Prue 215a

Homebuilt Racing Sailplane

Condition: Fully restored

Rear canopy cracked and needs repair to return to flying condition.

The Prue 215 is an American high-wing, V-tailed, single-seat glider that was designed by Irving Prue in 1949.

 

The Prue 215 is an all-metal design with a short 40 ft (12.2 m) wing with a relatively high aspect ratio of 20:1. The wing uses a NACA 23012 airfoil at the wing root, becoming a NACA 8318 at the wing tip. Airfoil-shaped flaps are mounted below and behind the wing for glidepath control. The aircraft is equipped with a single retractable wheel and nose skid for landing.  Spoilers are used for glidepath control.

 

Three Prue 215s were built, all as amateur-built from plans. The initial one was Prue's prototype. The second one was built by Ed Minghelli and later owned by Max Dreher, who mounted a jet engine on it. The second and third built are designated 215A.

 

N90612 was the second Prue 215 built, designated a 215A and flown to second place in the 1958 US Nationals by Harold Hutchinson.  Now based in Bakersfield California and flown at vintage sailplane meets and for sport.

 

Only one Prue 215 remains listed on the Federal Aviation Administration registry.

Historical Photos of N90612

December 1958 issue S.C.S.A Thermal.  Southern California Soaring Association newsletter.  Landing at El Mirage.

Harold Hutchinson in the Prue over Torrey Pines CA. with Larry Bell's flat-top modified LK-10

Excerpt from Soaring Magazine.

April 1958 SCSA Thermal. Flying over the beach at Torrey Pines, CA.

Max Drehr with his homebuilt Baby Mamba jet turbine engine installed on the 215 at Tehachapi Mountain Valley Gliderport where the aircraft was based for most of its life.

Elmira New York at the International Vintage Sailplane Meet, IVSM 2016 where it was flown multiple times and was a featured sailplane.

The lower nose is made of steel modified from a P38 fighter drop tank.

Flying in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just west of Lone Pine, CA during the Dust Devil Dash straight out distance contest from Tehachapi.

Copyright 2022 Golden Age Flight Museum