title: Dittmar HD 153 Motor-Möwe
text: # Dittmar HD 153 Motor-Möwe
  
  The Dittmar HD 153 Motor-Möwe was a West German light aircraft that was first flown in November 1953.
  
  ## Design and development
  
  The Motor-Möwe, designed by Heini Dittmar who had designed the Dittmar HD 53 Möwe sailplane, was a motorized development of this sailplane and was initially designed to be powered by engines of 48–63 kW (65–85 hp). The HD 153 prototype was a two-seat side-by-side high wing monoplane powered by a 48 kW (65 hp) Continental A65 engine and was of wooden construction with detachable wing and tail assemblies to facilitate road transportation when needed. A second prototype aircraft was fitted with a 45 kW (60 hp) Hirth engine.
  
  ## Operational history
  
  The aircraft was designed for private and club use and served as a trainer and glider tug. Heini Dittmar, the aircraft’s designer, was killed in 1960 when his Motor-Möwe crashed near Essen/Mulheim airport. Small numbers of the type were completed by the end of 1960 and on 1 January 1961 four HD 153 and four HD 156 Motor–Möwen appeared in the West German civil aircraft register. I 1965 four HD 153 and five HD 156 Motor-Möwen were registered in West Germany. By 2007, no examples were known to be active.
  
  ## Variants
  
  ### HD 153
  
      two-seat aircraft
     ### HD 153A-1
         production two-seaters
  
  ### HD 156
  
      three-seat aircraft fitted with additional side windows
  
  ## Specifications (HD 153 with C90 engine)
  
  Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59
  
  General characteristics
  
  * Crew: one
  * Capacity: one passenger (334 kg (736 lb) payload)
  * Length: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
  * Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
  * Height: 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
  * Wing area: 18.3 $m^2$ (197 sq ft)
  * Aspect ratio: 8.5
  * Airfoil: Göttingen 367 modified
  * Empty weight: 465 kg (1,025 lb) equipped
  * Gross weight: 760 kg (1,676 lb)
  * Fuel capacity: 140 L (36.98 US gal; 30.80 imp gal) in two wing tanks + optional 200 L (52.83 US gal; 43.99 imp gal) overload tank
  * Powerplant: 1 × Continental C90-12F 4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine, 67 kW (90 hp)
  * Propellers: 2-bladed Hoffman "HoCo" fixed pitch wooden propeller
  
  Performance
  
  * Maximum speed: 170 km/h (110 mph, 92 kn)
  * Cruise speed: 150 km/h (93 mph, 81 kn)
  * Landing speed: 65 km/h (40 mph; 35 kn)
  * Range: 1,000 km (620 mi, 540 nmi)
  * Ferry range: 1,872 km (1,163 mi, 1,011 nmi)
  * Endurance: 4.5 hours (13 hours with overload tank)
  * Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
  * Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 6 minutes
  * Take-off run: 150 m (492 ft)
  * Landing run: 130 m (427 ft)
  