page_title: Hannover H 1 Vampyr
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Hannover H 1 Vampyr / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: HAWA Vampyr
context_page_description: The Hannover H.1 Vampyr was a German glider designed by Georg Madelung for the 1921 Rhön gliding competition held at the Wasserkuppe, from 8 August to 25 August 1921. The Vampyr was probably the first heavier than air aircraft to use stressed skin, it has been claimed as the precursor for all modern sailplanes.
context_section_description: The Vampyr was built specifically to compete in the 1921 Rhön Gliding competition at the Wasserkuppe. Arriving late with only three flying days remaining the Vampyr, given the entry number of 45and flying marking I, flown by Arthur Martens, soon demonstrated superior performance over the competition. Several long glides were carried out, unfortunately some long duration flights, which could have taken the first prize, were shortened due to Martens circling. No soaring was witnessed on competition flights, with the exception of the short tragic flight of Leusch in the Weltensegler.
  Unfortunately the Vampyr suffered a launch accident on its last launch in the competition, which resulted in other gliders overtaking it on the leader board. Despite the set-back the Vampyr still managed to earn some plaudits:
  3rd prize, of  2000 Marks, for lowest mean sinking speed.
  2nd prize, of 3,000 Marks, for the longest distance covered.
  The Kyffhauser-Flugspende, Frankenhausen Wing prize of 1,000 Marks.
  Highest co-efficient of glide (sic) prize of 15,000 Marks
  After the competition ended, several gliders stayed behind to hone their skills including the Vampyr, which was swiftly repaired after its launching accident. In early September the Vampyr made a 7.5 kilometre flight but still without soaring.
  The Vampyr continued flying after the 1921 competition and appeared at the 1922 Rhön competition with redesigned outer wing panels of greater area featuring wing warping instead of ailerons for roll control. At the 1922 competition steadily improving flights resulted in a flight time  of 3hrs 10 min was recorded at an altitude of 350 m (1,150 ft) on 19 August 1922, flown by Frederick Hentzen.
  Refined developments named Strolch and Moritz were developed b yKarl Bremer for Arthur Martens and flown in subsequent Rhön Gliding competitions.
  Today the sole Vampyr resides on display in the Deutsches Museum München –( German Museum, Munich). A replica is also on display at the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug (German Glider Museum) at the Wasserkuppe.
caption: Vampyr replica at the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum mit Modellflug (German Glider Museum) Wasserkuppe
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