View source for Nelson Hummingbird PG-185B

{{Short description|American motorglider}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Hummingbird PG-185B
| image=File:Nelson Hummingbird PG-185B - Hiller Aviation Museum - San Carlos, California.jpg
| caption=
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
| type=[[Motor glider]]
| national origin=[[United States]]
| manufacturer=[[Nelson Aircraft]]
| designer=[[Ted Nelson (engineer)|Ted Nelson]] and [[Harry Perl]]
| first flight=
| introduced=1953
| retired=
| status=
| primary user=
| more users= <!--Limited to three in total; separate using <br /> -->
| produced= <!--years in production-->
| number built=7
| developed from=
| variants with their own articles=
}}
|}
The '''Nelson Hummingbird PG-185B''' is an [[United States|American]], [[tandem]] two seat, [[mid-wing]] [[motor glider]] that was developed by [[Nelson Aircraft]] after discontinuing the [[Nelson Dragonfly]].<ref name="SD">{{Cite web|url = http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?PlaneID=169|title = Hummingbird PG-185B Nelson|accessdate = 12 March 2011|last = Activate Media|year = 2006|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715225244/http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?PlaneID=169|archivedate = 15 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="SoaringNov83">Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, [[Soaring Magazine]]'', page 123. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. USPS 499-920</ref>
==Design and development==
In 1949, Nelson began the design of another self-launching glider, but this time, he teamed-up with Harry Perl and Don Mitchell. They called this new design the ''Hummingbird''.<ref>[http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19731120000 NASM ''Nelson BB-1 Dragonfly'']</ref>
Introduced in 1953, the Hummingbird was an attempt to improve upon the marginal performance of the Dragonfly, of which only seven were produced.
The resulting design is a mid-wing glider built predominantly from wood, with the wing [[leading edge]] filled with [[styrofoam]] and doped [[aircraft fabric]] used on the aft portion of the wing, the tail and the rudder. After the first two were completed the remainder were built from metal in place of wood.<ref name="SD" /><ref name="SoaringNov83" />
The design features an all-flying [[stabilator]] with an [[anti-servo tab]], [[Spoiler (aeronautics)|spoilers]] on the wing's top surface and [[dive brake]]s on the bottom. The [[Nelson H-59]] 4-cylinder engine was mounted on a retractable mast aft of the [[bubble canopy]]. The aircraft has two wheels in tandem, the front being steerable and connected to the rudder pedals.<ref name="SD" /><ref name="SoaringNov83" />
The design was not [[Type certificate|type certified]], and the seven built were registered under the ''Experimental - Racing - Exhibition'' category. Nelson later sold the rights to the aircraft and the engine to Charles Rhoades of [[Naples, Florida]].<ref name="SoaringNov83" /><ref name="FAAReg">{{Cite web|url = http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=68584|title = Make / Model Inquiry Results|accessdate = 12 March 2011|last = [[Federal Aviation Administration]]|authorlink = |date=March 2011}}</ref>
==Operational history==
In the mid-1950s a Hummingbird was flown by Les Arnold to an unofficial US motorgliding distance record of {{convert|321|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="SD" /><ref name="SoaringNov83" />
In March 2011 there were still five registered in the US, two of which had been transferred to the [[National Soaring Museum]].<ref name="FAAReg2">{{Cite web|url = http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/AcftRef_Results.aspx?Mfrtxt=NELSON&Modeltxt=PG-185-B&PageNo=1|title = Make / Model Inquiry Results|accessdate = 12 March 2011|last = [[Federal Aviation Administration]]|authorlink = |date=March 2011}}</ref>
A gliderport in [[Livermore, California]] was named "Hummingbird Haven" as several of the craft were based there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanJose.htm#hummingbird|title=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: San Jose area|work=airfields-freeman.com|accessdate=5 May 2015}}</ref>
==Aircraft on display==
*[[Golden Age Flight Museum]]<ref name="GAFM">{{cite web|url= http://www.goldenageflightmuseum.org/sailplanes.html|title= Sailplanes|access-date= 29 November 2021|author= Golden Age Flight Museum|work= www.goldenageflightmuseum.org|year= 2021|archive-url= https://archive.today/20211129212337/http://www.goldenageflightmuseum.org/sailplanes.html|archive-date= 29 November 2021|url-status= live}}</ref>
*[[Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waaamuseum.org/museum/aircraft-on-display/|title=Aircraft on Display - Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum|work=waaamuseum.org|accessdate=26 February 2024}}</ref>
*[[National Soaring Museum]] - 2<ref name="SD" /><ref name="NSMCollection">{{cite web|url = https://www.soaringmuseum.org/glider-collection.php|title = Sailplanes in Our Collection|access-date = 29 November 2021|last = [[National Soaring Museum]]|year = 2011|url-status = live|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20210509140257/https://www.soaringmuseum.org/glider-collection.php|archivedate = 9 May 2021}}</ref>
*[[National Air and Space Museum]]<ref name="SD" />
*[[US Southwest Soaring Museum]]<ref name="SWSMCollection">{{cite web|url = http://swsoaringmuseum.org/collection.htm|title = Sailplanes, Hang Gliders & Motor Gliders|accessdate = 26 May 2011|last = [[US Southwest Soaring Museum]] |authorlink = |year = 2010}}</ref>
==Specifications (PG-185B) ==
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Sailplane Directory and Soaring<ref name="SD" /><ref name="SoaringNov83" />
|prime units?=imp<!-- imp or kts first for US aircraft, and UK aircraft pre-metrification, met(ric) first for all others. You MUST choose a format, or no specifications will show -->
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|crew=one
|capacity=one passenger
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|span ft=54
|span in=0
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|wing area sqft=185
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=15.76
|airfoil=Go 549 (root), Go 676 (tip)
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=800
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|gross weight lb=1200
|gross weight note=
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[Nelson H-59]]
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|eng1 hp=40<!-- prop engines -->
|prop blade number=2<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=wooden
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|glide ratio=25:1 at 55 mph
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|sink rate ftmin=180
|sink rate note=at 52 mph
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==See also==
{{aircontent
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|see also=
|related=
* [[Perl PG-130 Penetrator]] - another Harry Perl design
|similar aircraft=<!-- similar or comparable aircraft -->
|lists=
* [[List of gliders]]
}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
<!-- ==External links== -->
{{Nelson Aircraft}}
[[Category:1950s United States sailplanes]]
[[Category:Nelson aircraft]]
[[Category:Motor gliders]]
[[Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft]]
[[Category:Mid-wing aircraft]]