title: Akaflieg Berlin B8
text: # Akaflieg Berlin B8
  
  The Akaflieg Berlin B8 was a German sailplane built in the late 1930s for the 1939 Olympic games glider competition in Rome. It was a high-wing sailplane with a cantilever shoulder-wing, dive air-brakes and all wood construction.
  
  ## Specifications (variant specified)
  
  Data from , Flugzeug-Typenbuch. Handbuch der deutschen Luftfahrt- und Zubehör-Industrie 1944
  
  General characteristics
  
  * Crew: 1
  * Length: 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in)
  * Wingspan: 15 m (49 ft 3 in)
  * Height: 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
  * Wing area: 15.6 $m^2$ (168 sq ft)
  * Length de-rigged: 7.1 m (23 ft)
  * Width de-rigged (without tailplane): 0.65 m (2 ft 2 in)
  * Width de-rigged (with tailplane): 3 m (10 ft)
  * Height de-rigged: 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
  * Aspect ratio: 14.41
  * Airfoil: root:Göttingen 549; mid-span: Göttingen 535; tip: Göttingen 535; tail unit: NACA 0012
  * Empty weight: 165 kg (364 lb)
  * Gross weight: 260 kg (573 lb)
  
  Performance
  
  * Maximum glide ratio: 23:1 at 68 km/h (42 mph; 37 kn)
  * Rate of sink: 0.7 m/s (140 ft/min) at 56 km/h (35 mph; 30 kn)
  * Wing loading: 16.65 $kg/m^2$ (3.41 lb/sq ft)
  