Schweizer SGU 1-19
| SGU 1-19 and SGU 1-20 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Open-class sailplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Schweizer Aircraft Corporation |
| Designer | Ernest Schweizer |
| First flight | 1944 |
| Number built | 50 |
The Schweizer SGU 1-19 and Schweizer SGU 1-20 are a family of United States single-seat, high-wing, strut-braced, utility gliders built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, New York.
The 1-19 was a 1944 development of the pre-war SGU 1-7 and bears a strong resemblance to the earlier craft. It was designed for single place training and soaring flights.
The 1-20 was an improved version of the 1-19 with a wingspan of 43 feet (13 m) replacing the 36-foot (11 m) wing on the 1-19.
Schweizer Aircraft had produced the SGS 2-8 and SGS 2-12 training gliders for the US military as well as producing many aircraft parts under subcontract for the war effort. As the Second World War was drawing to a close the company decided to continue to make gliding part of their business plan.
Many economic forecasts had predicted a post war aviation boom, with thousands of military trained airmen returning home to the USA to fly civil aircraft. Like many aircraft manufacturers Schweizer planned to produce new aircraft for the boom.
Once the war had ended the availability of cheap military surplus gliders severely limited the market for sales of new gliders. By the summer of 1948 it was obvious that the boom was not going to occur and this left manufacturers with surplus inventory of powered light aircraft and, in the case of Schweizer, gliders.
With production of the SGS 2-8 and SGS 2-12 military training gliders complete in 1944, Schweizer Aircraft did studies of a series of utility and sailplane designs, trying to determine what would best suit the post-war market. Design studies conducted in this period included:
None of these designs proceeded to the stage of constructing a prototype.
Schweizer Aircraft decided to concentrate on two designs, both based on the utility glider layout of the Schweizer SGU 1-7. The single place version was the 1-19 and the two place was designated as the SGU 2-22, both designed by Ernest Schweizer.
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