft 3 in)
- Height: 1.48 m (4 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 11.8 m² (127 sq ft)
- Never exceed speed: 280 km/h (173 mph)
- Max glide ratio: 42.7
- Rate of sink: 34 m/min (112 ft/min)
- Aspect ratio: 27.43
- Wing loading: 29.6 kg/m² minimum – 50.8 kg/m² max
- Water ballast: 180 litres (40 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 426 kg (939 lb)
- Loaded weight: 602 kg (1,327 lb)
History:
The 304 MS Shark was one of a range of high performance gliders designed in Germany and built by HpH Ltd in the Czech Republic. It was a single-seater of composite construction available in the 15 metre Class up to the two-seat 20 metre Open Class and was developed from the German Glasflugel series of gliders built in the early 1980s. The Model 304 was the last of the gliders built in Germany by Glasflugel in co-operation with Schempp-Hirth and was designed by Martin Hansen. The aircraft had a parallelogram control stick and had trailing-edge flaps and airbrakes, automatic trimming, and heel-operated brakes. It could be dismantled quickly for storage or trailering.
The prototype of the series first flew in May 1980 and entered production shortly thereafter but Glasflugel closed in 1982 after 62 examples of the Model 304 had been completed and production was taken over for a short time in Yugoslavia by Jastreb as the Model 304B. Eventually it was placed back into production as the Model 304CZ with HpH using the original moulds and jigs. and new variants were produced, mainly as gliders. However, two variants were powered, the 304 MS Shark with the Solo engine and the 304 SJ Shark with a TBS 400N jet engine, this being a sustainer engine which weighed 10 kg (22 lb) and allowed a speed range climbing up to 185 km/h (115 mph). Advanced electronics automatically controlled the start and shut down sequences.
The MS variant of the Model 304 was powered by a Solo 2625 01 two-cylinder two-stroke in-line liquid-cooled (625 cc) engine with dual electronic ignition producing 39 kw (53 hp) at 5,900 rpm, with a max rpm of 7,000 rpm for one minute.
Examples of the Model 304MS have been imported to this part of the world, one to New Zealand becoming ZK-GCV (c/n 035-MS – ex OK-2304), registered to its owner at Dunsandel, on 18 March 2015, and one to Australia, being a Model 304S, which became VH-LPI4 (c/n 003-s – ex VH-GAG, OK-3131), registered on 28 April 2015.