Horten Ho XVI "Colibri"

I designed a small tailless sailplane for the Buenos Aires club "Condor" in 1950. To make it inexpensive and easy for me club members to build, the wooden ship was constructed in one piece. I wanted to make the aircraft attractive to both students and experienced pilots, therefore a light medium performance 12 meter design was laid out.

Waldemar Sturm, the club's flight instructor, was in charge of the construction. He also test flew the "Colibri" in a straight auto tow across the Merlo airfield in 1952.

The aircraft was next taken to the larger Juarez-Celman field near Cordoba for further testing. Heinz Scheidhauer was given the opportunity to make the first aerotow.

Despite the 500 ft. long tow rope, he appeared to be caught in the propeller turbulence, and lost control. The Ho XVI touched the ground briefly, then shot up to about 50 feet, stalled and came down inverted. Miraculously, Scheidhauer appeared from the rubble with only minor bruises.

The "Colibri" was never rebuilt, due to the many unanswered questions regarding its stability and controllability.

Specifications

Schematic of the Ho XVI.

Horten Ho 16.

Now that's a light sailplane!.

View from the hanger roof.

The wreckage of the "Colibri".