Pelzner Hang Glider

Willy Pelzner's gliders were designed to be simple and cheap to build and maintain, in order to encourage young people to engage in aviation. They were very light, unequal span biplane hang gliders with a strong wire and cane braced lightweight structure, covered in oiled paper. Fixed tail surfaces at the rear provided stability but control relied on adjustment of the centre of gravity by movement of the pilot's body. Pelzner flew his gliders in the first two Rhön meetings in 1920 and 1921. ==Operational history==

For much of the 1920 meeting, Pelzner led the small field with a 52 s, flight and, over 16 flights, a total distance of . However, towards the close of the contest Wolfgang Klemperer flew the FVA-1 Schwatze Düvel, designed and built by the students' club of the University of Aachen, the FVA (Flugwissenschaftliche Vereinigung Aachen, ()) on a 142 s flight over . With two more good flights Klemperer won first prize with Pelzner second. Only after the contest did the Aachen FVA-2 Blaue Maus and particularly the Hannover Vampyr show their superiority, though the Vampyr did receive a special prize. ==Specifications==