Schreder Airmate HP-8 explained

The Schreder Airmate HP-8 is an American, high-wing single seat glider that was designed by Richard Schreder after the loss of the HP-7 in 1957.^{[1] [2]}

Airmate was the name of Schreder's design company.

Design and development

The HP-8 was designed as a result of the lessons learned in flying the HP-7 in the 1957 US Nationals. The HP-7 was destroyed in an aero-towing accident shortly after the Nationals and Schreder decided to improve on the earlier design with the HP-8. As in all of Schreder's designs, the HP stands for "high performance".

The HP-8 is an all-metal design with a very high aspect ratio wing of 24:1, that incorporates a NACA 65 (3)-618 airfoil. The wing is of only 110 square feet (10 m²) in area and this gives a high wing loading of 7.53 lbs/sq ft (36.8 kg/m²), allowing a high glide ratio at a high speed.

Operational history

The HP-8 was entered by Schreder in the 1958 US Nationals and placed first. Schreder set records with the aircraft in all three speed categories in 1959 and also flew it to first place in the 1960 US Nationals.

The sole example built was then sold to George B. Moffat, Jr. who raised the speed records that Schreder had set in the aircraft. The HP-8 was subsequently purchased by Fred Hefty and John Elizalde and donated to the National Soaring Museum.

Aircraft on display

• National Soaring Museum - 1. Currently listed as "under restoration"^[3]

References

• Book: Shenstone, B.S.. The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde Volume II. 1963. Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile (OSTIV) and Schweizer Aero-Revue. Zurich. 222–223. 1st. K.G. Wilkinson . English, French, German.
• Web site: HP-8 Airmate HP Aircraft, LLC. 8 April 2011. Activate Media. 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20020502111217/http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=167. 2 May 2002.
• Said. Bob. 1983 Sailplane Directory. Soaring Magazine. November 1983. 18. Soaring Society of America.
• Web site: Sailplanes in Our Collection. 26 February 2011. National Soaring Museum. 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110516142717/http://www.soaringmuseum.org/collection.html. 16 May 2011.

Notes and References

1. Web site: HP-8 Airmate HP Aircraft, LLC. 8 April 2011. Activate Media. 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20020502111217/http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=167. 2 May 2002.
2. Said. Bob. 1983 Sailplane Directory. Soaring Magazine. November 1983. 18. Soaring Society of America.
3. Web site: Sailplanes in Our Collection. 26 February 2011. National Soaring Museum. 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110516142717/http://www.soaringmuseum.org/collection.html. 16 May 2011.