KRONFELD ON GLIDING AND SOARING.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

FOREWORD
A
THOUGH great strides have been made in the
development of motorless flying in Germany, during
the past ten years very little has been done until quite
recently in this country. There was a very short spell of
activity in 1922-23 which terminated in the birth of the
light aeroplane as we know it to-day. From then until
1930 no progress was made here ; in fact, little interest
was shown, except by a few, in the remarkable advances
that were being made in Germany under the energetic
direction of the Rhon-Rossitten Gesellschaft (the German
Gliding Association) assisted by the Government of the
Reich and municipal and other bodies.
In 1930 a few enthusiasts showed their faith in the future
possibilities of motorless flying by founding the British
Gliding Association. From the outset they realized that
the only method of getting the movement on its feet would
be by arranging for a series of practical demonstrations by a
sailplane pilot with an international reputation. The
pilot kindly lent for this purpose by the Rhon-Rossitten-
Gesellschaft was the author of this book and we are indebted
to him for the splendid demonstrations that he gave in
1930 and 1931 of the practical uses of a sailplane for scientific
and sporting purposes. The machine on which these
demonstrations were given was the famous " Wien "
a gift to Herr Kronfeld from the citizens of his native town.
Herr Kronfeld is not only a very skilful pilot but he has
seriously studied the scientific aspects of aeronautics
and meteorology and has an unusually broad experience
that is indeed rare. These special qualifications, combined
with a high degree of personal courage and skill, have
enabled him to win a world-wide reputation and to achieve
some truly remarkable flights under widely varying conditions.
His flight to some seven thousand feet above the
starting point (or ten thousand feet above sea level), and his
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