Grob Aircraft G 109b

Single Piston

The Grob G 109 is a German-built two-seat motor glider that occupies a unique niche between pure sailplanes and conventional light aircraft. Designed by Burkhart Grob in the late 1970s and first flown in 1980, it features a retractable Grob 2500 four-cylinder engine that can be extended for powered flight or retracted flush with the fuselage for soaring. With a 56-foot wingspan and exceptional glide ratio of around 28:1, the G 109 allows pilots to climb under power to find thermals, then shut down and retract the engine for silent soaring flight—combining the efficiency of a sailplane with the flexibility of a powered aircraft. The type found particular success in Europe for touring and cross-country soaring, where its ability to self-launch and sustain flight in marginal soaring conditions made it far more practical than trailer-launched gliders. Maximum cruise speed is around 115 knots with the engine running, while minimum sink rate in glider configuration is approximately 2 feet per second. The G 109B variant, the most common production model, typically features a 90-horsepower Limbach engine and can operate from grass strips as short as 1,000 feet. Grob produced approximately 250 examples before production ended in the mid-1990s, with many still actively flying in private hands across Europe and North America. SkyMeter has tracked 30 flights across 12 airframes and 2 operators, with CARPENTER DAN I, YAMANE-CARPENTER SUSAN P the largest observed operator.