DLR's Latest Research Sailplane - Discus-2c DLR

Kurzfassung

Latest in a long line of research sailplanes, the Discus 2C-DLR is the successor of the DG-300/17. It is employed as benchmark in evaluating glider performance using the GNSS based comparison method. The higher performance of the 18m span base aircraft Discus-2c compared to the DG enhances measurement accuracy of the newest generation of high performance sailplanes. The DG-300/17 was used solely as performance benchmark. The Discus 2C-DLR, however, can also be operated as fully-fledged research airplane for a variety of missions. This presentation will showcase its basic sensors and DAQ equipment as well as several missions that have already been realised. Lastly, some concepts of possible research campaigns will be presented.