Manfred Derschug
A retrospective on the designer and his legendary Brillant V.
In 1972 the Brillant V RC glider was introduced and soon became a legend. It was sold for over 30 years. The latest version I could find is from 2020. With a wingspan of 2760mm and a weight of 1300g, it was one of the lightest gliders in its class. Combined with the E385 modified airfoil it was used by many glider pilots and entered in many competitions in neighbouring countries sometimes, according to Herr Derschug, almost without competition.
Manfred Derschug is known as the man who builds gliders — full-size as well as RC models.
According to the website flying-directory.com Manfred Derschug developed the Melos 3000, a true cross-country motor-glider which incorporated a lot of clever design and many detail refinements. For example, the neat way the engine is aerodynamically integrated into the fuselage. Also, the propellor unfolds automatically as rotation is initiated, and folds back again when the engine stops, an arrangement which avoids the disadvantages of a retractable pylon. The fuselage is composite with wooden wings covered with fabric.
In the photo above, starting from the right:
- Brilliant V (1975) — A representative of the first type. E385 airfoil, wing slightly swept forward, leading edges perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, 4mm wing rods, fuselage with a short, blunt nose, fishing rod tube as tail unit carrier.
- Brillant Vz (1975) — Wing with a new ‘faster’ profile, flat bottom up to the spar and rotating brake flaps. Geometry, wing joiners and fuselage like version 1972.
- Brillant V (circa 1985) — Wing straight, spar perpendicular to longitudinal axis of fuselage, leading edge slightly swept back. Wing joiners 2 x 5mm and 2 x 4mm. Profile and surface depths as version Vz. Longer nose, a little more pointed, more elegant. One-piece fibreglass hull, no resin-coated ‘fishing rod’ tube.
- Brilliant V (2019) — Fuselage construction by Manfred Derschug.
The comparison shows that Manfred Derschug was a master of rolling planning! Incidentally, the Brillant Vz shown was actually built in 1977. It is still flying and even now can occasionally be found flying at the Wasserkuppe.
In the photo above, the Brillant on the left was built in 2020 and was finished by the master himself, Manfred Derschug. The yellow one on the right could be from the 1980s — the exact details are not known because it was bought second-hand from a colleague.
The fuselages are definitely of different shapes. The conical tail booms also differ significantly. The old version has a tail boom diameter of 19mm to 17mm at the rear. The current Brillant is 25mm tapering to 22mm.
The differences in the wings are much more obvious: the span of the new version is 2550mm down from the old version which was 2670mm. However, the chord at the root is similar for both variants, with that being around 230mm.
The chord of the new wing is 115mm where as the older version was 140mm at the tip. The wing profiles look very similar.
According to Manfred, the new wing was a little better in the wind. It’s possibly due to the slightly higher wing loading due to the smaller wing area.
Also a significant change are the wing joiners. New at the front 5mm, with the old Brillant being 4mm. Both versions were 4mm at the back.
Take-off weight new 1385g with approx. 180g of lead in the nose of the fuselage and battery — an Eneloop AA 4S. Weight of the old version 1520g with the nose-weight unknown since it was permanently glued in place.
In the early 1990’s Manfred couldn’t get any fishing rods so he created a mold to laminate the entire fuselage from front to back. Some of these were available with the wing kit, and there was already a brass sleeve for 5mm wing rods glued in at the front.
Parts, moulds and other documents for Manfred Derschug’s other designs such as the Brillant T, Jargon and Zirkon are no longer available. However, there are still some Brillant Ts on the used market in Germany. As they are no longer made they have become very rare.
Herr Derschug is now long retired and does some work with schools in the community. He also still produces aeroplanes to stave off boredom.
I think it’s nice to be able to throw yourself back a little into the time 30–40 years ago with all the modern high-tech models with an aged jewel. Reminiscences of youth — very relaxing!
The Brillant Meeting
In June 2012 there was a ‘Brillant Meeting’ in Oberdiebach attended by Herr Derschug.
Manfred Derschug became a legend in the German model plane sector with his two-axis controlled Brillant.
All versions were at the 2012 event, starting with the classic Brillant V with a fishing rod boom, through the full fibreglass fuselage that arose from delivery problems, to the Brillant T with a T-tail you can see in the middle photo above.
According to Herr Derschug, by producing the Brillant he realised his potential, enjoyed building and traveled a lot, attended competitions and events and got to know many people. He was often in Belgium and Switzerland. He says “you can still see today that I did everything right with the Brillant V”.
The South African Connection
In my youth I heard a lot about the Brillant. I saw a wizened man with a gruff attitude fly this striking, graceful plane with aplomb. He often out-thermalled the latest hot-shot pilots and planes. He was Johan Steyn, called by the brave Oom Zoom (Uncle Zoom). He was one of the first pilots to zoom off the top of a winch launch.
He also produced the Brillant V with a fibreglass fuselage and a set of plans for the wings and empennage. My late uncle, Sieger Lampen, bought and built the Brillant V, flew it for a number of years, and today I am the owner of that aeroplane. It still flys majestically through the South African Highveld thermals.
As we use powerful winches you will see that the South Arican Brillant has two 6mm wing joiners.
Epilogue
Since this article was originally written, there have been quite a few updates to the story:
In 2016, Manfred set up a handicraft corner in his new little house over the winter while helping his son Kai build a Melos. Quite often he could be found in Friedrichshafen at the airport but unfortunately we missed each other when I was there.
In 2023, I heard in a roundabout way is that Herr Derschug is hale and healthy but still averse to modern communications. If you would like to get in touch with him, please contact me and I’ll do my best to put you together with him.
Thanks for reading!
©2023 Jan Sime
Acknowledgements
This article would not have been possible if not for all the detail provided by Speedy573, Holzwurm59, Abbakus, Beat.J and StefanHürter who can all be found on RC-Network.de. The link for the main thread can be found in the Resources section immediately below.
Resources
- Brillant-Treffen in Oberdiebach on RC-Network.de. — “Three days ago I heard from a model pilot colleague about a ‘Brillant Meeting’ nearby. I was informed that Herr Derschug also wanted to come…” (translation by Google Translate)
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