Specifications | Cockpit | More Photographs
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The first solo glider at Deeside Gliding Club is the SZD 51-1 or "Junior" sailplane. Once students are comfortably solo in the SZD 50-3 "Puchacz" two-seater, they are converted to the Junior single-seater. Having made a fairly advanced start to gliding by learning in the modern Puchacz, the transition into the Junior is a natural one, as the manufacturer had just such a transition in mind.
The Junior was designed by PZL Bielsko of Poland (the above photo is from the SZD-USA web site). It is a single-seater club sailplane with safe handling qualites, specifically designed for early solo and recreational flying. The Junior was designed from the outset as a club glider, not as a fixed gear version of a competition sailplane. It has a large and comfortable cockpit with the more upright seating position preferred by clubs, a fixed undercarriage with an oversized tire to soften landing, and an unusually strong airframe designed to endure 9,000 hours of demanding club operation. A key feature is a wing with considerably more wing area than racing sailplanes and an airfoil optimized for safe handling and smooth stall characteristics.
The Junior is a good choice for pilots during the critical early solo stage. But after developing basic flying skills in the Junior, many pilots continue to prefer it for cross-country and wave flying and even sports class competition. It is one of the most respected gliders in its class.
A brief review of the Junior by the legendary instructor Derek Piggott from the book “Gliding Safety":
The Junior is perhaps the least known of all the ‘club’ gliders, but it has many excellent features and has much the same best gliding angle as the ASK-23 and Grob 102, although this is at a lower flying speed. Perhaps the most striking and advantageous feature is the huge main wheel fitted with a disc brake. It reduces landing shocks and prevents damage when landing in rough fields. With a claimed glider ratio of 35:1 at 43 knots, the Junior is nearly 10 mph slower than other machines and this makes it particularly suited to thermalling in small, weak thermals. The lower speed is also an advantage for winch launching on a small site and ensures a really high launch. This machine is much closer than many other gliders to my own idea of a good club aircraft. In my opinion the lower circling speeds are a great advantage to the inexperienced pilot, and the chance of damage is always greatly reduced by lower landing speeds. This is why the K8 and the K18 were so successful and popular in the clubs.