what is it?
The Schneider ES49 is a two-seat glider trainer, designed, first flown in late August 1951 and commercially produced in Germany but later built from plans by gliding clubs in Australia. A major redesign there led to the ES49B Kangaroo.
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 75 years ago, in 1951.
- Wingspan of 16 m: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
no engine: No engine: it glides on rising air.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1951-08
- number built
- 13
- role
- two seat trainer glider
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co
- engines
- none (glider)
- length
- 8.6 m
- wingspan
- 16 m
- max take-off weight
- 480 kg
- top speed
- —
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q17153909, Wikipedia: Schneider ES-49 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.