Schempp-Hirth Janus

The Schempp-Hirth Janus is a high performance two-seat glider that was built by Schempp-Hirth GmbH. It was the first high-performance two-seater.

Design and development
The design was by Dipl-Ing Klaus Holighaus and the prototype first flew in May 1974. The production examples incorporated several improvements in January 1975. The Janus has a glass-fibre monocoque fuselage similar to that of the Nimbus-2 but the cockpit section is lengthened to accommodate the two pilots in tandem with dual controls under a right-hand side-hinged one-piece canopy. Landing gear consists of either a non-retractable main wheel (Janus A, B & C) or a retractable main wheel (later models of Janus C and all Ce's) with a drum or disc brake, and a nose-wheel. The two-piece wings have 2° forward sweep on the leading edge, and have camber-changing flaps which are operated between +12° and -7°. The Janus has upper-surface airbrakes, and although uncommon the Janus C could also be fitted with a tail parachute.

The Janus was superseded by the unflapped Duo Discus which first flew in 1993; and the flapped Arcus which first flew in 2009.

Production
100 Januses were built by early 1980 plus three motorised Janus CMs. It is particularly suitable for instruction in cross-country flying in gliders with wing flaps.

Variants

 * Janus A:
 * Janus B:The Janus B was produced from March 1978. It has a fixed-incidence tailplane instead of the all-moving type previously fitted.
 * Janus C:The Janus C has carbon-fibre wings of 20 m span and a carbon-fibre tailplane.
 * Janus Ce:The Janus Ce was certified in 1991 and incorporated modifications to the cockpit and fin.
 * Janus CM:motorised version with Rotax 535C engine
 * Janus CT:motorised version with Solo 2350 engine
 * Janus M :a motorised version with a Rotax engine mounted on a pylon aft of the cockpit and retracting into the fuselage. The prototype first flew in 1978.
 * SCAP–Lanaverre SL-2:The French developed the Janus as the SCAP–Lanaverre SL-2. (SCAP - Société de Commercialisation Aéronautique du Plessis SàRL) with Lanaverre Industries, It first flew in 1977. The main differences from the Janus A are the provision for water ballast in the wings, a fixed tailplane with elevators, and a more comfortable cockpit.