The RS-15 is a Richard Schreder-designed metal Racing Class sailplane that was offered as a kit for homebuilding during the 1970s and 1980s.[1]
Unlike Schreder's other designs, which are all designated HP (for High Performance), the RS-15 takes its nomenclature from the designer's initials and its wingspan in metres.
The dominating aesthetic feature of the RS-15 is its pod-and-boom fuselage. The forward fuselage is a composite molding, and the aft portion is a 6" diameter aluminum tube. The V-tail is essentially the same as on other contemporary Schreder sailplanes, differing only in detail design from that of the HP-18.
Unlike Schreder's HP-series gliders, the RS-15 was intended to achieve more modest performance, sacrificing performance for a shortened build time.
Early RS-15 models featured wings that were essentially the same as the HP-16, and using the same one-piece machined aluminum I-beam wing spar. Later units were supplied with wing kits nearly identical to those of the HP-18, using that ship's riveted aluminum box spar. Unlike the HP-18, however, RS-15 examples usually lack the flap/aileron interconnect that adjusts the neutral aileron deflection to match that of the flap in the range of -10 to +10 flap deflection. Some of these sailplanes with the updated HP-18 wings have -10 to +90 degrees flap deflection.
Major features: