After getting off work this morning, I had some errands to run over in West Salem. I decided to take a detour to Monmouth to grab some lunch and then over to the Independence State Airport to seek out an aircraft I saw previously that I wanted to photograph and I was successful. The aircraft in question was a motor glider that was the predecessor to the plane I did my Private Pilot training in, the Diamond DA-20-C1 Katana. And when I mean predecessor, I mean before Diamond Aircraft was established; the motor glider I was after was a Hoffmann-Flugzeugbau H36 Dimona, the original. I've seen a HK36 Super Dimona in Salem five years ago and that aircraft clearly showed resemblance to the DA-20 I flew during my early days as a pilot, but this H36 Dimona also showed what it's design would eventually lead to and I must admit, it was pretty neat to see the type that started an aircraft family!
Independence (7S5) 6
Preview:
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| Hoffmann-Flugzeugbau H36 Dimona (N87PS) parked on the ramp. My first time seeing the predecessor to all Diamond Aircraft's single-engine fixed-wing designs that I would be familiar with. The original H36 Dimona comes in the conventional tail-wheel configuration. |
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| Designed by by Wolf Hoffmann and produced by Hoffmann Flugzeugbau, which became HOAC Flugzeugwerk and later Diamond Aircraft Industries, the original H36 has an incredible 27:1 glide ratio, while later variants were able to achieve a 28:1 glide ratio. |
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| Over 900 Dimona and Super Dimona frames have been produced, making the type a commercial success; it also provided the basis from which the Diamond DV20 Katana and the improved DA20 and four-seat DA40 series (that I'm intimately familiar with!) were later developed. |
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| Beechcraft B200 King Air (N169RW) parked on the ramp. Most likely visiting the Starduster Cafe for lunch, considering that Independence doesn't see too many corporate aircraft of this size too often! |
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