Czech Master Resin's 1/72 scale
Stümmel Habicht

by Mark Davies

CMR's 1/72 scale Habicht is available online from Squadron

The Habicht (Hawk) was a fully aerobatic glider, first presented at the 1936 Olympic Games. It was stressed for a phenomenal +12 and -9 G, and had a very high rate of roll, and could achieve 450 kmh in a dive. Many future Luftwaffe pilots had their first experience of aerobatic flying in these gliders.

The Habicht was modified with a choice of shorter wings of either 8 or 6 metres span. This version was the Stümmel Habicht (Clipped Hawk), the subject of this CMR kit. The Stümmel Habicht was a training glider used to prepare pilots of the Me 163 rocket fighter for its gliding phase of flight. With a landing speed of 160 kmh it would seem it must have come close to simulating some of the Me 163’s characteristics!

I did come across a photo of a camouflaged Stümmel Habicht equipped with two sub-machine guns in the nose. These were experimental 9mm MP-40.

Although I don’t know the full background of the modification, I can only assume it had some training function like weapons simulation.

http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/habicht/Stummel-Habicht_03.jpg

http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/habicht/habicht_mp40_1.jpg

http://richard.ferriere.free.fr/habicht/habicht_mp40_2.jpg

Having fired sub-machine guns I can attest that you can’t hit anything effectively at the ranges an aircraft experiences, and a 9mm round would be of little use.  

CMR has a wide range of wide range of sporting and training gliders (see http://www.cmrmodels.co.uk/page/1-72scale_gliders.html), and I have built several as I feel they add some interest to a display cabinet of predominantly military models.

The Stümmel Habicht is a very simple kit to build, and will be added to my collection of Me 163’s and derivatives when they are finished.

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2008 by Mark Davies
Page Created 17 August, 2008
Last Updated 17 August, 2008

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