The Sproule-Ivanoff Camel was a 1930s British single-seat medium performance glider designed by J.S Sproule and Alexander Ivanoff and built by Scott Light Aircraft of Dunstable, Bedfordshire.^[1][2]

At the end of 1937 Sproule and Ivanoff decided to design a glider that would be cheap, be easy to control and have a good speed range. It would also have wing-folding for quick assembly.^[1] The glider was a high wing strut-supported single-spar monoplane with no flaps of airbrakes and an enclosed single-seat cockpit.^[1] The Camel first flew at Ratcliffe in Leicestershire in 1939.^[2] In 1949 the Camel was registered to Alexander Ivanoff as G-ALLL.^[3]

On 19 August 1951 the Camel was destroyed in a fatal mid-air collision with another glider over Dunstable.^[4][5] The pilot, an instructor with the London Gliding Club, was killed when the Camel suddenly descended on top of an EoN Olympia glider.^[5] The pilot of the Olympia, from the South Downs Gliding Club, took evasive action when he saw the Camel descend; the glider lost four foot of wing tip but landed safely.^[5] The Camel did not have a certificate of airworthiness, which was not a compulsory requirement. The Deputy Coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying "there was no evidence that either glider was anything but airworthy".^[6]

Data from VGC News^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 17 ft 2 in (5.23 m)
• Wingspan: 37 ft 4 in (11.38 m)
• Wing area: 110 sq ft (10 m²)
• Aspect ratio: 12.7
• Airfoil: Göttingen 535 at root, Göttingen 389 at tip^[7]

Performance

• Rate of sink: 169 ft/min (0.86 m/s) minimum at 35 mph (56 km/h)^[7]
• Wing loading: 3.7 lb/sq ft (18 kg/m²) ^[7]

Related lists

• List of gliders

• Göttingen 535 airfoil Archived 25 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Göttingen 389 airfoil