Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932) was a wealthy Brazilian living in Paris, France and he played an important part in promoting the design and construction of airships for some years from 1898, and was one of the first ‘Aeronauts’ to build and fly an airship in controlled and sustained flight.
The Arcus was developed by Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH in Germany as a two-seat 20-meter high-performance glider and employed the latest developments in aerodynamic research and has been described as a high-performance and practical aircraft and complements the Company’s Duo Discus series of gliders.
The Discus series of gliders was designed by Klaus Holighaus and more than 850 examples of various models have been built, most as Standard Class gliders.
S E Saunders Ltd (later Saunders Roe) on the Isle of Wight was set up in the 1920s to design and construct amphibians and flying boats, and one of the first designs produced by the Company was the Saro A.17 Cutty Sark.
The Nimbus series of gliders over the years produced by Schempp-Hirth in Germany, and designed by Klaus Holighaus, has been very popular and has been produced in a number of variants, a number having sustainer engines, and others fitted with Rotax engines and able to self launch.
The Saro A.21 Windover was of similar configuration to the Cutty Sark but was larger and had three Gipsy II engines and could accommodate a crew of two and six passengers.
The Ventus is a motorised glider produced by Schempp-Hirth in Germany. It was produced during the years 1980 to 1994 and was designed by Klaus Holighaus and replaced the Mini-Nimbus on the production line.