Hall Cherokee II
Encyclopedia
The Hall Cherokee II is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
high-wing, single seat glider
Glider (sailplane)
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...
that was designed by Stan Hall and introduced in 1956 as plans for amateur construction
Homebuilt aircraft
Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
.
Due to its low cost and ease of construction, the Cherokee II is one of the most produced home-built gliders.
Design and development
The Cherokee was designed by Hall to provide homebuilders with an easy-to-construct and inexpensive aircraft that would give performance at least equal to the Schweizer SGS 1-26Schweizer SGS 1-26
The Schweizer SGS 1-26 is a United States One-Design, single-seat, mid-wing glider built by Schweizer Aircraft of Elmira, New York.The SGS 1-26 enjoyed a very long production run from its first flight in 1954 until 1979, when production was ended. The 1-26 was replaced in production by the...
, which had flown two years earlier.
The Cherokee structure is built from wood and covered in doped aircraft fabric covering
Aircraft fabric covering
Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures, the de Havilland Mosquito being an example of this technique....
. The fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
features truss construction, with longerons and gussets and a fixed monowheel landing gear. The wing has two spars, with geodetic braces handling the torsion loads and is built with a fixed center section and removable outer wing panels. The wings have spoilers
Spoiler (aeronautics)
In aeronautics, a spoiler is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Spoilers are plates on the top surface of a wing which can be extended upward into the airflow and spoil it. By doing so, the spoiler creates a carefully controlled stall over the portion of the wing behind it, greatly...
on the top surfaces and use a Gö 549 airfoil
Airfoil
An airfoil or aerofoil is the shape of a wing or blade or sail as seen in cross-section....
.
As with all plans-built aircraft, builders have made modifications to the design. Some examples have been built with leading edge
Leading edge
The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air; alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil section. The first is an aerodynamic definition, the second a structural one....
s made from aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
, cardboard
Cardboard
Corrugated fiberboard is a paper-based material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is widely used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes and shipping containers....
, glass reinforced plastic and plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
and with many different styles of canopy.
Operational history
The first Cherokee II to fly was built by Frank Kerns and George McGinnis in 1956. The first flight was done by the designer, Stan Hall, in the late summer of 1956.Cherokee IIs have been used to earn many Gold badges as well as some Diamond badge legs. The first 300 km flight of a Cherokee II, for Gold Distance and Diamond Goal, was done by Ray Proenneke in April 1960. To date, the longest distance flown in a Cherokee is 260 miles (418.4 km), flown by Jim Hard in June 1965.
Cherokee IIs have occasionally been flown in competition, usually in regional handicapped contests. The prototype Cherokee II was entered in the 1956 US National Championships at Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
, but was not allowed to compete as it had not flown the FAA-required 50 hours of flight test time within 25 miles (40.2 km) of its home airport. In 1959, two Cherokee IIs competed at the Canadian national contest, with Ross Grady placing second and a team of Jim Reid and Ken Lewandowski coming in third. In Class II of the 1960 US West Coast Championship, George Asdel and Stan Hall took first and second, respectively, in their Cherokee IIs. Ray Proenneke flew in many US west coast meets and contests in the early 1960s and won the Torrey Pines
Torrey Pines
Torrey Pines can refer to:*Torrey Pine, a broad, open-crowned pine.*Torrey Pines Golf Course, a municipal public golf course owned by the city of San Diego, California....
meet in 1964. Bud Brown flew several regional contests in the US midwest in the late 1960s, placing 7th, winning the handicap trophy, in the Wright Memorial Meet of 1967. In the 1968 Region 6 Contest Bud flew to 11th overall, but once again won the handicap trophy. In 1967, Peter Newgard flew his Cherokee to first place in the 25:1 glide ratio and under category at the US Region 11 contest. Carl Herold won the 1976 US Region 11 Sports Class contest in a borrowed Cherokee II. In the 1978 US Region 4 Sports Class contest, Ted Garnett came in first in his Cherokee II. Dean Gradwell placed 5th in the US Region 11 Sports Class in 1983, winning one day's competition. Tony Condon placed 3rd in the 2011 US Region 10 Soaring Championships flying his Cherokee II, winning two days.
