Wassmer Squale

what is it?

The Wassmer WA 26 Squale (English: Shark) is a single seat, 15 m (49 ft 3 in) span competition glider, designed and produced in France in the late 1960s. It has wooden wings and a glass fibre fuselage. The Wassmer WA 28 Espadon (English: Swordfish) is an aerodynamically very similar development with a glass fibre wing.

base stats

• size 353 kgmax take-off weight
• built 85made in total

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 59 years ago, in 1967.
• 🚗Wingspan of 15 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

no engine: No engine: it glides on rising air.

spec sheet

first flight

1967

number built

85

role

single seat high performance glider

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Wassmer

engines

none (glider)

crew

1

length

7.7 m

wingspan

15 m

max take-off weight

353 kg

top speed

—

range

—

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.