In March 2011 there were at least two Cherokee IIs in airworthy condition, one in the USA and another in Australia. The original Cherokee RM, built by Ree and Miller, had recently been flown after an extensive restoration. At least three Cherokee IIs were currently undergoing restoration, two in the USA and one in Australia.
Variants
Cherokee II- Original design with a 40 ft (12.2 m) wingspan. About 100 built in the USA, Canada and Australia.
Cherokee RM
- Modified version, designed by Terry Miller and John Ree, first flown in 1966 with a 44 ft (13.4 m) wingspan. The wing has an increased aspect ratio of 16.4:1, producing a wing area of 7 sq ft (0.65032128 m²) less and a wing loading 1 lb per sq ft higher. The wing uses a NACANACA- Organizations :* National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of the U.S. federal agency NASA* National Association for Campus Activities, an organization for programmers of university and college activities...
63(3)-618 laminar flow airfoil and achieves a glide ratio of 28:1. About 6 were built.
Cook LEC-1 Modified Cherokee
- Built as a stock Cherokee II by Larry Cook of Hershey, PennsylvaniaHershey, PennsylvaniaHershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...
the aircraft was damaged and rebuilt with the wing from a Miller TernMiller Tern|-See also:-External links:**...
, giving it a wingspan of 47.3 ft (14.4 m). The aircraft was later further modified by later owners adding 6 ft (1.8 m) span spoilersSpoiler (aeronautics)In aeronautics, a spoiler is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Spoilers are plates on the top surface of a wing which can be extended upward into the airflow and spoil it. By doing so, the spoiler creates a carefully controlled stall over the portion of the wing behind it, greatly...
on the upper wing surfaces, removing the dorsal fin, increasing the fin chord, as well as adding flapsFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
and small rear windows. The aircraft is listed by the FAA as having been built in 1966 and destroyed in 2002.
Leonard Annebula
Leonard Annebula
|-See also:...
- Version with a 49.21 ft (15 m) wingspan, Prue-style trailing edgeTrailing edgeThe trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge rejoins. Essential control surfaces are attached here to redirect the air flow and exert a controlling force by changing its momentum...
airbrakeAir brake (aircraft)In aeronautics, air brakes or speedbrakes are a type of flight control surface used on an aircraft to increase drag or increase the angle of approach during landing....
s and glide ratio of 31:1. One was completed in 1967.
Jobagy Bagyjo
- Version built by John Jobagy and completed in 1962. It featured a Briegleb BG-12 fuselage and empennage with Cherokee II wings.
Aircraft on display
- Aero Space MuseumAero Space MuseumThe Aero Space Museum of Calgary is a museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located immediately south of the Calgary International Airport....
of Calgary - Jobagy Bagyjo - Classic Flyers MuseumClassic Flyers MuseumThe The Classic Flyers Museum is an aviation museum located at the Tauranga Airport, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, owned by a registered New Zealand charitable trust, the Bay of Plenty Classic Aircraft Trust....
- Cherokee II - Dakota Territory Air MuseumDakota Territory Air MuseumThe Dakota Territory Air Museum is an aerospace museum in Minot, North Dakota near Minot International Airport.-Collection:The collections include a Lockheed 33 Jet Trainer, Douglas C-47, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, L-29 Soviet Jet Trainer, The Oldest Starduster Biplane in the World and many other...
- Cherokee II, currently in storage - Iowa Aviation MuseumIowa Aviation MuseumThe Iowa Aviation Museum is located at the Greenfield Municipal Airport in Greenfield, Iowa, and is dedicated to preserving Iowa's aviation heritage...
- Cherokee II - National Soaring MuseumNational Soaring MuseumThe National Soaring Museum is an aviation museum whose stated aim is to preserve the history of motorless flight. It is located on top of Harris Hill near Elmira, New York, USA.The NSM is the Soaring Society of America's official repository...
- Cherokee RM, currently in storage - Southwest Soaring Museum - Cherokee II and Cherokee RM
- Wings of History Museum - Cherokee II, currently in storage
Specifications (Cherokee II)
External links
- List of all known Cherokee IIs
- Photo of Cherokee II in the Classic Flyers MuseumClassic Flyers MuseumThe The Classic Flyers Museum is an aviation museum located at the Tauranga Airport, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, owned by a registered New Zealand charitable trust, the Bay of Plenty Classic Aircraft Trust....
- Another photo of Cherokee II in the Classic Flyers Museum
